Stroh violins are used widely by street musicians and gypsies throughout Europe. Their street-market sound is amplified through a metallic horn, rather than acoustic resonation. When asked about this unique instrument, A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s Heather Trost excitedly relates a story as her bandmate Jeremy Barnes—former drummer of Neutral Milk Hotel—plays the accordion in the background, adding a surreal effect to the phone call from their New Mexico home. Traveling around Europe, where she and Barnes lived for two years, they stumbled upon two Stroh-playing buskers in Romania and the two duos played music for each other, happily alternating songs. “It was so cool. Mine was broken and they knew how to fix it, so in broken French and Romanian sign language they took mine and I gave them a bit of money for theirs,” says Trost, proud of her souvenir. Music, and loving it, isn’t confined to “normal” means of communication, or even geography. Although based in New Mexico, A Hawk and a Hacksaw draw influences from the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Romania, creating a sound all their own—although reminiscent of Beirut and Devotchka. Trost admits that New Mexico and the Balkans are more alike than expected. And both regions’ influences are represented on the band’s new album, Cervantine, arriving March 8. A Hawk and a Hawksaw w/ Lake Mary The Urban Lounge 241 S. 500 East Tuesday, March 8 9 p.m. $8 advance/$10 day of show TheUrbanLoungeSLC.com
