By Bryan A. Hollerbach
For someone who whirled in the cultural cyclone unleashed by the 2000 O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Sarah Peasall of the Peasall Sisters seems astoundingly down to earth.
With siblings Hannah, 16, and Leah, 13, the 19-year-old from White House, Tenn., will perform during the 17th Annual Gateway City Bluegrass Music Festival later this month at the Sheraton Westport Chalet. More specifically, the trio will top the bill on opening night of the February 23–25 event, which features such other musicians as the award-winning Grascals, as well as a talent contest and a guitar show.
At the time of the O Brother soundtrack, amusingly, Peasall and her sisters had no inkling of its impact. “We weren’t really aware of it,” she confesses. “We just thought it was cool that we got to go sing in different towns, you know, different places.”
Subsequent touring has taken the trio to many different places indeed; San Francisco, in particular, charmed Peasall, who doesn’t believe she and her sisters have previously headlined an event in St. Louis. Touring has also allowed the trio to develop both vocally (on angelic harmonies) and instrumentally (Sarah on guitar and banjo, Hannah on mandolin, Leah on fiddle).
Still, despite the “O Brother effect,” their media profile pales beside that of, say, the Olsen twins, Peasall notes: “We don’t have that—and I am so thankful that we’re not in that position.” With a crystalline laugh, she adds, “Our daddy is a Baptist pastor, and we wouldn’t get away with much.”
Even if they felt so inclined, in all likelihood, the sisters would have scant time to look for trouble, let alone find it. Later this winter, they plan to record their third CD, for probable release in the summer or fall. Like their sophomore effort, the often psalmic Home to You, released in 2005, the new disc will come from Nashville’s Dualtone Music Group. With pardonable pride, Peasall announces that she’ll co-produce it with John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June Carter Cash.
In the meantime, predictably, the trio has enjoyed a measure of celebrity in semirural White House, which lies just north of Nashville. “But at the same time,” she says, “we’re just ‘the Peasall girls from down the road.’”
Waiting in the wings, moreover, are other sibs. Recently, in the family living room, Peasall collaborated with 10-year-old brother Joseph, called “JoJo.” When she teased him about writing a tune together, JoJo surprised her by agreeing, she says: “He opened his mouth and started singing this song. I couldn’t write it down fast enough—and it was amazing! I mean, it was, like, the freakiest thing I have ever seen.”
Artistic differences already loom, sadly enough: “He says he won’t join the group until we change the name; he wants it to be JoJo and the Peasall Sisters.” JoJo’s big sis laughs once more and adds, “I’m not sure if that will ever happen, but we’ll see.”
17th Annual Gateway City Bluegrass Music Festival (February 23–25). Held at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet Hotel. For ticket information and show times, call 217-243-3159 or visit bluegrassmidwest.com. For more information about the Peasall Sisters, visit peacehall.org.
