The Chatham Rabbits will return to the Blue Ridge Music Center stage with Kate Rhudy opening the show at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 7. The concert will be held in the outdoor amphitheater at the base of Fisher Peak. The Music Center is at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Chatham Rabbits exemplify North Carolina’s tradition of producing artists who embrace the state’s many cultural resources and diverse musical traditions. In their marriage and in their music, Austin and Sarah McCombie also blend their own histories into a shared musical experience. Sarah first took the stage playing the banjo and singing as part of a trio known as the South Carolina Broadcasters, a band that harkened back to the old days of the Grand Ole Opry and AM radio country classics. Meanwhile, Austin played keyboards and guitar for an electronic band called DASH.
Named after the famed rabbits found in Chatham County, North Carolina, the group put out their first album in 2018, All I Want from You, featuring their original songs telling the many stories they’d heard growing up in North Carolina. With the album, The Yoke Is Easy, the Burden Is Full, the songs tell stories of their own lives.
Raleigh-based songwriter Kate Rhudy worked alongside collaborator and producer Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange to create her 2017 debut album, Rock N’ Roll Ain’t For Me, which earned Rhudy nods from WUNC and INDY Week as “one of the Triangle’s sharpest young songwriters.”
Rhudy’s plainspoken lyrics garnered recognition from She Shreds, “Kate Rhudy is changing the name of country by doing things her own way.” The Strangers Almanac wrote, “for those tired of Americana music from the male perspective, give Kate Rhudy’s debut a shot.”
Last October, Rhudy released a 7-inch record “Dance It Away, Snake,” including the single “Dance It Away” featured on Spotify’s Infinite Indie Folk playlist.
Tickets are $25 for adults, children 12 and younger are admitted free. Tickets are available online in advance through BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org, and will also be sold at the admission gate on the evening of the show. Parking opens at 5:15 p.m. on the day of the show, and admission to the amphitheater begins at 5:45 p.m.
The Music Center is taking several precautions during concerts to make the experience as safe as possible for visitors. Those who have a fever, cough, aches and pains, loss of smell or taste, difficulty breathing, or are sneezing and coughing, are asked to please stay at home.
Concert attendees are advised to maintain six feet of distance between groups throughout the evening, including when standing in line and selecting seating locations in the amphitheater; wear masks when in high traffic areas.
For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.
