Not many people around the county have been to a concert that pairs a sitar with a saxophone. Fewer still have set foot in the Salina Schoolhouse, a tiny venue up Fourmile Canyon that seats just 75 people. But this weekend, the good people of Boulder County will have the chance to do both: sit in the Salina Schoolhouse among an intimate group to hear the unlikely magic of a sitar and a saxophone on the same stage.

Global guitarist and sitarist Will Marsh will headline this cozy concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at the historic schoolhouse, 604 Gold Run Road, Boulder, in the former mining town of Salina. Along with his supporting band, the Integration Ensemble, Marsh has plans to fill the one-room venue with a sound that probably can’t be heard anywhere else — a unique blend of sitar raga with some jazz improvisation and a splash of rhythm-heavy groove.

Those lucky enough to snag a seat will hear Marsh play songs from his debut album, “The Integration,” released in November 2023. Created with award-winning producer Ben Leinbach, the record tosses cello, tenor sax, tabla, guitar, sitar and a suitcase full of percussion — then shuffles it around into one big, border-hopping jam session.

If you’re not sure what that all sounds like together, Leinbach describes Marsh’s sound best: “Ravi Shankar jamming with the Buena Vista Social Club.”

I’m not sure about you, but to me, that sounds like a pretty fun, funky time.

Marsh grew up in northern Michigan playing guitar, studying Western classical and jazz music at the Interlochen Academy for the Arts. After high school, his fascination with music led him to enroll in the lauded world music program at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he began studying Hindustani classical music in earnest.

By 2007, a search for musical mentors led Marsh to Boulder. Roshan Bhartiya, a Denver-based sitar master, drew Marsh in during trips between Los Angeles and Michigan, and what began as brief stops turned into longer visits. Eventually, he settled here for a yearlong stay. Boulder, Marsh said, left a lasting impression — mountains, musicians and all.

“It’s always been a meaningful place for me,” Marsh said. “The community is welcoming, the mountains are beautiful, and it just feels like somewhere I can always return to, creatively.”

For Marsh, the Salina Schoolhouse performance is a way of threading together the many chapters of his musical life.

“In Michigan, I loved blues, rock, jazz, and then I got deeply focused on sitar and learning traditional Indian music,” Marsh said. “So the question became, how do I express all of that as one artist?”

Saturday’s set is his answer. With a lineup that includes sitar, guitar, upright bass, tenor sax and a spread of percussion, Marsh is shaping a sound that moves from Jimi Hendrix to Shankar and back again.

“That’s what this show is about,” he said. “It’s a joy for me, because I get to share so many parts of my musical life, and do it with a really dynamic group of musicians.”

That group (judiciously called the Integration Ensemble) includes some familiar faces and a few new collaborators. Percussionist Zach Hedstrom, a longtime friend from Marsh’s early visits to Boulder, will perform alongside his teacher, Boulder native Jeffrey Rodgers.

Also on the bill is bassist Madeleine Froncek, of the Austin-based band Ley Line, who usually leans bluegrass, but was more than game to swap her cowboy chords for sitar scales. Rounding out the group is tenor saxophonist Ryan O’Malley, who joined Marsh for last year’s Integration Ensemble performance.

As it happens, Hedstrom, Froncek and O’Malley all live in Fourmile Canyon, just up the road from the Salina Schoolhouse, and that geography was part of how Salina Schoolhouse — which rarely hosts performances booked by nonresidents — became the venue.

Tucked into the old mining camp of Salina, about 9 miles up Boulder and Fourmile Canyon, the schoolhouse isn’t normally the kind of venue that shows up on people’s concert calendars. Built in 1886, the one-room spot served local students until 1952, and has since lived a second life as a community gathering space. The building is cared for by the Salina Community Association, a group of local residents who keep its history intact and its doors open.

For Marsh, it’s exactly the kind of venue he’s always gravitated toward. Sitar music, traditionally, was played in rooms small enough for prolonged eye contact and where you would probably brush

shoulders with your neighbor — repeatedly.

“My music tends to be intimate, so a small venue like the schoolhouse really suits it,” he said. “Traditionally, Indian classical music, especially sitar, was performed in small rooms of about 40 people, with everyone sitting on the floor. It’s a tight and intimate setting, and I love that as a performer.”

And while the concert’s sound may span continents, Marsh is less interested in where music comes from than where it takes you.

“I think music is one of the most powerful forces in uniting people, because music has no prejudice,” Marsh said. “I’m a kid from Northern Michigan who plays sitar, and people are often confused by that. But it doesn’t matter where you’re from. It’s not about race or religion. Music doesn’t need to be translated, because it speaks directly to every person. That’s what I believe.”

Will Marsh and the Integration Ensemble perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Salina Schoolhouse, 536 Gold Run Road. Presale tickets are $25, and are $30 at the door. Seating is limited, and securing advance tickets is recommended; find them at tinyurl.com/WillMarshSalina.