There's more than one 'Beam':1) Formed in 2000, Beam is led by French ex-pat Helene Renaut, a music major from Brittany. She describes her musical awakening: "I grew up obsessing on the songs of Jacques Brel until I discovered Neil Young!"Determined to escape the gloom of her hometown, she busked gypsy songs on the violin to finance a move to San Francisco in 1995. After gradually becoming a fixture on the emerging solo acoustic scene here, Helene began collaborating in earnest. And while Helene remains a constant presence in the SF solo acoustic circuit, Beam is thriving, counting at one time or another members of Call and Response, Willow Willow, and Winfred E Eye members of it's ranks.To... read more