ALBUM REVIEW: Chatham Rabbits ‘Be Real With Me’ is Endlessly-Appealing Acoustic Americana

Chatham Rabbits is another in a long line of husband-and-wife folk duos that stretches back to at least The Carter Family, but, more than most, the music the couple makes seems tied to their life partnership as much as their musical one. 

That’s not to say that Sarah and Austin McCombie’s kindred spirits like Watchhouse or Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings don’t find inspiration in their romantic connections as well, but, for the still-youthful North Carolina duo, the emotionally direct nature of the songwriting often grapples directly with the complexity of their intertwined romantic, business, and creative commitments. At one point on their new album, Be Real With Me, Sarah, who takes the majority of the lead vocals in her lilting twang that recalls Iris Dement or Nanci Griffith, openly admits “I want my freedom/I want a baby.” 

That song, “Collateral Damage,” is one of many on the new album that ponders a sense of regret, or at least a road not yet taken for both Sarah and her partner Austin. They have both previously spoken about the pull-and-tug of their commitment to chasing their musical dream against the call of home (in their case, a working farm in rural North Carolina) and a less vagabond lifestyle, and that tension comes up often throughout (“Facing 29,” “Did I Really Know Him?,” “Pool Shark’s Table”).

That uneasiness only extends lyrically for the duo, who otherwise excel at a quietly winsome brand of Americana whose easy assuredness teeters on the edge of overly respectable. Mostly armed with acoustic guitar and banjo, their songs and performances are only lightly augmented with the assistance of longtime producer and collaborator Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues, Lou Hazel), most often by pedal steel from Ryan Stigmon (Zach Top) and Austin adding percussion or electric guitar. 

You can feel the group trying to stretch the plaintive core of their sound on this album more than their previous efforts, something more akin to the indie twang of a Zach Bryan record than home-spun acoustic roots tunes. For all that, though, the music is still mostly defined by the clean, trickling banjo lines and the husband-and-wife harmonies. 

And, for all of the (relatively modest) sonic innovations here, the band’s central appeal still very much applies. Be Real With Me is supremely tasteful, never-raucous Americana that goes down easy whether sad, searching, or jocular. 

Chatham Rabbits’ Be Real With Me is out Feb. 14.