For most of its existence as a band, Hawktail has passed on opportunities to collaborate closely with other artists.

“We kind of resisted it for a long time, because we didn’t want to be a band that, like, backs people up, you know?” guitarist Jordan Tice said in an interview. “We wanted to preserve the sanctity of being an instrumental band … and have the focus be on our original music.”

That philosophy has worked well for the past decade, as Hawktail — Tice, fiddler Brittany Haas and bassist Paul Kowert — have become known as one of the most artistically inventive and technically skilled groups in the world of acoustic instrumental music. They’ve built that reputation on the strength of their dazzling live shows, but also their three full-length albums of elegant, classically influenced progressive bluegrass that sounds like a string-band and a string quartet, blended together into one.

The focus has, in fact, stayed on their original music. Hawktail’s “members defy expectations based on other projects or instruments of choice by constantly pushing each other’s creative boundaries,” write the roots-music website No Depression in a review of the 2020 album “Formations.”

(Speaking of “other projects,” it’s worth noting here that Tice is a renowned solo guitarist, Haas and Kowert are both members of the Punch Brothers, and Haas is also a member of Crooked Still.)

Sometimes, however, an opportunity comes along that you just can’t pass up. That happened twice for Hawktail in the past year or so: Once when their old friend Aoife O’Donovan asked the band to accompany her on an EP featuring acoustic versions of songs from her excellent 2024 album “All My Friends” and again when the legendary Swedish folk duo Väsen suggested a collaborative recording project as a five-piece ensemble. That album, “Väsen & Hawktail,” comes out Friday.

“Time is precious, because we all do a lot of different things. So when we carve out time for Hawktail, we want to be as intentional as possible, and that intention is writing and playing the instrumental music we’ve come up with,” Tice said. “But we’ve known Aoife for a long time and Väsen are so formative to what we do, when they approached us about these projects, it just made sense.”

These collaborations will come to a head Saturday, Sept. 28, at Sisters Folk Festival, where the members of Hawktail will play three different sets at three different venues in eight hours. First, they’ll perform with Väsen on the Village Green stage from 3-4 p.m. Then, they’ll do a Hawktail set from 6-7 p.m. at The Open Door. Finally, they’ll close the night at the Sisters Art Works stage by playing alongside O’Donovan from 9:30-11 p.m.

It’ll be a busy day, Tice said, made easier by the band’s versatile instrumental skill and the time they’ve already spent playing with O’Donovan and Väsen.

“They’re all different situations. It’s almost just like switching modes for us because all three of these projects have been cultivated over a long period of time,” he said. “By this point, we’ve done dozens of shows with Aoife, so it’s almost just like muscle memory — snapping into that space where you’re playing with a singer and singing harmonies and letting her lead the way and take control of the energy with the audience.”

Playing three and a half hours of music in an eight-hour period is draining, of course, but it’s also a fun chance to exercise Hawktail’s various muscles in different ways, Tice said.

And it’s not all pure output for the band, either.

“It really is as equally invigorating as it is anything else,” he said. “It’s fun, you know? I’d rather be on stage playing than just milling about making small talk.”

What: 2024 Sisters Folk Festival

When: 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 through 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29

Where: Seven stages at venues throughout Sisters

Cost: Three-day pass: $225 (adults), $85 (ages 6-17), Friday pass: $85 (adults), $35 (ages 6-17), Sunday pass: $70 (adults), $30 (ages 6-17). Saturday passes sold out.

Contact: sistersfolkfest.org