Keeping time together

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Up next: A music group that proves the family that plays—and prays—together, stays together.

It was in 2003 that Lt. Col. Jon Petersen decided that he, his wife, and their four children would become a bluegrass family band. But it took almost 15 years before the Petersens officially decided to go all in. They’ve since become one of Branson, Missouri’s most popular attractions.

WORLD’s music critic Arsenio Orteza says their new album is pretty good too.

ARSENIO ORTEZA: The album Father, a Moment with You is so nice the Petersens have released it twice. Well, not actually twice. Technically, the version subtitled Live Album Release Concert on their YouTube channel is just a video. But the Petersens are so tight musically and vocally it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between what’s live and what’s studio. Try to guess which one this song is. It’s an a cappella number called “Not Afraid of Bad News.”

MUSIC: [Not Afraid of Bad News” by the Petersens]

It’s actually not from the album or the concert. It’s a stand-alone performance that the four Petersen siblings recorded for a video showing them singing outdoors. And, yes, despite the absence of ambient nature sounds, what you just heard really is live.

HAYGOOD: We have talked to our audio team. We're like, “Maybe just have, like, a little of the crickets still in so people believe that, like, we are outside doing this.”

That’s Ellen Petersen Haygood. She’s the Petersen singing lead on “Not Afraid of Bad News.” She also performs or shares lead vocals on three other new songs. The Petersens apportion lead-vocal duties pretty democratically. On Father, a Moment with You, five of the six Petersens get to sing or co-sing lead on multiple songs, and that goes for the Dobro player Emmett Franz, the group’s “adopted” Petersen, as well.

MUSIC: [ “Lord, How Long?” by the Petersens]

So why did the Petersens' parents, Jon and Karen, want their family to form a music group in the first place? Basically, Jon thought his kids would be better off playing music together than playing video games. And why a bluegrass band? Karen loved bluegrass. Eventually, in keeping with the genre’s requirements, Katie learned the fiddle, Ellen banjo, Matt guitar, and Julianne mandolin. But there was still the issue of who would play the upright—or double—bass.

HAYGOOD: My mom is just very gifted musically. And so she was able to just pick up the bass as, like, a temporary until we were able to find someone else. But then she was so good at it! It’s so funny. She loves her bass. If you try to carry it, she gets upset. And so people are always getting mad at us, like “Don't let your mom carry that big instrument!” And we're like “She will not let us touch it!”

One thing that she would let them touch as they were growing up was a wide variety of music. An album called Father, A Moment with You and songs titled “Not Afraid of Bad News” and “Lord, How Long?” are strong clues about the Petersens’ Christian faith. But a look at their back catalogue shows that they’re familiar—and comfortable—with more than gospel music and hymns. They’ve covered songs by Dolly Parton, the Beatles, Sting, the Cranberries, and Fleetwood Mac. Still, it’s doubtful that even their biggest fans saw this cover coming.

MUSIC: [“Bohemian Rhapsody” by the Petersens]

Katie says that although she and Emmett had a role in making Queen bluegrass friendly, it was her mom that made the performance as good as it is.

PETERSEN: My mom was very passionate about “We are going to play every single chord of this song!” We didn't want to skip anything. So she helped figure out our vocals and everything.

The Petersens do not, however, consider every type of music fair game. One of their slogans is “Discover a more wholesome alternative,” and they mean it. Katie says that, despite their wide-ranging tastes, they have a “strong filter” on what they perform.

PETERSEN: Our mom's initial phrase was like “Would you want your six-year-old son singing this song?” And so through the lens of that, we have not chosen many things because it hits different when you think about a kid singing it.

Their family-friendly approach is working. So far, they’ve accumulated over 20 million streams on Spotify and over 300 million views on YouTube. They also perform to enthusiastic crowds twice a week at Branson’s Little Opry theater. They’ve even toured abroad. And, frankly, the success couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.

MUSIC: [“Father, a Moment with You” by the Petersens]

I’m Arsenio Orteza.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.