A Hawk And A Hacksaw

A Hawk And A Hacksaw is an offbeat gypsy-music combo led by Jeremy Barnes, who handles all of the instruments himself (minus violin, played by Heather Trost) and often goes to extreme lengths to multi-task by attaching drumsticks to his head and wearing a hat covered in bells. Barnes made his name as the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel, but his Hawk project has recently gained some stature. 2006’s The Way The Wind Blows was recorded in part in a small Romanian village with Balkan group Fanfare Ciocarlia, and 2009’s Délivrance was tracked in Hungary. For this year’s Cervantine, the band returned to its hometown in New Mexico, giving the new album a beautiful, rambling, Southwestern feeling.

Updated 02/23/2011