It has been almost 47 years since Dolly Parton, an iconic American country singer, released her hit single, “Jolene.”
In 2019, she issued the whole world a challenge where musicians all over the world attempted to create the best version of the song and share it on social media.
To make it a memorable classic, Parton asked musicians to participate in her challenge.
One of the reasons why Parton issued the challenge is to promote a 2019 Netflix series called Heartstrings that aims to bring her songs into life in eight episodes.
She explained her reasoning behind it as well:
“They’re songs that I’ve written. They’re stories of my life. Every trial, every struggle, every smile, every sorrow. It’s the melody of my memories. It’s the sound of my heartstrings.”
One of the songs that are on the list was “Jolene,” a story of a red-haired temptress trying to seduce and take away Parton’s husband.
This particular family of musicians from Missouri participated in Parton’s challenge.
The Petersens are among the hundreds of singers and bands who participated in the hashtag Jolene Challenge, and they shared their cover on YouTube.
The Petersens are a family band in Branson, Missouri featuring bluegrass and country music. They are also great at transforming various music into their own. The band consisted of four siblings, their mom, and their dear friend, Emmet Franz.
The Petersens showed the world their goosebump-inducing cover of “Jolene.”
In the video, the second oldest daughter, Ellen Petersen, was the main vocalist and banjo player in their “Jolene” rendition.
We could also see Katie playing the fiddle, Matt on the guitar, Julianne on the mandolin, and their mother Karen on the bass.
It was Emmet Franz’ dobro that added more flavor to their cover.
The family kicked off the song’s intro with a wonderful instrumental, which then built up towards the first verse of the song.
Their chemistry together was the real winner of this wonderful cover.
Ellen skimmed through the verses with her smooth vocals.
Moreover, she was able to run the notes down perfectly and with ease. As Ellen reached the song’s chorus, Katie and Matt Petersen accompanied their sister with their melodious backup vocals to create a stunning three-way harmony. Additionally, if you add in their well-arranged instrumentals, it becomes an incredible earfest. Individually, they are no doubt skilled musicians, and together, they create a chemistry that makes this cover so beautiful.
This performance has left people speechless!
The Petersens uploaded the whole of the performance of their “Jolene” rendition online on the 1st of July in 2019.
The views rose over time and today, the video performance has hit 8.2 million views on YouTube.
Still, they have plenty of other musical covers online as well that are just as impressive.
Over 16 versions of “Jolene” were featured in Netflix’s Best-Of compilation video.
Fans were heartbroken as The Petersens were not able to make the cut to be shown on the 1-minute compilation screen. Even though they were not featured among the chosen covers, you cannot deny that their version was equally great!
Do not forget to show your support to the family and their artistic covers on Patreon and YouTube.
Needless to say, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of The Petersens in the music industry if they keep this up!
Be sure to watch the whole performance in the link below:
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