Sarah McCombie, one half of Americana duo Chatham Rabbits alongside her husband Austin, is tired of the notion that it’s one or the other; a career or a family, a dream or relationships. “As a woman in her thirties, I am reaching big moments in my career, but I’m just a few years shy of what is considered a geriatric pregnancy,” she says. “How messed up is that? I want to have a badass touring career and keep taking risks, find ways to be deeply creative, and have meaningful relationships, but I also want to have a kid—all without maternal leave, less than desirable healthcare, and a country in which politicians have more say of my body than I do.”
Writing “Collateral Damage” was a perfect storm. I’ve just entered my thirties and I’m feeling the pressure of my career to be sustainable so I can one day have something else I’d like to experience — being a parent. This is a song about wanting the full expanse of your life’s potential, and the ruffling of feathers, reckoning with others and the way you raise hell to get it all.
To top it all off, this song came at a time where I began to really worry about maternal healthcare in the United States, the grim potential of my own health insurance being revoked, and the varying state laws for obstetrics that have had very real consequences for fellow women that tour and play music for a living. I feel that the touring music industry makes it difficult for women to be mothers and if we want it all, we need to buck the niceties and push forwards anyways.
Additional Info about Chatham Rabbits
Sarah McCombie of the North Carolina duo, Chatham Rabbits, is ready for change. “I’m ready for our fans to get to know the people we are now. We’ve grown up together and getting to reveal this album feels like our collective coming of age.”
This declaration is coming from a woman who has spent the past six years building a robust catalog and passionate fanbase within the Americana community with her husband and bandmate, Austin McCombie. A woman who knows there is more to the band’s story than vows, banjos and vintage dresses. The duo has released three albums: All I Want from You (2019), The Yoke is Easy, The Burden is Full (2020), If You See Me Riding By (2022) that nod to the old-time roots of their college stringband pastime, but with their new release Be Real with Me (February 14, 2025), they have grown up.
“These past two years have totally changed us,” describes Austin. “We’re not as bright-eyed and naive as we were when we committed to Chatham Rabbits full-time.” This honesty is the backbone of their fourth studio album. The title is the ask — or rather the plea — Be Real with Me.
As unified as ever being the McCombies, the two have faced challenges within their marriage, an overhaul of faith and belief systems, a global pandemic, three moves, the loss of beloved family pets, and the heartbreak that is unique to getting really real and brutally honest with each other. Austin’s once fair freckled arms are now adorned with tattoos by artists he’s met on the road, and natural elements that bring him joy. Sarah’s closet is still brimming with vintage pieces, but she’s likely to reach for a slip dress at the moment instead.
With their forthcoming fourth release, Sarah is excited for fans to hear the band’s forward momentum. The music speaks for itself.
As Sarah explains, “we got married so young. 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. Ultimately, though, it has been a net positive experience.”
Written post-pandemic by Sarah and Austin and recorded over a two year period at the Studio at Small Pond Farm, in Pittsboro, NC, Be Real With Me was co-produced by Austin McCombie and the band’s longtime collaborator, Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues, Lou Hazel). This record is the band’s “Return of Saturn,” an astrological phenomenon that occurs around the age of 29, when one reevaluates life, and through trial and error, figures out who and what one would like to commit to moving forward. This record is about doing your best and still failing, facing the imposter in the mirror, wanting to be reckless and young while simultaneously mature and maternal. “Matador,” “Gas Money,” “Did I Really Know Him?” and “Collateral Damage” speak to this sentiment directly, particularly the latter that has Sarah grappling with her desire for motherhood and freedom on the road, two goals in polar opposite of each other. That friction can be felt by the listener, especially to someone that also wants two paths in life that are in constant conflict with one another.
“We’ve never been a bluegrass band, but being from NC we cannot ignore the regional influences all around us. 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,” says Austin. On this album, you’ll still hear the banjo (Sarah McCombie), but right along with it is a drum machine (Saman Khoujinian), synth (Saman Khoujinian), and pedal steel (Ryan Stigmon). But it’s the lyrics that show the most maturity.
You can hear the maturity in the topics, but also in the way the message is portrayed. As Sarah sings in “One Little Orange“, a startling tender song about her relationship with her late grandfather, “I just have to trust whatever I’ve been told” and trust me, dear reader, these lyrics hit close to home with their precise word choices, full circle story-telling, and universal themes of the human condition told by way of the songwriter’s specific life experience.
“It makes me fired up to sing about my life and my discoveries. It’s so cathartic,” shares Sarah as she reflects on the future. “There’s a place for Abigail and Bugle Boy,” she says, recalling two of the duo’s earlier songs, “But the songs on Be Real with Me are representative of who we are today.”
