SEASON 1 : IRON & WINE + CALEXICO
The 15-year Assembly
SEASON 1 : TRAILER
Our debut season of Assembly features a moment in time fifteen years (and more) in the making. Singer/songwriter Iron and Wine (Sam Beam) re-assembles with the polymathic musical duo, Calexico (Joey Burns and John Convertino) as they try and catch musical lightening in a bottle, twice! Do epiphanies have a shelf-life? Are footprints ever fully covered? Here’s a season preview.
PART 1 : The Re-Assembly
Let the Assembly begin! Iron and Wine and Calexico have decided to do a week of sonic solitude in preparation for a world-tour of their Grammy-nominated record, Years to Burn – only their second artistic progeny since 2004. Though all trips require baggage in some form, these veterans both of the road and of the show are planning on traveling light; knowing that certain pieces, as it is with all of us, no longer fit, while others remain tailor-made. Nostalgia makes a better door than a window; let’s knock.
PART 2 : The imposter
It’s our first “first” of the season: Iron and Wine + Calexico’s first public performance in fifteen years. Bring your butterflies, as this sold-out first takes place in Sam’s adopted state of North Carolina. Let’s begin by assembling in the eye of rehearsals and its many languages shared by artists, clock whisperers, caretakers, and silent collaborators, equally integral to getting this road on the show. It also wouldn’t be a hometown gig without school friends and family dropping in — announced and not. Some things never change. While others, understood only in parts.
PART 3 : the tiny desk
We’re aboard the Mothership of all things sonic and community-minded, as we arrive in Washington, D.C. for today’s first-on-a-first: Calexico + Iron and Wine play an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Ours is a business trip, though, as we peek behind one of most exhilarating showcases of curated music for those who skip lunch. This’ll also mark Iron and Wine’s third Desk, which could entitle Sam to ride the express elevator to NPR’s offices. As for Calexico? Some things sound sweeter under drop ceilings.
PART 4 : THe record
Records play forward, backward and you can scratch them. On our penultimate part, Iron and Wine + Calexico have made it back to New York, NY, to make some necessary noise at SiriusXM and CBS Television, both on-and-off the record. Hear how much sound, fury, and craftsmanship goes into creating our most beautiful silences, and how even the highest profiles of art are neither paint-by-numbers nor operations. Such moments are more like a rousing game of Twister with both a stop-watch and a kick-ass green room or two along the way. Donuts and Emmy’s sold separately.
part 5 : The end
In the final part the season, we’re in Brooklyn, NY – Prospect Park – as Iron and Wine and Calexico end their week and renewal with their preferred form of dialogue: a performance. We still have one outstanding mystery, though: what brings people together? LISTENER WARNING: the best mysteries, like the best moments, never end; so, we’re expecting to chase ours until the final song is sung. We’ll also exchange some “this is not goodbye” goodbye’s with the guys to hear where their roads head next and which parts they’ll need to stay connected.