- [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".

[gentle bluegrass music] - We are here at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

- [Announcer] We're here at the Americana Stage, Chatham Rabbits!

[crowd cheers and applauds] [gentle bluegrass music] [water gurgling] - Bringing home our trophy here.

- This is the trophy, man.

- Trophy's coming home.

- This the trophy.

- Holy cow!

[Woody laughs] - Tonight, we're dedicating the amphitheater to Tommy Edwards.

- [Sarah] We're gonna do a tune for Tommy.

♪ Ride in to the dusty town, find yourself a pair ♪ [rhythmic bluegrass music] [upbeat banjo strumming] - 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.

♪ Roosevelt told me that I could get a job with ♪ Thanks, ya'll- - That was just the warm up.

- Just a sound check!

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, aah, no, 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.

- Yeah man.

[group laughing] - The bad.

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

- And the incredible people we meet along the way.

[Sarah cries out] - Oh no, Sarah, give them their baby back.

- Okay.

[Austin laughs] - [Sarah] Woo!

Yes.

[upbeat bluegrass music] - We are here at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

This is the first festival that they've had since the pandemic began.

And so we're really, really excited to finally be here.

We're gonna play three sets today, so it's gonna be a long day, a super fun day, but a long one.

And we're starting off with a set at the Creekside Stage.

Then we head to the Americana Stage with our full band, and we finish it all up at the Traditional Tent with our band as well.

- I'm a little nervous because it's kind of our first big festival back since everything happened with COVID.

- Merlefest is named for Merle Watson, who was the son of famous North Carolinian and flat picking guitar player, Doc Watson.

This festival's over 30 years old now, and it's a huge part of North Carolina roots music traditions.

And it is basically a huge musical family reunion for everyone across the Southeast.

[banjo strumming] We're ready!

Eee!

[upbeat banjo music] ♪ - [Austin] I love it, keeping it nice and neat.

- Hey man, OCD's part of the game here.

- I love that.

That's a sign of a good sound man right there.

♪ Ever would be traveling the highway home ♪ [audience applauds] - Aw, thanks guys- - That was just the warmup.

- [Sarah] Just the sound check!

- And then they discovered after a while how much fun they were having playing and singing and writing songs together.

It was going so well they decided to put this act on the road.

So they acquired a van, and they hit the road on tour, and it was going great guns for them until the plague hit.

Well, this ingenious couple conceived this brilliant idea of how to survive during the plague.

What they did was they took that van, and Austin, being the good NC State engineer that he is, he rigged a bunch of photovoltaic solar cells on top of the van and used it to power their sound system.

They hooked a little flatbed trailer to the back of the thing, and they went around, they went on to social media with this idea.

[upbeat bluegrass music] - Hey y'all, since we're all stuck at home, Austin and I decided to create the stay at home tour where we're gonna bring our van and our trailer to neighborhoods across North Carolina and play concerts just for you.

[upbeat bluegrass music] - It's amazing- - Thank you!

- The younger the kids get, the more money they have, I don't understand, but we do appreciate it.

- Thank you!

- Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Chatham Rabbits!

[audience applauding and cheering] - Applause was, you know, we didn't have it for a long time.

And so when we hear it, it's just incredible now.

[Sarah laughs] So this tune is really special to us.

During the pandemic, so many people reached out and asked how they could help.

There was a couple that reached out, and Sam and Resa are their names.

And Resa said she would like to pay us to write a song for her husband, Sam's birthday.

So they have a little granddaughter, Eleanor, she's nine years old.

And Resa said what she loves about Sam is that Sam never told and never tells Eleanor that she's pretty, and instead says that she's capable, and can do anything she sets her mind to, and really focuses on what's inside.

And we were like, wow, that's just incredible for a grandfather to kinda model that.

And so we wrote this tune about that.

It's called, "You Never Told Me I Was Pretty".

[gentle bluegrass music] ♪ ♪ This song is my letter to you ♪ ♪ When you're old and gray ♪ [gentle bluegrass music] ♪ I hope you'll be around to see ♪ ♪ That I've turned out okay ♪ ♪ You've already done your part, and told me I was smart ♪ ♪ You never told me I was pretty ♪ ♪ And that's all right by me ♪ ♪ Well, I heard it my whole life ♪ ♪ But you had my heart in mind ♪ [gentle bluegrass music] ♪ Maybe you would wish that I would just stay young ♪ ♪ Would come around a little more often ♪ ♪ Be a little less high-strung ♪ [gentle bluegrass music] ♪ And all of your words, my little ears heard ♪ [audience cheers and applauds] - [Austin] Thank you so much.

- Thank you!

Oh my gosh!

Somebody left us donuts.

They got a little worse for the wear.

- I think that's an apple one.

- Oh my gosh, I am more of a old fashioned donut gal myself.

- I think MerleFest was the first time we ever played three sets at one festival in the same day.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

- Yeah, and it was a lot.

[faint talking] - So, so fun, and so triumphant to be there, like after they had to postpone it twice because of COVID.

But if you could say Chatham Rabbits instead of the Chatham Rabbits?

- Gotcha.

- That would be awesome.

- Okay, we're ready.

- [Sarah] And also it was amazing to have our full band with us.

- [Austin] But man, what an honor to be at MerleFest.

- Have fun, and also do good.

- [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, would you please make welcome here at the Americana Stage, Chatham Rabbits!

[audience cheers and applauds] - Hey y'all!

We're so happy to be here!

[audience cheers] [rhythmic bluegrass music] ♪ ♪ Ride into the dusty town, find yourself a pair ♪ ♪ Of oxen, that will take you where ♪ ♪ I have called you to go on down the line ♪ ♪ If you tired, take some fruit from the vine ♪ [rhythmic bluegrass music] ♪ You will find refuge ♪ ♪ You will find strength ♪ ♪ From the one beside you to help and to pull ♪ ♪ The weight ♪ [rhythmic bluegrass music] - I'm so glad you made to this- - What a novel set.

- Thank you.

What's your name?

- Josie.

- Josie?

What a cool name.

And Josie, yeah, you wanna get a picture, Josie?

Yeah?

- Can't smile.

- Yes you can, you look great!

You're awesome.

All right, I'll see you at another concert, okay?

[rhythmic bluegrass music] ♪ [audience cheers and applauds] - Woo!

- All right.

[audience cheers and applauds] - Man, yes, thank y'all!

- Thank you so much.

Within the world of folk music or roots music, playing festivals is such an integral part of becoming a band that's making it.

And MerleFest was totally up there as like one of the top, probably the tops events that we played all year.

♪ If you chase me down the highway and I drove for my life ♪ ♪ Floor it, I drove for my life ♪ ♪ Floor it, I drove for my life ♪ [upbeat bluegrass music] [audience applauding] ♪ And I know my Daddy lives there, but it- ♪ [applause drowns out singing] - The crowds were amazing today.

- Yes.

- I mean, we got a standing ovation at every single performance, and they were just so pumped to be here.

Otherwise, we would not have been able to play three sets.

The only thing I've eaten today is a donut.

- I've eaten half a donut, half a LUNA bar, half of a Bojangles cinnamon biscuit, and some coffee.

So my digestive system and blood sugar is feeling real good right now.

I thought what was neat about today is that we had a really nice combo of fans that we see at lots of shows, and haven't seen for a while, seeing those, and making new fans today.

Like my little friend, Josie, is my new eight-year-old BFF.

Like that was just so fun to connect with folks.

[upbeat bluegrass music] [Sarah singing faintly] - We store our equipment in the bathroom of the van.

[Sarah sighs] What a day.

- What a time!

Playing with a full band, working really hard, and playing with people that we just love outside of music world, just friends of ours, we're so lucky.

[upbeat bluegrass music] [audience cheers] [water gurgling] [gentle acoustic music] - There's just a certain magic to it that's different than regular fishing.

- But once you realize you can just get in and go, and the sounds.

I don't know, something about the environment that you're in.

Trout are amazing, but getting in the river.

- When you can actually.

More than any outdoor activity, for me, I'm just so one with nature and the environment when I'm fly fishing.

It's a beautiful fish right there.

[water gurgling] [gentle acoustic music] When you're out there on a crisp, cool day, it's still, and yet you're hearing this babbling river running through where you're about to go.

And it's just something that I do whenever we're on the road and I have a moment.

If we're playing in the mountains, I can just escape and go fishing.

You are literally connected to that fish once you hook it, you know, from your hand, to the rod, to the fish's mouth.

And I just think there's something about that that is just really, really cool.

[gentle acoustic music] - All right, Austin and I are really excited because we are going to see Woody Platt and Shannon Whitworth.

I guess Austin is like extra, extra excited, because Woody has an incredible honey hole of a trout spot that Austin's gonna get to fish today.

- Oh yeah.

- Woody Platt is an incredible lead singer and guitar player for the band Steep Canyon Rangers.

And then Woody's wife, Shannon, is basically who I wanna be when I grow up.

I mean, she's just like the coolest mom, the coolest wife, the coolest human and artist.

And we just feel lucky we get to be friends with them.

So we're gonna go see them and check out their gorgeous property.

- [Woody] Hey, good morning!

- Hey!

Hi!

- How you doing?

Good to see you guys.

- Thank you so much for having us!

- Here we are.

You know, I met the Chatham Rabbits through a mutual friend, Jerry Brown.

I checked 'em out, skeptically.

And honestly, when I saw their charisma on stage, you know, it was Sarah with her sort of super confidence and Austin with similar confidence, but just sort of, you know, a little bit deferral.

It was just a really cool husband and wife dynamic.

They could literally take the stage, and not play, and just banter, and that's part of a show is what you do between the songs.

- My payment to him was we also both love good bourbon, and bourbon hunting, bourbon is hard to find, good bourbon is hard to find.

- I know how we met.

- How did we meet?

- We owe it to Jerry Brown.

- Oh- - He said, "And they're interested in opening you guys at the North Carolina Museum of Art".

- I remember we pulled up, and you all had your big, awesome tour bus, and we had the little tiny van, and we pulled up and we were like, all right, "Here comes the small fish in the big pond."

And you came out, and you were like, "Man, that van's awesome," and I gave you the tour, and we started talking about fly fishing.

And then it wasn't too long after that that I think I came up here for the first time and started building a little bit more of a relationship outside of music, which is cool.

- Wanna go fishing?

- Let's go fishing, man.

Get our gear on.

- Let's put the waders on, get to it.

- All right.

[gentle folk music] Hopefully I don't make a total fool of myself doing this.

[plastic clicking] [clips snapping] Cheers again, man, we're gonna go get 'em this time.

- There you go.

- Mmm.

[gentle folk music] Is it right there in that far scene- - Just start close, and then you can play the swing.

- Okay.

Fly fishing is probably one of my biggest passions, next to playing music.

I think it's one of the most, just beautiful ways to fish ever.

And trout eat primarily bugs, and so every single river system is different.

You approach the creek, you look at where the fish might be, and you're looking for bugs.

And then you have to pick out a fly to fish for those trout based on what kind of bugs are in that actual body of water at that time of year.

So there's like this whole other angle to it that's not just throwing a bait in the water and hoping a fish bites- - You have to like learn the ecosystem a little bit- - Yeah, you have to be one with nature, it's almost a combination of hunting and fishing.

You know, we use barbless hooks, which means that they don't have anything that will keep the hook in the trout's mouth.

[laughs] Woo!

- Skunk's out of the boat.

- [Austin] Yeah, man!

Heck yeah!

I'm also just really big on taking care of the fish when I catch it, I never keep them, and I wet my hands, and make sure I'm really careful with how I handle them and release them back in the water hopefully to catch again one day.

Tell you what, man, I could fly fish all day long.

This is a blast, even if we only catch a few fish.

[water gurgling] [gentle acoustic music] - Bringing home our trophy here.

- This is the trophy, man.

- Trophy's coming home.

- [Sarah] Woody, you catch that?

- That's a trophy.

- Holy cow.

[Woody laughing] - That's the fish right there, that's a brown trout.

- That is a big boy.

- Yeah, good job, give 'em a little angle to it, tail up and- - Like that right there?

- It's just those kinda things.

- Uh oh!

- I got him, I got him.

- Okay, there we go.

It's a beautiful fish, look at all those spots, man.

- [Woody] Fish in the world right there, big brown.

- [Sarah] That is awesome.

- [Austin] All right, here we go.

- [Sarah] Bye big boy!

- There he goes.

- Know what that deserves?

A big ol' fishin' bear hug.

- Yeah, dude.

[Woody laughing] - That was awesome, man.

- I'ma go get the other rods.

- That's all I came here for.

Thanks Woody!

- Yeah.

- Yeah!

All right, the best day of my life is now complete.

- [Woody] What a finale that was!

- [Sarah] What a finale!

- Man, that was awesome.

- Yeah, that's like getting- - I know people joke around with me because my excitement level is it's hard for me to show how excited I really am.

I'm a 10 out of 10 right now.

- You are?

- So you just have to take my word for it.

I also love that Woody's wife, Shannon, came out and got to play banjo with Sarah a little bit.

She's also an incredible musician.

- Hi!

- I never ever get to play with other women and sing with them, and it's been so long since I've gotten to do that.

Y'all, this is our first time singing and playing together.

- God, I'm just... - Shannon didn't even know she was doing this today, so.

I've been like un-showered, covered in paint in the studio, and varnish- - [Sarah] Woo!

- Okay, so try the- - Okay.

- Do it again, I'll try to just stay underneath you.

♪ So bury me beneath the willow ♪ ♪ Under the weeping willow tree ♪ ♪ So she will know where I am sleeping.

♪ ♪ And perhaps will wait for me ♪ ♪ Tomorrow was to be our wedding ♪ ♪ No, oh where can he be ♪ ♪ He's gone, he's gone to wed another ♪ ♪ And no longer cares for me ♪ ♪ So bury me beneath the willow ♪ ♪ Under the weeping willow tree ♪ ♪ So he will know where I am sleeping ♪ ♪ And perhaps will wait for me ♪ ♪ And perhaps he'll wait for me ♪ [gentle banjo strumming] [bright bluegrass music] - All right y'all, we are here in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

We're here at the new MOSAIC Park, and they just built this amphitheater.

They're still building it, as you're gonna see.

And we're gonna be the first concert here, and tonight we're dedicating the amphitheater to Tommy Edwards, who is one of our icons and musical mentors.

- Yeah, Tommy Edwards was a long time friend of ours.

He sadly passed away earlier this year, and he was an incredible bluegrass guitar player, songwriter, educator, and just all around solid guy.

[gentle bluegrass music] And this is Resa's old van.

They sold us their van- - Yeah!

- And it's our tour van now.

We love it so much.

- We still claim it.

- Okay.

I'll see you in a little bit.

Thanks for being here.

♪ Delight me ♪ - You gotta meet the other half.

I'm not gonna say better half, I'm just kidding.

This is Sam Treadaway, he is Resa's husband, and the inspiration behind the song, "You Never Told Me I Was Pretty".

[gentle bluegrass music] Okay, I have to review what I'm supposed to read, 'cause I'm supposed to introduce Kirk Bradley.

[mandolin strumming] - Feel my lower back hurting just watching him do that.

[both laughing] Stretch more.

[indistinct] [mandolin strumming] - I'm wearing heels!

- This gets all the nervous farts out.

- Woo!

Everybody ready.

- [Both] One, two, three.

- [All] Have fun!

- [Sarah] But also!

- [All] Do good!

- Yes!

- I didn't get the "but also" right.

- You did good.

- That was actually perfect.

- Was that good?

- Finally got it right.

- Woo!

- I would like you all join with me and give a warm Pittsboro welcome.

Let's give it up for Chatham Rabbits!

[audience applauds and cheers] - Thanks for being here, y'all.

[upbeat bluegrass music and singing] ♪ And we ate with our hands ♪ ♪ I'm spending time with you ♪ ♪ And I say what I mean is true ♪ ♪ I'm gonna live life today as my last day ♪ ♪ When I walk in the sweet bye-bye ♪ - I'm so happy to be here tonight, especially with the Chatham Rabbits playing, 'cause Tommy and I both love the Chatham Rabbits.

Thank you for such a meaningful musical tribute and dedication ceremony.

Tommy will live on, as you have honored his life here in Chatham County.

Thank you.

[audience cheers and applauds] - We're gonna do a tune for Tommy.

Thank y'all for joining us!

♪ I been sittin' here thinkin' ♪ ♪ Back over my life ♪ ♪ And all of the good things ♪ ♪ And the trouble and the strife ♪ ♪ My share of heartache, oh, all the many I've tread ♪ ♪ But I still think the good things ♪ ♪ Outweigh the bad ♪ ♪ Well I rock my babies ♪ ♪ At night when they cry ♪ ♪ I see their teardrops ♪ ♪ Turning to smiles ♪ ♪ And that's when I realize ♪ ♪ Oh, all the bad luck I had ♪ ♪ But I still think the good things ♪ ♪ Outweigh the bad ♪ ♪ Well I work- ♪ The thing that I like remember the most fondly about Tommy is that he would always, he was an includer, anybody that wanted to play music, they could play with him.

- Even though he was so good- - He was so, he was so good, yeah.

♪ Clearly only I made ♪ - I was just learning how to play the fiddle, and he was always trying to get me to play the fiddle with him.

And yeah, I mean, I didn't know much about bluegrass music, and Tommy taught me almost everything I know, really.

♪ But I still think the good things ♪ ♪ Outweigh the bad ♪ - Here we go, y'all.

♪ Well I rock my babies ♪ ♪ At night when they cry ♪ ♪ I see their teardrops ♪ ♪ Turn into smiles ♪ ♪ And that's when I realize ♪ ♪ All the bad luck I had ♪ ♪ But I still think the good things ♪ ♪ Outweigh the bad ♪ ♪ Yeah I still think the good things ♪ ♪ Outweigh the bad ♪ [gentle strumming] [audience cheers and applauds] - Thank y'all so much.

- Thanks, y'all, we're Chatham Rabbits!

We'll see you next time.

[audience cheering and applauding] Next time on "On The Road with Chatham Rabbits".

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

- Had to get rain jackets.

Here we go!

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

- Big deal.

- This is the career changing deal right here.

- This is the Cercei's favorite thing, though, more than treats.

[man laughing] - Little gray horse.

- Yeah.

- And we'll take him outside.

- It was really the most encouraging set we've ever played though.

- 'Cause these songs are actually amazing!

[Sarah laughing]