>> Welcome to Music at the Museum coming to you from the galleries at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.

We're proud to be the home of the people's art collection.

Presented with PBS NC and Come Here NC, this musical series show cases North Carolina bands that represent our state's rich musical landscape.

The artists you'll enjoy today share their stories through music.

Join us now from the North Carolina Museum of Art in celebrating their sound and supporting their work.

[soft music] - Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.

- Hi everyone, we're Chatham Rabbits.

My name is Sarah, and this is my husband Austin.

We are from Chatham County, North Carolina, and we're so excited to be here at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

And we're so thrilled to be doing this concert also sponsored by Come Hear NC and PBS North Carolina.

We're gonna play y'all one of our new tunes, it's actually something we wrote during quarantine of this past year.

And it was after we learned about this really, really interesting program that was started by Franklin Roosevelt back in the 1930s.

He actually started this federal program that hired women who had their own horses and mules to carry library books into the rural mountain communities of Kentucky and West Virginia.

And I just thought that was so cool.

Very inspiring to write a song about.

- [Austin] Sarah's dream job.

- It is my dream job, I love horses, I love books, and so we wrote a song about it.

This is a song about a girl and her horse, and we call it "Abigail".

[upbeat folk music] ♪ I left my homeland ♪ With a song on my lips ♪ 'Cause Roosevelt taught me ♪ That I could get a job with horses ♪ ♪ Well I'd always been ♪ One of the herd ♪ My own mare I did tame ♪ But I never learned to read and write ♪ ♪ I could barely even spell my own name ♪ ♪ But I said come, Abby dear, ♪ Let the books on each side ♪ Balance you out, and steady I'll ride ♪ ♪ And I set out down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ ♪ Well we splashed through the creeks so wide ♪ ♪ And the valleys so deep ♪ And every night I would flip through the pages ♪ ♪ On her belly I would sleep ♪ And then I held her hoof as the heat set in ♪ ♪ When she foundered in the field ♪ ♪ And I wrapped it with herbs ♪ Like the old timer said ♪ And she began to heal ♪ And I said come, Abby dear ♪ With the books on each side ♪ Balance you out ♪ And steady I'll ride ♪ And I set out down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ ♪ Well we took those books into towns ♪ ♪ And the hollers every day ♪ Just to give those folks a place to go ♪ ♪ And a chance to get away ♪ And though I was a book lady ♪ I never did learn to read ♪ But I was smarter than the mountains around ♪ ♪ 'Cause I had Abby next to me ♪ And I said come, Abby dear ♪ With the books on each side ♪ Balance you out ♪ And steady I'll ride ♪ Oh I set out down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ ♪ Yeah I set out down the Tomahawk Trail ♪ ♪ To deliver the books on Abigail ♪ [gentle folk music] ♪ Like an unburned candle ♪ You're a piece of art ♪ But it's time to light the flame ♪ ♪ And let it melt your heart ♪ What good is potential ♪ Without a force to move ♪ I promise not to hurt you ♪ Or leave you black and blue ♪ I wanna come to your house ♪ And track my dirt behind ♪ So everybody knows ♪ That you are mine ♪ Mud in the hallway ♪ Cobwebs on the door ♪ Means that we have time ♪ To make love even more ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ ♪ Let the rain drip in the pan ♪ Let the dust settle on the hard pine floor ♪ ♪ Let the hinges creak in the door ♪ ♪ We'll spend half our life ♪ Sleeping in the dark ♪ Make this ol' world better ♪ Be sure to leave your mark ♪ Let's ride into the sunset ♪ Leave the green behind ♪ We can find more somewhere ♪ Further on down the line ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ ♪ Let the rain drip in the pan ♪ Let the dust settle on the hard pine floor ♪ ♪ Let the hinges creak in the door ♪ ♪ Don't move a muscle ♪ Unless it's north to south ♪ Say yes to me darlin' ♪ Kiss my dirty mouth ♪ Promise I will show you ♪ A world that's sure to please ♪ ♪ Cut the ties that hold you back ♪ ♪ And feel the sweet release ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ ♪ Let the rain drip in the pan ♪ Let the dust settle on the hard pine floor ♪ ♪ Let the hinges creak in the door ♪ ♪ Let this old house fall to pieces ♪ Thanks for watching y'all, we sure appreciate it.

This past year, well, it's really been like 16 months, has been super weird for all of us.

I know I'm stating the obvious, but I think a lot of us have found ways to kind of pivot and try new things and figure out new ways of making a living or living our lives.

And Austin and I had kind of an interesting experience during the pandemic.

We'd just bought this nine passenger tour van.

We actually went out to Las Vegas on March 3rd of 2020 to purchase it.

- It's like buying a beach house in 2007.

- Yeah, it was a terrible business plan or decision, but we didn't know it at the time.

So we brought this thing, this whole bus home, all of our shows were canceled, and Austin had this great idea to put solar panels on the top of the van and buy a utility trailer where we could run our whole sound system off of it, and we could stand on it and go to neighborhoods across North Carolina and play.

So we ended up playing like a hundred plus neighborhoods in North Carolina doing this, and it really kept us going throughout the pandemic.

The other thing that kept us going was people, just fans of ours, reaching out and saying, "Hey, how can we help you?

What can we hire you to do?"

And one of our fans named Risa, she lives in Concord, North Carolina.

She wrote to us and said, "I'd like to hire you to write a song for my husband's birthday."

So we thought that was great.

We interviewed her, she gave us a super long list of all the things that she loves about her husband and like-- - I hope you would do the same if someone interviewed me, I mean, interviewed you.

[Sarah laughs] - I've been, interviewed me about you.

Yes, I would, you have a lot of great qualities.

[laughs] - Okay, good.

- But the thing about Risa and talking about her husband that really stuck out to us is she said that her husband, Sam, would always tell their granddaughter that she was smart and she was brave, and he didn't really focus ever on saying, "Oh, you're so pretty, you're so cute."

She just, he really focused on what was inside, and we just thought that was a gorgeous sentiment, and we wrote a song about it for Sam's birthday of last year.

We're gonna play it for you now.

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

Ready?

[calm guitar music] ♪ This song is my letter to you ♪ ♪ When you're old and gray ♪ I hope you'll be around to see ♪ ♪ That I turned out okay ♪ You've already done your part ♪ ♪ You told me I was smart ♪ You never told me I was pretty ♪ ♪ That's all right by me ♪ I heard it my whole life ♪ You had my heart in mind ♪ Maybe you could see ♪ That I had the grandest dreams ♪ ♪ Because of you I looked ♪ In the mirror and I believed ♪ You made me feel so safe ♪ When you told me I was brave ♪ You never told me I was pretty ♪ ♪ That's all right by me ♪ I heard it my whole life ♪ You had my heart in mind ♪ And maybe you would wish ♪ That I would just stay young ♪ Would come around a little more often ♪ ♪ Be a little less high-strung ♪ You held me 'til I was grown ♪ Now I hold my own ♪ You never told me I was pretty ♪ ♪ That's all right by me ♪ I heard it my whole life ♪ You had my heart in mind ♪ In all of your words ♪ My little ears heard [upbeat jazz music] ♪ I'm gonna stay in my lane ♪ Hope you'll do the same ♪ Never gonna walk a mile in your shoes ♪ ♪ I'm gonna hold my own road ♪ Do the same I hope ♪ Never gonna try to paint your sky blue ♪ ♪ I said, now people always talkin' 'bout ♪ ♪ What they would do ♪ If they were you ♪ They're just talkin', baby ♪ What they don't realize ♪ Everyone's been personalized ♪ Uh-huh ♪ I'm gonna stay in my lane ♪ It ain't gonna be no shame ♪ Gonna take control while I do ♪ ♪ I'm gonna hold my own road ♪ You'll do the same I hope ♪ Never gonna try to paint your sky ♪ ♪ Paint your sky blue ♪ I said, now people always talkin' 'bout ♪ ♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪ People always talkin' bout ♪ What they would do if they were you ♪ ♪ I've got my own bag ♪ And I'm gonna sprout ♪ Don't try too hard to figure me out ♪ ♪ I've got my own shot ♪ And I'm gonna aim ♪ You can come along ♪ Just stay in your lane [upbeat jazz music] ♪ I said, now people always talkin' 'bout ♪ ♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪ What they would do ♪ If they were you ♪ They were you ♪ Hey, hey [singers scat singing] ♪ Oh, learn the game ♪ Everybody stay in your lane ♪ Learn the game ♪ Everybody, everybody stay in your lane ♪ [upbeat jazz music] ♪ I've got my own bag ♪ And I'm gonna sprout ♪ Don't try to hard to figure me out ♪ ♪ I've got my own shot ♪ And I'm gonna aim ♪ You can come along ♪ Just stay in your lane ♪ I'm gonna stay in my lane ♪ I hope you'll do the same ♪ Never gonna walk a mile in your shoes ♪ ♪ I'm gonna hold my own road ♪ You'll do the same I hope ♪ Never gonna try to paint your sky ♪ ♪ Paint your sky blue ♪ I said, now people always talkin' 'bout ♪ ♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪ What they would do ♪ If they were you ♪ Heard ♪ Everyone's been personalized ♪ Everyone's been personalized ♪ Let me say it again ♪ Everyone's been personalized [upbeat jazz music] ♪ Things out lately ♪ Don't like what I see ♪ This political climate ♪ Really gets the best of me ♪ Forced to make a decision ♪ Even when I don't know ♪ All of these situations reveal the heart and soul ♪ ♪ You know I read in the Bible ♪ About the last and evil days ♪ Ain't nothin' here but chaos ♪ I believe just what it said ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Are you votin' blue for the left ♪ ♪ Or red for the right ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ When a crime is committed ♪ Was it black or was he white ♪ Whatcha gonna say, oh ♪ Even though you may be legal ♪ You're threatened by ICE ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ You know they force you to accept ♪ ♪ When you know it ain't right ♪ Uh-huh ♪ There's a whole lotta killin' ♪ ♪ Seems to be the norm ♪ In my everyday livin' ♪ From the womb, to the school ♪ At the movies, in the church pew ♪ ♪ Now everybody's got a choice in here ♪ ♪ But you know you gotta answer one day ♪ ♪ You're always on to the next thing ♪ ♪ Tryin' to earn and never pay ♪ No sense of value ♪ But suicide is really on the rise ♪ ♪ We gotta get back to the basics ♪ ♪ Or be destroyed by our own devise ♪ ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Are you votin' blue for the left ♪ ♪ Or red for the right ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ When a crime is committed ♪ Was it black or was he white ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Even though you may be legal ♪ You're threatened by ICE ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ You know they force you to accept ♪ ♪ When you know it ain't right [upbeat jazz music] ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Are you votin' blue for the left ♪ ♪ Or red for the right ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ When a crime is committed ♪ Was it black or was he white ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Even though you may be legal ♪ You're threatened by ICE ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ You know they force you to accept ♪ ♪ When you know it ain't right [upbeat jazz music] ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Are you votin' blue for the left ♪ ♪ Or red for the right ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ When a crime is committed ♪ Was it black or was he white ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Even though you may be legal ♪ You're threatened by ICE ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ You know they force you to accept ♪ ♪ When you know it ain't right [upbeat jazz music] ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Are you votin' blue for the left ♪ ♪ Or red for the right ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ When a crime is committed ♪ Was it black or was he white ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ Even though you may be legal ♪ You're threatened by ICE ♪ Whatcha gonna say ♪ You know they force you to accept ♪ ♪ When you know it ain't right [upbeat jazz music] ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you give up the fight ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ Can I win ♪ Try again ♪ Can't give up ♪ The road is rough ♪ World is a better place ♪ Never forget your face ♪ Aim for the higher place ♪ Move and release your faith ♪ Your faith ♪ Oh ♪ Yeah ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you give up ♪ Don't you give up the fight ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ The road ahead seems rough ♪ You feel you've had enough ♪ Keep lookin' to the sky ♪ Hold your head up high ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ Don't you give up ♪ Don't you give up the fight ♪ There's a winner in you ♪ Don't you lay down and die ♪ In - [Man] Talk to 'em, TJ, talk to 'em [mellow jazz music] - Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.