4 Wholesome Family Bands That Keep Folk Music Alive

Family groups like The Hunts and The Petersens remind listeners that the best music begins at home.

The Petersens. Courtesy of Ellen Haygood

There’s something about sibling voices that harmonize especially well. I remember being enchanted the first time I heard my wife and her sisters and cousins sing together; their several voices blended together into a single gentle sound, smoother than silk, warmer than the fire crackling in the wood stove. A few members of the family would break out instruments, too—here a guitar, there a banjo—to accompany the vocals. In this way, long autumn evenings passed sweetly to the sound of music.

Some sibling and family groups take their musical gifts beyond the parlor. Over the years, my wife and I have enjoyed sharing with one another wholesome family bands that play both traditional and contemporary folk music. More recently, we’ve loved introducing our 3-year-old daughter to these same musical ensembles. It’s a joy to hear on her lisping tongue the lyrics that have accompanied our relationship for so many years. In this article, I hope to share these same groups with other families who may be looking for family-friendly melodies to warm hearth and home.

The Hunts

Like a modern-day Von Trap family, this seven-piece band consists entirely of siblings who began performing together as a band while some of them were still in their teens. The Chesapeake, Virginia-based Hunts family plays indie-alternative folk music with rich, sweet harmonies (sometimes stacked sevenfold) and a backdrop of lively acoustic instrumentation. The siblings’ parents are Clint and Sandy Hunt, who were also talented musicians and performers and raised the kids in a musical household. The band collaboratively writes original music with roots in the great tradition of American folk music as well as pop musicians like the Beatles and the Bee Gees, combining rollicking rhythms and soaring vocals with a rustic texture. Lyrically, they focus on simple but timeless themes like loyalty, trust, love, and growth.