Hawktail (Sat)

Place a bunch of “old friends” in a room. Each breathes his or her instrument, finding rhythms and sounds as they explore. Stir. Welcome to Hawktail. This trio’s members, no strangers to Grey Fox, bring orchestral sweeps and sparse vigils, with strains of the American South and the North Atlantic. The band includes fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, and guitarist Jordan Tice. Though at first glance they look like an acoustic super-picker side-project, their all-original music is cohesive and unique, distinguishing them as an ensemble with a sound built from the ground up. We all know Brittany, whose 2004 self-titled release instantly became the touchstone for a generation of old-time fiddlers. But she has since lent her sound to Crooked Still, Live From Here, Steve Martin, and David Rawlings, where she played alongside Kowert, well known as the Punch Brothers’ virtuosic bass player. Tice is a rare guitar player whose music showcases his unique identity and a particular knack for song and tune-writing. Melt into the music of Hawktail for a cosmopolitan sound you wouldn’t expect from a string band.