In a rustic wooden attic, the Petersen siblings gathered together with their friend and bandmate Emmett to record a new cover together. The family band had been born out of their parents’ love for bluegrass music. As such, they had decided to record a cover of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ by John Denver, partially in tribute to their dad, who grew up in West Virginia. This wasn’t the only way the siblings involved their parents, however, and the video’s reveal will touch Music Man readers’ hearts.
As the Petersens played, the camera panned out to reveal that it wasn’t only the siblings performing together. At the back of the room, their mother, Karen, was playing the double bass. Listeners adored Karen’s contribution to the song, one commenting, “That woman in the back playing bass like a BOSS,” while others credited the Petersen parents with their children’s astonishing collective talent, one remarking, “these kids’ parents did a good job.” Their cover has now received over 56M views.
With The Petersens leaning into the family band tradition and their bluegrass roots as they cover country and bluegrass classics, their sound has an all-American feel. However, what really touched my heart was how their music seems to resonate with people across the globe. The comments section on their video was filled with listeners from Russia to South Korea sharing how much they adored their music, showing how their songs can bring people from many different backgrounds together.
While their John Denver cover is their most popular video, The Petersens are so popular that their videos often receive tens of millions of views, especially their renditions of more popular country rock or pop songs. Their cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene,’ for example, has received over 27M views. Once again, it features Karen on the double bass, joined by her children as they use their extraordinary talent to create a more traditional bluegrass interpretation of the country-pop hit.
Something that may strike our Music Man fans is the fact that, in every video, Karen stands towards the back of the group, always partially concealed by her children. It is clear that, despite her enormous personal talent, she is more than satisfied with playing backup, letting her children take center stage and allowing their talents to shine. For fans of The Petersens, it is undeniably touching to see a family joyfully come together over music in this way and, as they do so, bring so many people from all over the world together in appreciation of their talent.
The Petersens prove that family, tradition and heartfelt bluegrass still move millions — their Take Me Home cover (56M+ views) is living proof. If you want to hear more from this talented clan and see the full video, check the useful links below to discover more.