Sayre to play antique, unusual instruments
By Cindy Wostrel
Staff Reporter
Ever meet a man who plays a saw
with a cello bow?
Chris Sayre does.
He said he puts the saw between
his knees to play it. He described the
sound it makes as a high-pitched
wailing sound, like the sound of an
opera singer past her prime or a sick
cat.
Sayre, 36, plans to play some of
his antique and unusual instruments
at Summertime Nebraska.
“I like all kinds of musical sounds,”
Sayre said. “For me, a lot of the new
instruments just don’t have that (lik
able) sound.”
So, he turns to antique instruments
and reproductions of them.
Playing antique instruments allows
Sayre to combine his two loves, his
tory and music.
Sayre, who spent two years at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln study
ing music theory,said hcplaysalotof
ethnic music -- everything from
Swedish, French, Irish and Hawaiian
to 1920s and 1930s African-Ameri
can bottleneck.
He plays traditional music with
not-so-traditional instruments, he said.
Like a on a saw.
Or playing French music on an
English or German instrumentor Irish
music on an Italian instrument.
Sayre, who was in a high school
rock band, said his musical family
helped spark his interest in traditional
music.
His oldest brother liked folk mu
sic, and that affection rubbed off on
him, Sayre said.
At about age 20, he said, he went
to Boston, where he saw young people
playing traditional music.
“I always kind of associated it
with older people,” he said, but see
ing them fueled his desire to play the
music.
Now, he said, “ I just can ’ t seem to
give it up.”
He said he limits the number of
instruments he owns to 12 because he
doesn’t have enough time to practice
them. He is “generally just self
taught” on about 10 instruments, he
said, and will never stop learning new
techniques.
“Each instrument has been sort of
an adventure,” he said.
During the summer, he performs
for weddings, programs in Antelope
Park and other events.
During the school year, Sayre trav
els to about 350 schools, he said,
teaching even die-hard rock ‘n’ roll
fans about the antique instruments.
Sayre performs Friday at 6 and 7
p.m., Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and
Sunday at 4:15 p.m.
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Michelle Paulman/Daily Nebraskan
Chris Sayre uses a cello bow to play a tune on a saw. The music sounds like
an opera singer past her prime or a sick cat, Sayre said.
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