BEST LOCAL SONGWRITER Sam Beam www.ironandwine.com Under the pseudonym Iron & Wine, Sam Beam has garnered positive notices in magazines and newspapers around the world. His plaintive, modest recordings (including this year's Woman King EP), which possess a rustic sonic quality that makes them seem like they were created a half-century ago, have made him a leader in the international folk-rock renaissance alongside Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and a few others. The catalyst for the attention is the strength of his lyrics. "There are sailing ships that pass all our bodies in the grass/Springtime calls her children until she lets them go at last," he sings on one single, "Passing Afternoon." These words are delivered by a voice that is wispy and haunting, reverberating long after the CD has ended.