For North Carolinian Americana-folk duo Chatham Rabbits, their fanbase means so much more than folks purchasing concert tickets or streaming albums. Since the inception of their ever-evolving music career, Chatham Rabbits’ Sarah and Austin McCombie have kept personal relationships with those who believe in them, wishing fans happy birthdays and hosting events at their farm for their most loyal supporters. For their latest single, “Gas Money,” Sarah started writing the song with one particular fan in mind—an 86-year-old woman from Virginia named Eve.
“Eve and I have been pen pals for six years, ever since she started coming to our very tiny coffee shop shows way back in 2018,” says McCombie. “We send each other snail mail and sometimes she’ll tuck in a $20 bill for me to ‘treat myself.’ Most recently, she wrote to me and included a crisp bill with a sticky note reading ‘gas money for the long road home.’” Sarah immediately knew the poetic line was meant to be in a song and got to writing. “It all came together when I was lamenting on the particular heartbreak I was feeling when I realized I had little to give someone except wishing them well and a little gas money to get them home,” she says.
“This song also encompasses the recklessness of youth that I thought I lost, but found again in my early thirties,” McCombie adds. “Let’s forget what happened, not the way we felt / You remind me, honey, I’m a deep, deep well / I got things nobody knows about me,” she sings over a chugging guitar in the song’s first chorus. “Whatever it was, it woke me up / Pulled me out of the same old rut / I haven’t felt so good and bad in years / But all that I can give you is gas money for the long road home.” “It’s freeing and terrifying, and I’m ultimately a better person for having lived it.”
“Gas Money” is the latest single from Chatham Rabbits’ upcoming album, Be Real With Me, a coming-of-age collection for the band and the fans who’ve grown alongside them—out February 14th. Fans can stream or purchase “Gas Money” today at this link, hear Chatham Rabbits’ previously released singles, “Childhood Friends,” “Matador” and “Collateral Damage,” at their respective links, and pre-order or pre-save Be Real With Me ahead of its Valentine’s Day release right here. Chatham Rabbits hit the road again on February 12th for the Be Real With Me tour. A full list of dates can be found below or at chathamrabbits.com/tour.
About Be Real With Me: Due out on February 14th, 2025, Be Real With Me is more than the vows, banjos, and vintage dresses Chatham Rabbits might have been known for previously. The music can speak for itself, but Sarah is happy to share a little insight into their process and progress. “We got married so young,” she says. “We are simply not the same people we once were because playing music for a living has consumed and transformed us. This lifestyle has presented us with exhausting tour schedules, vulnerable songs that force us to talk about our marriage, difficult business decisions, and the ever-complicated dilemma of mixing art and money and friends and employees.” The result is a universal reckoning with responsibility and growth; two real people spending their lives and careers together and collectively facing the ups and downs of it all.
And fans will hear that growth in the music as well. “We’ve never been a bluegrass band, but, being from NC, we cannot ignore the regional influences all around us,” says Austin. “We sampled organic tones and manipulated them into synth pads and percussive elements on this record. It feels like a natural progression because the foundational components of our music are still there, we’ve just added to it.” Written post-pandemic by Sarah and Austin and recorded over a two-year period at the Studio at Small Pond Farm in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Be Real With Me was co-produced by Austin McCombie and the band's longtime collaborator, Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues, Lou Hazel). On this album, fans will still hear Sarah’s banjo, but right along with it are things like a drum machine, synthesizer, and pedal steel. But it’s the self-reflecting, earnest lyrics that show the most growth from the McCombies.
Be Real With Me Tracklist:
Facing 29
Matador
Gas Money
Childhood Friends
Big Fish, Small Pond
Did I Really Know Him
One Little Orange
Collateral Damage
Pool Shark’s Table
Catch Chatham Rabbits On Tour:
Feb. 12 - Analog at Hutton Hotel - Nashville, TN
Feb. 13 - App Theatre - Boone, NC
Feb. 14 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
Feb. 15 - Eddie’s Attic - Decatur, GA
Feb. 21 - State Theater - Greenville, NC
Feb. 22 - 23 - Haw River Ballroom - Graham, NC
Feb. 27 - Richmond Music Hall - Richmond, VA
Feb. 28 - The Southern Cafe and Music Hall - Charlottesville, VA
March 1 - Jammin’ Java - Washington, DC
March 4 - Joe’s Pub - New York, NY
March 6 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA
March 7 - Back Porch Fest - Northampton, MA
March 8 - The Wood Barn - Exeter, NH
March 9 - Caffe Lena - Saratoga Springs, NY
March 13 - Lyric Theatre - Blacksburg, VA
March 14 - The Burl - Lexington, KY
March 15 - The Monarch Music and Arts Community - Louisville, KY
March 16 - Laurel Theatre - Knoxville, TN
March 27 - Charleston Pour House - Charleston, SC
March 28 - Kenan Auditorium - Wilmington, NC
March 29 - Neighborhood Theatre - Charlotte, NC
For ticket information, please visit chathamrabbits.com/tour.
