Like many musicians, the Forlorn Strangers draw inspiration from dead people. The grave-digging troubadours from Nashville take the bones of 20th-century American roots music to create a Frankenstein of sentient acoustic-based offerings. Their 2015 release, “American Magic Tricks,” is a history lesson in timeless resonance. Songs such as the speedy Stanley Brothers workout “Wanderin’ Blues” and the “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”-inspired meditation, “Measure Me Up,” straddle past and present as invocations of stringed, front-porch ritual. The male and female dynamic is at the root of the group’s homespun appeal, giving each tune its core melodic and lyrical shape and color. Best experienced live, the Forlorn Strangers bring their modern little cabins on the hill to Cary Street Café on Friday, June 3. Show time is at 10 p.m. Admission is $7.