The Way The Wind Blows, the incandescent third album from A Hawk And A Hacksaw, was partly recorded in a remote Romanian village with members of the justly admired Balkan folk group, Fanfare Ciocarlia. Songwriter Jeremy Barnes (drums, accordion, vocals) and Heather Trost (violin) joyously and romantically romp through traditional sounds, interspersing passionate musical duets with exuberant brass band stomp. At eighteen Barnes departed his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in hot pursuit of music and adventure. He travelled the U.S. and Europe, playing with cult faves Neutral Milk Hotel, Bablicon and Broadcast before releasing AHAAH's self-titled debut in 2002 (a whimsical mix of Kurt Weill, Tom Waits and PT Barnum, full of accordion, piano and drunken choruses).

After a stint in Prague, where the celebrated follow-up Darkness at Noon was written, Barnes returned to New Mexico and met violinist Heather Trost who quickly became the second member of the group. In April 2006 Barnes embarked on a wild goose chase, flying to Bucharest with only a phone number for renowned gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia. The day after they met, Barnes was setting up a makeshift studio in the front room of a local's house in the tiny Moldovan village of Zece Prajini, Romania. The Way The Wind Blows was written in a place without pavement and plumbing, and horse-drawn carts are more common than cars. But the town is suffused with a forgotten music, a joyous mixture of Jewish and gypsy tradition.

1. In The River
2. The Way The Wind Blows
3. Song For Joseph
4. Fernando's Giampari
5. God Bless The Ottoman Empire
6. Waltz For Strings And Tuba
7. Oporto
8. Gadje Sirba
9. The Sparrow
10. Salt Water
11. There Is A River In Galisteo