Iron & Wine always gets mentioned when people ask me to name off some of my favorite bands. While I’ve never been privy to the opportunity of seeing Sam in a club or theater, where I imagine he’d sound best, I have, on plenty of occasions, seen him at festivals.

After an initial and hasty first pass through the upcoming record, The Shepherd’s Dog last month I was reluctant to ever visit it again. I’m glad I did because the album has recently been like a best friend to me. I listen to it while I ride my bike to and from work, while I’m doing housework, and especially in the mornings as I draft up the words that are found on these pages. Sometimes it just takes time for albums to click, and, with experience as a measuring tool, it’s usually those albums that I come to enjoy the most.

The bearded one took the stage at the Pitchfork Music Festival, looking more Christ-like than my memory affords and performed a set heavy on new tunes and a beautiful cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” to finish things off. All that, and how could it be anything less than the zenith of the festival? Unfortunately, the two main stages were marred with sound issues rendering the majority of the shows almost impossible to hear unless you were in a close proximity to the stage, combine that with Sam Beam’s already whispery vocals and you’ve got yourself a let down – though no fault of the band.

The Shepherd’s Dog comes out September 25th on Sub Pop.

Myspace: Iron & Wine