Iron & Wine man Sam Beam has confirmed a fully seated show in the Dublin Olympia on August 30 with Jesca Hoop, his duet partner on Love Letter From The Fire, which drops on April 15.
Tickets priced €26 and €28.50 go on sale on Wednesday March 23.
Hoop, who has five albums and a spell backing Peter Gabriel to her credit, was recruited when Beam realised the new songs he was writing needed telling from a female perspective as well.
“Jesca brought a lot of energy," he reflects. "I would be cerebral, she would bring heart. In places where I would be steady, she would add an exclamation point.
“Some of my favorite songs are duets, because the narrative is expanded. It’s not just a monologue. It’s a conversation, and so it gets complicated. I had melodies over the years that I’d been compiling that I thought, this sounds like a classic Kenny and Dolly, ‘Islands In The Stream’ kind of thing, or George and Tammy.”
Hoop didn’t need asking twice: “I had the advantage of knowing Sam’s music because it had cleaned my house many times, so I was familiar with his sensibilities and knew the combination could work, I think he said ‘Let’s make an EP’ and I said ‘Let’s make an album.’”
Judging by the tasters, it’s a hook-up with serious legs.