Jon and Karen Petersen and their four children started out like many family bands, playing for church audiences. “Our dad found the band to be a really great way to share his family and also his faith,” Ellen Petersen Haygood said. “He would take a moment to talk after the show and say why we do what we do, and the importance of serving other people together.”
Today, The Petersens are one of the most popular shows in Branson, Missouri, with a growing following on YouTube, where several videos have more than a million views; their “Take Me Home, Country Roads” video has reached 30 million.
Together as Family
The journey is filled with persistence, a lot of juggling of full schedules, and some “lucky” breaks. The idea for the band came almost 20 years ago, when the family stumbled into their first bluegrass festival while vacationing in Gettysburg. When Jon saw the family atmosphere of the festival—multiple generations of families all hanging out and playing together with no video or TV screen in sight—he decided then and there that they would become a family band.
The oldest, Katie, would play fiddle. She was already taking classical violin lessons and was not happy when her dad signed her up for the festival’s Fiddle Bootcamp. “Most large bluegrass festivals have workshops,” said Ellen. “It’s a great way for the performing bands to make some extra money and the hobby musicians to get some good instruction.”