- [Announcer] "On the Road" is a production of PBS North Carolina, in association with Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources - [Narrator] Coming up next on "On the Road" with Chatham Rabbits - [Sarah] We will be living large at the Cracker Barrel in Smithfield tonight.

[rain drips] - I just got an alert on my phone that said that that we should not travel under any conditions.

Whether it's the right time for us to get a booking agent.

- Big deal.

- This is the career changing deal right here.

Little gray horse.

- Yeah [metal clangs] - It was really the most encouraging set we've ever played though.

- These songs are actually amazing.

[woman laughs] [upbeat music] We're Sarah and Austin, and together we're Chatham Rabbits.

♪ I left my home ♪ A few years ago, we quit our nine to five jobs to become full-time musicians.

[upbeat music] ♪ Roosevelt told tell me that I could get a job with ♪ - That was just the warmup.

- Just the soundcheck.

We've recorded multiple full-length albums and we play over 150 shows each year.

Oh, and we happen to own a farm.

Oh, she's gonna get your bumper.

Ah!

No, no, no, no, no, no.

[cow moos] We are going to take you on the road with us for all of it, the good- - Good job, man [men laugh] - [Sarah] The bad.

- I just got an alert on my phone that said that it was an emergency flash flood warning.

- [Sarah] And the incredible people we meet along the way.

♪ Trail to deliver ♪ [Sarah sobs] - Oh no.

Sarah, give them their baby back.

Okay.

[Austin laughs] [music dwindles] - [Sarah] Woo!

[bugs chirp] A common theme in our marriage is Sarah collecting animals.

And I knew this before we got married that this would be, you know, my parents always said, "You're not gonna change the person that you marry.

You just have to know the quirks and just accept them."

- Accept it.

Good girl!

Yay!

- Whoa!

One of the quirks I knew I'd have to accept is that we would have a lot of animals, and probably animals with issues.

Sarah loves a good down-trodden dog that's got fleas and a couple medical problems and we take them under our wing.

She takes them under her wing, more likely.

- [Sarah] Yes.

- And is that gonna be a problem?

[bird chirps] - It's just a little songbird.

[upbeat music] All right.

Breakfast time.

These eggs really are the best, the best eggs ever.

They're so yellow.

To go outside and spend quiet time with the animals, it's a lot of work.

It ain't a cheap hobby but it's what really fuels us and helps us continuing to get out on the road and write new songs and just find solitude.

It has been amazing.

- There you go.

Well, that's pretty gross.

[upbeat music] You wanna lick my hand?

[Austin laughs] Good boy.

- This is very special, only once a year, but now we have figs.

- I wanna make a simple syrup out of these and- - [Sarah] Make a bourbon.

- [Sarah] Make a cocktail out of them.

- Bourbon fig cocktail.

- Mm.

That smells so good.

- They're really good.

Ruby, you want one more fig?

This one already had an ant in it.

Come here.

Can you sit?

Sit.

Good girl.

[both laugh] - [Austin] Come on.

- That's how she sits.

When we go on tour, there's a lot of prep that has to happen, even if it's like a weekend run of shows or we're gone for a month.

We have to coordinate all of our animal sitters, we have to make sure that vet contact is here, all the food and medication and everything that all the different animals need is ready to go and easy to find.

[motor rumbles] Hey girls!

Look at little Nug.

[upbeat music] Hi.

- I've never in my life seen a cow that's like that.

Sarah just walks right up to him and hand feeds them.

- Hey, Nugget Are you still being antisocial?

This is Cerces' favorite thing, more than treats.

[upbeat music] [Austin laughs] You gonna go see them?

Oh, she wants this.

Okay.

[upbeat music] She loves- [upbeat music] - Platoon, come here.

Come here, Platoon.

Good girl, Platoon.

Good girl.

- Does that feel good?

- Good girl.

Oh yeah.

That's the pets.

- Oh yeah!

- That's what she's looking for.

[Sarah laughs] - Bye, ladies.

[upbeat music] I mean, I would be.

They're big.

If you don't... [gentle music] Woo!

- All right.

[Sarah laughs] [gentle music] - Horses are beautiful, but they also are 800 pounds and have to have their shoes done or their feet trimmed every eight weeks, and they have to have a vet, and horses are notorious for just injuring themselves.

And I remember, last year, we were about to go out of town and one of our horses stepped on something that poked through the sole of his hoof.

We're driving to a gig, I'm on the phone with the farrier, trying to figure that out.

It's just always something.

So it brings me a fair amount of anxiety but to be a cheesy Chatham Rabbit say, "The good things outweigh the bad."

All right.

Hey, Greg.

[Sarah laughs] I'm great.

Thanks for being here and helping out.

So this is Greg Brittenham.

He is our awesome farrier.

He comes every six to eight weeks and trims our horses hooves.

And Waylan and I are going on a big trail ride on Monday with a friend, and so Waylan is getting shoes put on today 'cause we're gonna be going over some rocky terrain.

And of course, Waylan, as always, is being a perfect gentleman.

- So we'll do that.

Let's trim that little gray horse.

- Yeah.

- And we'll take him outside.

- Okay.

That sounds good.

Did you already get Wojo knocked out?

Dang!

You're so fast.

- This is like when you clip your fingernails - [Sarah] Does that feel weird?

- [Greg] But for a hoof, or for a horse.

Pretty neat.

[metal clangs] - Hey, Petunia.

[metal clangs] [gentle music] - [Austin] Our new record that's coming out, there's probably three songs that reference horses and a lot of that's just because what we've been doing.

- Yeah.

- Riding them and just having that time to think.

There's something really comforting about riding an animal that, at any second, could buck you off and you could get seriously injured, but they choose not to.

They take care of you.

And that's just like, there's something spiritually connected about that that they just want to protect you and take care of you.

[gentle music] [file grinds] [gentle music] - Thank you so much, Greg.

You're the best.

[gentle music] Oh, she's gonna get your bumper!

Ah!

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Oh, she already has.

[cow moos] - You caught it just in the right nick of time.

[Sarah laughs] [cheerful music] Golly!

[cheerful music] Up until now, Sarah has been booking all of our shows, which is honestly probably one of the hardest things that we do, outside of playing the shows and writing the songs.

- It's definitely time consuming.

- And it's the way that we make our income is booking shows.

And we've been looking for the right fit for a booking agent to handle all of our booking for us.

That's a huge deal as a band to sign with a booking agent.

And we're having a discussion with someone who wants to be our booking agent today.

[upbeat music] The nerve wracking part has been just all of the talks we've had with him and with each other about whether it's the right time for us to get a booking agent.

What does it mean financially for us, if we get a booking agent?

- But it's just a big deal to hand off part of your baby.

- Yeah.

We're such a small business right now.

We don't have anybody that's a salaried part of our team or a core part of our business.

And this is the first step for us to release control.

- But we gotta do it.

- This is the career changing deal right here.

- Whoa.

- Whoa.

That's a lot of chest hair.

- Wow!

- There we go.

- There we go.

- That's more business professional.

[Austin chuckles] - What is up?

- There he is.

- Hey, guys.

How's it going?

- It's going.

- Good, man.

Nice.

- We are super pumped to meet with you.

Austin and I have talked and we've talked a bunch and we really think you're a great fit for us, Chandler.

- As an agent.

I think what makes your show so special is, obviously, the music, but the banter and the way you guys bring the audience in.

- Honestly, the reason why this feels so good is because we didn't reach out to you about, we didn't reach out to you about being our agent.

You reached out to us.

- Let's get to work here.

- Yay!

- Heck yeah.

- Thank you so much.

We're so excited!

- Likewise!

- Woohoo!

- Worth doing.

Best of luck.

Y'all have a good weekend.

- All right.

You too.

- All right, man.

- Bye.

- See ya.

- See you guys later.

- Yay!

- Woo!

After all these years of doing this on our own, it's just wild to have somebody that's gonna be the middle man and an advocate for us out there in the world and help us reach beyond North Carolina and go out west and go up to the northeast and it's just- - Yeah.

[upbeat music] Okay.

Should I bring this as an option?

Are we moving away from that?

- I would just bring some shirts that you wanna wear with your jeans.

You could wear it.

- This is a great dress.

- It's just gonna be hot.

- Oh, I know what to do.

I have a new dress I have not worn yet.

- [Austin] I can't forget my camo Crocs.

- Wow.

- [Sarah] Very nice.

- These are my car shoes.

Sarah would never, ever, ever ever let me wear these on stage.

Would you?

- No.

Oh my gosh!

We would be done.

These are my car shoes, Birkenstocks.

[material rustles] Okay.

Last thing.

I'm gonna pack my business stuff.

So All right, Austin and I are on our way to answer.

[upbeat music] All right.

[upbeat music] Austin and I are on our way to Angier.

We're playing a house concert series there tonight.

Then tonight, we're spending the night in our van in the Cracker Barrel parking lot.

And then tomorrow, we play at Oriental, North Carolina.

[upbeat music] [car door clicks] Hey, Austin.

Are we gonna do a single mic setup?

As musicians, there's so much driving, so much time on the phone - Waking up in the Cracker Barrel parking lots, lugging our gear.

- Yeah.

- Honestly, we probably spend just as much time on stage as we do lugging our equipment around all over the country.

- [Sarah] Exactly.

[Sarah laughs] - Yeah.

- Good to see you guys.

Thanks for being here.

- Indeed.

- You're gonna see us three times in the end.

- Yes - Crazy!

It's so good to see you.

- Excited.

- We're very, very glad to have Sarah and Austin here, the Chatham Rabbits.

So thank you for following them out.

They're gonna be one longer set tonight, but Chatham Rabbits.

- Woohoo!

[crowd applauds] - Wow!

We feel really at home here, knowing a calf could drop any second.

[crowd laughs] And there's pigs, there's animals.

- Also, if you've been out to our house, you know that this barn is very similar to the one at our house.

So we feel right at home here.

- We were tired of having shows where people came to our house, so we told them to build one of these here.

- Yeah.

[laughs] - We wouldn't have to do it anymore.

- So thanks, Beth and Rex, for doing that.

[guitar strums] Ready?

[upbeat music] ♪ I left my home ♪ ♪ Playing with a song ♪ ♪ On my lips ♪ ♪ Miss Rosabelle told me ♪ ♪ That I could get a job with horses ♪ ♪ Well, I set out down the Tomahawk trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ [crowd applauds] [Sarah laughs] - Thanks, y'all.

And last night, we played in this gorgeous opera house in Bishopville, South Carolina.

Tomorrow night, we're an Oriental.

So we will be living large at the Cracker Barrel in Smithfield tonight.

All right, y'all.

Thank you so much.

♪ Temporary home ♪ ♪ To God's golden shore ♪ ♪ We'll be together ♪ ♪ When He opens the door ♪ ♪ Well, I love my home ♪ ♪ But it's temporary ♪ [music concludes] [crowd cheers] - Thank y'all so much!

We're gonna hang out and hang out with y'all for a little while.

Thank y'all so much.

[crowd cheers] [upbeat music] Yeah.

- Yes, we are still the ones rolling our cables.

I have rolled about a zillion cables in my day.

- Oh my god!

[people chatter] - Do you need a hand with that?

- Oh, I'm fine.

- Please, let me help.

- Okay!

Okay, I'll go grab one more thing.

If you wanna follow Austin.

I won't say no to that.

[Sarah laughs] [door slams] [gentle music] [door slams] - When we are on the road, we have our home away from home, which is our tour van.

We'll kind of like joke about it on stage, like, "We have this van we're gonna stay in," and people always invite us, like, "You should come stay at our house."

It probably sounds like we're really rough in it, but we love staying in our van.

We stay a lot in Cracker Barrel parking lots and Cracker Barrels across the country have a little lot out back that is specifically for over-nighters.

I think people don't realize that Cracker Barrel, it's a thing here.

They encourage you to park overnight because then you go and eat breakfast and get 10% off.

[Sarah yawns] Somebody is very tired.

Okay.

So that's kind of- - Our thing.

- Our thing.

Yeah, is to stay in those parking lots.

And we really enjoyed it.

Most of the time, it's great.

Do you have toothpaste?

- [Sarah] Yes, I do.

My stuff back here.

It's in my thingy, over here.

[toothbrush scratches] [both giggle] [gentle music] - All right.

[gentle music] Ready for bed.

[both laugh] Woohoo!

[gentle music] Ta-da!

- That's the routine.

[Sarah laughs] [rain drips] Yeah, I just got an alert on my phone that said that it was an emergency flash flood warning and that we should not travel under any conditions.

- I don't want our driving through this.

- Dylan's gonna be here in 30 minutes and then we're supposed to ride together.

Okay, So I think we should definitely call Spencer.

- Okay.

I'm gonna call him - And tell Spencer not to come.

- It is flooding up to the door of our van.

I just don't really think it'll be worth your time to come.

Okay.

He's already on 70.

- Oh, okay.

Yeah.

I know.

We should have brought some oars with us, apparently.

[Sarah laughs] Well, it's gonna be a bonding experience then, I suppose.

This is gonna be a wild ride.

Well, our band mates are very positive.

They're ready to go.

- I love that.

I love that so much.

- We just woke up five minutes ago.

We woke up and there was water.

I guess we must have parked in the lowest lot and we didn't notice.

We got there late at night.

We woke up and it was a torrential downpour and we were supposed to play an outdoor festival that day, and we had Dylan, our sound guy, and another band mate coming, and we had to make a call of like, "All right.

Are they still gonna come to the show and be with us?

Or is it gonna, I don't know, get canceled?"

- We're gonna move the car.

- Oh yeah.

We gotta get some coffee - And I need coffee.

That's why I'm already chugging something.

I just need to feel alive.

- Luckily, I brought my Crocs, right?

- Yeah.

- My road shoes.

We basically treat Cracker Barrel like a hotel.

We bring our toiletries in there.

- Yep.

Here we go.

[both squeal] [door slams] - But we did still make time to go inside and eat at Cracker Barrel.

- That's right.

- Because it was Dylan's first, he had never been to Cracker Barrel.

- He had never, but he's from Vermont.

Yeah.

- We have got to be better about that.

- Because [indistinct] of course, you're gonna- - and biscuits.

[people chatter] - And hot sauce.

- You're gonna encourage me to get Turkey sausage?

- I am.

I always do my makeup in Cracker Barrel.

It's normally a very quiet, peaceful place to just set out my stuff on the baby changing table.

But that morning, it was- - Ugh, that's kind of gross.

- I'll sanitize.

I wipe it.

- Okay.

- But that morning, it was really busy and people were like, "What are you doing in here?"

But that's where I brush my teeth.

[upbeat music] - What are y'all doing?

- [Sarah] We are filming a documentary.

- [Woman] Victoria?

- It's just ChathamRabbits.com - I will look it up!

- Uh huh.

But yeah, this is what we do.

And that's where I put on my foundation on.

- On the baby changing table.

- And it's got pretty good light, so it works.

It works.

It's my home away from home and I feel very comfortable in a Cracker Barrel parking lot and bathroom.

[case clicks] All right.

[ladies chatter] We even had to go into this random outlet store to buy rain jackets 'cause we didn't bring any.

- We didn't bring any gear that we needed.

- We were dumb.

It is a torrential downpour outside.

We had to get rain jackets.

All right.

- Let's go swimming.

- Let's go swimming [laughs] [gentle music] Here we go.

[gentle music] So we ended up making the gig and everybody was safe and it worked out, but it was definitely a chaotic scene.

[rain pours] - We were hoping that the rain would hold off, but we just got to Oriental and it is pretty freaky rainy.

- You just cannot make this stuff up, y'all.

You cannot make it up.

No, just don't- - Festival, baby.

- [Austin] Hey, we're Chatham Rabbits.

- [Man] Huh?

- [Austin] We're Chatham Rabbits, the band that's playing up here at two.

- Oh.

[Sarah laughs] Okay.

I'm not here to stop anybody.

- Oh, okay.

- Oh!

Okay.

- [Austin] Just making sure.

- I think we learned a lesson to be a little bit more prepared when it comes to weather.

- It was honestly, we probably sounded the worst we've sounded in a long time, or if not ever, because the speakers were covered in tarps.

It was muffle-y and it was raining.

Even the rain affects the sound quality.

- I thought we were gonna get electrocuted on stage 'cause there were just all these cords and just big puddles of water.

But we had so many dedicated fans.

Their little ponchos and their umbrellas and their rain coats and they just stayed for the whole set.

[people chatter] - Woo!

- Please, enjoy.

And thank you again for being here.

I give you Chatham Rabbits!

[crowd cheers] - Woo!

- We have some die hards out there today.

Oh yeah.

We're gonna play this tune about how we quit our day jobs to play music for a living.

Normally, I would say we made a great choice, but... No, I'm just kidding.

We made a great choice.

[guitar strums] This one's called "Hinges."

[guitar and banjo strum] I should have asked y'all.

Did we make a great choice?

[crowd cheers] - Wow!

- That's what we're looking.

We need all the applause we can get right now.

- Do not inflate his ego, okay?

- When we pile back into that van, soaking wet, and we head to the Cracker Barrel and we're like, "What in the world are we doing with ourselves?"

We're gonna remember this moment.

It's all worth it.

[guitar strums] - One, two, three.

- You ready?

[upbeat music] ♪ Like an unburnt candle.

♪ ♪ You're a piece of art ♪ ♪ It's time to like flame ♪ ♪ Let it melt your heart ♪ ♪ What good is potential ♪ ♪ Without a force to move ♪ ♪ I promise not to hurt you ♪ ♪ Leave you black and blue ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ I wanna come to your house ♪ ♪ And track my dirt behind ♪ ♪ So everybody knows ♪ ♪ That you are mine ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ Mud in the hallway ♪ ♪ Cobwebs on the door ♪ ♪ Means that we have time ♪ ♪ To make love even more ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ Let the rain drip in the van ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ Let the dust settle on my hard pine floor ♪ ♪ Let the hinges creak in the door ♪ - Hey, Sonia!

Wanna come sing with us?

Come on!

You can do it!

Yes!

Come on!

[crowd cheers] [upbeat music] And then, the best part was I spotted this little girl in the audience, and we've met her a few times.

Her dad brings her and her fourth grade friends to our shows and she was singing every single word to our song "Hinges."

And I was like, "Sonia, come up and sing with us."

And at first she was like, "No, don't make me.

I don't want to."

But I encouraged her and she finally came up on stage and passionately sang it into the microphone.

- [Austin] That was really cool.

- [Sarah] So sweet.

♪ Down the line ♪ - Here we go.

Get up close.

♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ ♪ Let the rain drip in the van ♪ ♪ Let the dust settle on the hard pine floor ♪ ♪ Let the hinges creek in the door ♪ - Give it up for Sonia!

- Yeah!

[crowd cheers] [upbeat music] This is the part where you just get to hang out with us on stage.

[upbeat music] ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ [crowd cheers] - This is where you have to bow.

You ready?

Give it up for Sonia!

[crowd cheers] [gentle music] - Thank you guys for coming out again.

- Is it good?

- Yeah, we did silos.

- Two down, one to go.

- Yes!

- You sounded great.

- Thank you so much.

Thanks for coming out.

I wasn't even [indistinct] - At first, I was like, "Who are these weirdos liking?"

And then I was like, "Oh!

Okay!

These songs are actually amazing!"

[Sarah laughs] - Wow.

- These weirdos, and now, you actually approve.

- We are still weirdos though, which is totally cool.

It's okay to be weird.

It rained the entire time we play, like poured rain.

- It was really the most encouraging set we've ever played though because we had a really great audience.

I think sometimes a little bit of adversity really adds to an experience.

- My favorite part about the whole thing is we have a group of kids that all go to school together and I saw them today.

She knew every word of "Hinges" and that just made my day.

- It's these little moments that make you realize why we're doing this for a living.

- [Sarah] You're so welcome!

What'd you guys think?

Next time on "On the Road with Chatham Rabbits."

♪ You after the show ♪ - One of the things I really miss, My favorite thing about playing music is meeting people and getting to know y'all.

Hello!

- What's up?

A Chatham Rabbit?

- Don't forget a tail.

A tail!.

It's little tail.

- [Grandmother] There are no records that show that- - She's still talking.

You might wanna do this again.

- [Grandmother] Am I supposed to be out here?

Hello.

Hello.

- Hey, grandmother.

I have some projects.

- Well, the fun part's already done.

Picking out the fabric.

- Picking out the out the fabric.

[sewing machine whirs] I would literally give anything to be able to do this.

You go, girl!

♪ This year ♪ - I have to be that.

I have to join the adult version.

♪ Well, I don't read your- ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ I left my homeland ♪ ♪ With a song ♪ ♪ On my lips ♪ ♪ Cause' Roosevelt told me that I could get a job with horses ♪ ♪ But I said, come Abby dear with your books on each side ♪ ♪ Balance you out and a-steady your ride.

♪ ♪ Oh, and I set out ♪ ♪ Down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ ♪ And I set out ♪ ♪ Down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪