The Petersens’ bluegrass cover of “Take Me Home, Country Road” is the laid-back tune you need
While you may not have heard of The Petersens as a bluegrass band, you may recognize the name Ellen Petersen – or at least recall the girl playing the banjo early on in 2015 on American Idol, where she placed in the top 48.
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But while she didn’t go farther on television, Ellen Petersen did have the family band to return to.
In fact, they’re now in their 10th season of shows at the Little Opry Theatre in the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex.
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They’ve mostly stuck close to Branson where their fanbase is, but they have taken the plunge to tour around the US, Canada, and even Ireland as well – playing for those who enjoy a mix of bluegrass and gospel.
The band is made up of four siblings (Katie, Ellen, Matt, and Julianne), their mom, and what they call “dear friend,” Emmett Franz. Franz plays the dobro, a resonator guitar, and spent 20 years traveling with his own family band The Franz Family.
As for the Petersens, mom Karen began as the mandolin player but switched to bass when Julianne took over the instrument. And she’s raised some musically-gifted children as well, who have nearly all finished college now, except for their youngest, Julianne
But she just graduated as valedictorian of her class and is planning to study English Literature at John Brown University in the fall!
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The other kids all started their studies at the College of the Ozarks.
Matt graduated most recently, in 2017, with a bachelor’s degree in Business and now runs the bookings for the band.
Ellen, who plays banjo, graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and even moved to Oklahoma City to work as a laboratory technician before her short run on American Idol. After that, she moved back to Branson to focus on music and earn her MBA at Missouri State University.
She’s using that degree to help the band with marketing. And she’s even married to a member of Branson’s OTHER major family band, The Haygoods.
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But the musical leader of the band is Katie, the eldest, and the group’s fiddle player.
Her trips back home are less frequent since she graduated 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Spanish and then went off to Oxford, England to study C.S. Lewis and the Psalms through the Summit Ministries Oxford program. She’s also taught music and English in Nicaragua.
As you can see, they’re a pretty accomplished and hard-working group of people!
And they’ve even gotten creative with YouTube and Patreon to keep their fans entertained with their music during the coronavirus lockdown since they can’t play live shows.
Back in May, the band decided to finally cover a song that meant a lot to them – John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” And since it’s been viewed well over 2 million times in less than a month, it’s clearly a hit with their audience!
Not only did the Petersen children’s dad grow up in West Virginia, the beloved state that the song is about, but John Denver has always been a favorite, according to their YouTube caption.
Katie takes over the main vocals on the song as she holds her fiddle and her youngest sister Julianne is on backup vocals and mandolin while Matt throws in a few vocal notes as well.
While it’s not a kick-your-heels-up song, it’s a great, laid-back listen that would no-doubt make Denver proud.
It’s an all-around wholesome way to spend 3 minutes of your time – and if you scroll down below, you can get a taste of what this family band is all about.
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