Hacksaw in the House

It’s back to work for fiddler and banjoist Miriam Hacksaw, and that means the Eugene native who now lives in New Orleans is hitting the road for five months. “New Orleans feels like a vacation to me,” she says from Olympia, Washington, before a performance. “Touring is the work.” That work brings her to Sam Bond’s June 21 and a chance to catch up with family and friends. The 2015 Churchill High School grad started at a young age with fiddle, learning from Melissa Takush and the Mud City Old Time Society. She’s also played with Foraging and the Rattling Bones. After college in Seattle, Hacksaw settled in Walton for a brief spell in 2020 and learned the banjo, inspired by banjoist extraordinaire Rhiannon Giddens, whom she is opening for this summer at a show in Santa Rosa, California. She notes that the fiddle is her primary instrument, and her work has been described as raw with influences from traditional folk and punk music. “I play a little more aggressively,” she says. Still, she believes in the old-school folk music, and in the last year, Hacksaw has also collected and reinterpreted songs from Kerala, India, her father’s homeland, creating a repertoire of Malayali-American fiddle tunes, some of which she will play at Sam Bond’s.

Miriam Hacksaw performs 9 pm Saturday, June 21, at Sam Bond’s, 407 Blair Boulevard. Others playing on Sam Bond’s stage that night are Americana-country singer Marcus Brown and the jug band Dumpster Joe. Tickets are $15.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!