Chatham Rabbits are the subject of a new PBS NC series. How to watch the music duo.
It’s been about four years since Sarah and Austin McCombie resigned from their jobs — she was a Montessori teacher in Durham, he was a financial advisor — to pursue their dream of making and playing bluegrass, folk and old-time music full-time.
Since then, the husband-and-wife duo, known as Chatham Rabbits, have released three albums and traveled across North Carolina and the U.S. on tour, all while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways it turned the live music industry on its head.
Despite that road bump, the Chatham Rabbits don’t seem to be slowing down.
They’re set to release a new album this June, and they’re also venturing into a new territory: television.
The duo is the focus of a new PBS North Carolina series, “On the Road with Chatham Rabbits,” that will chronicle the couple’s journey as they craft songs, care for their small Chatham County farm and navigate their relationship as up-and-coming musicians. The show will premiere May 5.
Ahead of the show’s premiere, The News & Observer caught up with the music duo to learn more about their life as musicians and what viewers can expect from the show.
Here’s what to know about “On the Road with Chatham Rabbits,” including how to watch.
Pursuing the dream of full-time music
The McCombies’ journey to becoming Chatham Rabbits was documented early on by “My Home, NC,” a PBS North Carolina series that highlights unique and important voices in hometowns across the state.
The 2018 segment showed the two working on their first album and navigating their new lives since quitting their jobs: living and breathing music, and preparing to sell their Chatham County house so they could hit the road for a tour.
That debut album, “All I Want From You,” came out in early 2019, featuring 10 songs that showcased the duo’s new take on old-time sounds. When they talked with The N&O about the album back in 2019, they were just “stepping into what it means to be the Chatham Rabbits,” Austin McCombie said at the time.
If they were just stepping into it all then, by most accounts, they’ve now settled into the role, having released multiple albums, toured across the country and cultivated a dedicated fan base in the years since.
But the process of getting to this point likely looked different than they ever imagined it would.
The McCombies were on the road in Nevada, picking up a new tour van, as the COVID-19 pandemic set in. They were about to go on tour to promote their second studio album, “The Yoke Is Easy, the Burden Is Full,” and had their “full band geared up and everybody ready to go,” Austin McCombie told The N&O in a recent interview.
Then, “everything was canceled, and it sort of all happened at once,” Austin McCombie said.
Pivoting during the pandemic
The pandemic, which shuttered music venues and brought live, in-person performances to a halt, could have ended their dreams, sending them back to their previous lives as a teacher and financial advisor.
Instead, though, the duo got creative — not giving up on their dream, but instead setting out for the self-dubbed “Stay At Home Tour” that saw them traveling around the state, playing live concerts on a trailer hooked to the back of their tour van as they drove through neighborhoods at a safe social distance.
The duo had always been intentional about cultivating a connection with their fans, honoring the idea that support from others — through buying and listening to their music, or purchasing tickets to see them play live — is a lifeline for keeping their dream afloat.
Those bonds were only made stronger by the pandemic-style tour.
“The Stay At Home Tour was possible because fans can relate to us, I think, and feel like they know who we are, and therefore feel comfortable inviting us to their neighborhood,” Sarah McCombie said.
That level of comfort continues today, as fans are often known to open up their homes to the duo as they travel on tour, offering a place to stay for a night or two at a time.
It’s an offer that’s always appreciated, with the duo playing about 150 shows per year, as Sarah says in the trailer for their new show (that number that doesn’t include any days they’re traveling from venue to venue or rehearsing).
In the midst of it all, the pair manage to also run a small farm at their home in Chatham County, and they’ve even built an in-house outdoor performance venue, The Burrow, to host concerts.
And somehow, they also find the time to record music in the studio, and their newest album — “If You See Me Riding By” — is set to release June 3. They’ll follow that release with three album release concerts across the state.
“These shows are going to be full band, like people will get to hear the songs like they’re hearing them on the album — really full, really lush,” Sarah McCombie said.
“And all the shows are all ages, so you can bring your 5-year-old, or bring your 95-year-old grandma. And we’re just so, so excited to get to perform these songs for people.”
Going ‘On the Road with Chatham Rabbits’
The television series “On the Road with Chatham Rabbits” picks up with the duo’s journey in the second half of last year, with filming beginning in late August and running through December, as they toured and played music across the state.
The show features most aspects of the couple’s lives, from creating and crafting music, to running their small farm, to traveling on tour, to operating the business aspects behind it all.
In the season opener, set to air May 5, the duo has a homecoming of sorts, playing a show at the Bynum General Store in Chatham County, then paying a visit to their old home — the one they mentioned selling during their first-ever PBS appearance, back in 2018. Viewers will also get a glimpse into the Rabbits’ farm in Siler City, where they keep a “menagerie of animals” including cows, horses and a turkey named Cornbread.
Later episodes feature the duo setting out for a recent round of touring, playing shows to audiences large and small at famed North Carolina events such as MerleFest and the State Fair. Along the way, they navigate the challenges of life on the road, including facing a flash flood as they sleep in their tour van in a parking lot, and embrace joys such as making new friends.
“The people we meet, that’s probably some of the most interesting aspects of our career,” Austin McCombie said.
Viewers will also get a sense of the McCombies not just as musicians, but as people, as Austin fly fishes for trout in Episode 2 with friend and musician Woody Platt of Steep Canyon Rangers, and Sarah pays a visit to her grandmother in Episode 4 to get some sewing tips.
And, of course, with fans always at the heart of what they do, viewers will get a glimpse into the tight-knit Chatham Rabbits community — along with an implied, open welcome to become part of it themselves.
“I hope it is just a comforting watch for our current fans,” Sarah McCombie said. “And I really hope that it’s exciting and interesting to people that might be just flipping through the channel, or just might be curious about us.”
How to watch ‘On the Road with Chatham Rabbits’
“On the Road with Chatham Rabbits” premieres Thursday, May 5, at 8 p.m. on PBS NC. New episodes will air each Thursday in May.
▪ In the Triangle, you can find PBS NC on channel 1221 on Spectrum, and channel 389 on DirecTV and channel 4 on DISH.
The show will also be available for streaming, allowing viewers to watch from anywhere, including outside of North Carolina.
▪ You can stream the show online at video.pbsnc.org/show/on-the-road and on the PBS Video app, which you can download at pbs.org/pbs-video-app.
PBS NC will also offer a sneak peek of the series in a free virtual screening on Tuesday, May 3, at 7 p.m.
▪ After the screening, Chatham Rabbits will perform a mini-concert and take part in a Q&A session.
▪ The sneak peak screening is free, but you must register to receive the link. Learn more and register at pbsnc.org/watch/on-the-road.
Learn more about Chatham Rabbits
You can learn more about Chatham Rabbits, their music and upcoming shows at chathamrabbits.com.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 10:35 AM.
