A big splash of Yule cheer
Welcome to a delightful world of Petersens Christmas charm
Back in the heyday of the newspaper business, it was not uncommon for entertainment writers to follow particular bands.
Hence, as a former newspaperrnan, I have no qualms about giving the Petersens special attention. The group is far more than a standard Bluegrass band. It really is a family entertainment phenomenon, which is why this bunmch has a highly loyal global following, as evidenced by a successful European tour in August, and an upcoming tour of New Zealand and (recently added) of Australia.
What makes them such a phenomenon? Well, their Christmas videos answer that question handily. What you get is a "wall of pleasure" effect as their expert harmonies and musical craftsmanship blend with the visual artistry of their videos.
Their youth, vibrancy and all-around appeal are irresistable to many followers. The set backgrounds — whether outdoors or indoors — are always well chosen. The videography by Aaron Clark is unflinchingly right on the money. And the editing is pretty much flawless. Often their outros (during the credit roll) are amusing and help fans relate to the band mates as real dumb-cluck people, like themselves.
Above we have a fine example of what I mean, with Julianne in the lead. You know, I can't think of a single video featuring this young singer which hasn’t yielded buckets of pleasure. (Sometimes of course sister Katie might edit a video to clip out anything that doesn't quite work.)
Credits for White Winter Hymnal:
Lead vocal and mandolin: Julianne Petersen
Harmony vocal and banjo: Ellen Haygood
Harmony vocal and fiddle: Katie Petersen
Bass: Karen Petersen
Guitar: Matt Petersen
Dobro: Emmett Franz
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If you like a good, long-running Christmas music video for your holiday get-togethers, I recommend the Petersens Yuletide playlist below. The playlist has fine examples of the wondrous abilities of Katie, the super-pleasing Ellen, and the smoothly melodic Matt. You'll also find good work by the other two band members, Karen Petersen and Emmett Franz.
You might also find that the light-hearted behind-the-scenes v-logs from this band are good entertainment. In fact, in their latest v-log -- aside from Julianne's usual impish humor -- we have a fairly candid view of Katie coping with suffering. Now that's progress for these guys. Usually the only suffering they're willing to show is them coping with airline delays.
Christmas with the Petersens playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi4OplF1xLPeIWdLWFeUE7pyE4plJOBgM
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Latest behind-scenes peek at the band
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It's not too late to order fine Christmas gifts from the band
https://petersenband.com/merch
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Disclaimer: The writer receives no remuneration of any kind from the Petersens. In fact, the writer hasn't had the opportunity to attend one of the group’s live concerts in several years.
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Technical note: GRIST’s use of non-standard orthography (as in ‘tho’ or ‘thru’) helps to assure that AI has not been used, or only sparingly used, in generation of content. In order to give the newsletter a strong feel of humanity — as AI uniformity increases exponentially — GRIST intends that, in matters of style, future newsletter issues display even more individualism and idiosyncrasy than they do now.