Peasall Sisters sing and bring family together
Kay James/Events
Little Peasall sister, Emma, 7, clogs while big sisters, from left, Hannah on mandolin, Sarah on guitar and Leah on fiddle play and sing. In the back is their father, Mike on bass. The family has cousins and other relatives here.
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By Kay James, Dells Events
"I didn't know we had anyone so famous in our family," one member of the extended Peasall and Rodwell families commented after hearing the Peasall Sisters give a free concert in Bowman Park Sunday, and the Peasall Sisters did not know they had so many Wisconsin relatives.
The Peasall family's performance drew a crowd of 200 to 300 to Bowman Park, and while quite a few were relatives, most were not. Most came to hear the talented trio sing and play gospel and bluegrass.
The three sisters, Hannah, Leah and Sarah, received national notice in 1999 when they auditioned for parts in the Coen brothers' movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou." They did not get an on screen part, but the filmmakers used their voices, and they joined the "Down From the Mountain" tour after the movie and soundtrack were released. Since then, they've released two CDs and have appearances across the country including at the Grand Ole Opry and Bill Gaither's "Church in the Wildwood," television series. Before arriving in the Dells Sunday about 6 p.m. for the 6:30 concert, they had appeared at a fair in Minnesota.
Sarah plays guitar, Hannah plays mandolin, and Leah plays fiddle. Dad, Mike, plays bass. For family-friendly shows, little brother Joseph, 11, joins in with electric guitar. Sister Emma, 7, impressed the crowd with her fancy footwork during a clogging routine. Cousin Rebecca Rodwell, 10, of the Dells, an award-winning fiddler, joined her cousins for two songs.
Sarah told the audience how pleased she was to be in the Dells, where people knew how to pronounce her last name. She said she had grown up with people pronouncing it wrong such as calling her Peashell. But, she lamented the fact she could not get any sweetened iced tea, the way tea is served in the South.
The sisters' grandfather grew up in the Delton area and as his cousin Jim Rodwell commented Mike is related to just about everyone in Delton. Mike Peasall said his father, Art, went to work here for a person who owned a dairy farm in Florida. Art Peasall traveled to Florida to work on the dairy farm, met his wife there, married and never returned to Wisconsin to live.
Mike Peasall grew up in South Florida, came to Wisconsin once in the 1970s for a visit. He attended college in Tennessee, where he met and married his wife, Sally. They have six children ranging in age from 21-year-old Sarah, who is married, to 4-year-old Julia, who hopes to someday to follow in her big sister's footsteps playing bass, guitar or drums.
Before going on the road with his daughters, Mike Peasall was minister of music at a Primitive Baptist Church in Nashville area, and his wife helped with the children's choir. Mike said one day Sally was driving the three girls somewhere when she realized that Leah, then 5, was harmonizing with her two older sisters. That started Sally in working with the girls more, and they were soon making appearances at local churches and nursing homes.
After the movie soundtrack came out, Mike resigned his music pastorate and joined his daughters as backup. He has returned to the ministry, pastoring a church in Nashville, when not on the road with the family.
The family, he said, has developed a taste for travel, and the three singing sisters like the lifestyle: staying up late, doing a little work, eating out, and sleeping in.
Their appearance and concert in the Dells was arranged by Jim and Jenny Rodwell.
The Peasall's connections with relatives here were revitalized when Jim Rodwell's aunt gave his two girls, Rebecca and Danielle, the CD of the movie about three years ago, according to Jim's wife, Jenny. Rebecca fell in love with the music and the fiddle. Then she decided to write the sisters a fan letter telling them she was also a cousin. Jenny said she wrote an accompanying letter to explain how they were related so the sisters would not think they were getting a letter from a stalker.
More recently, the Rodwells vacationed in Tennessee and told Mike they would be in the state. Mike called about two weeks before they left and arranged to have the families get together for lunch.
The Peasall Sisters are Rebecca's inspiration, said Jenny. "They're a good role model."
From the Rodwells contacts with the singing Peasalls came the stop in the Dells on Sunday.
The Rodwells, the Peasalls and kin left after the concert to figure out exactly how each was related, but they did not have time for a lengthy reunion. The performers had to leave town Monday noon for home before a trip to Atlanta and South Carolina for more shows. The singers promised during their performance Sunday that they would be back for another visit, and Mike Peasall said the girls would write a song about the Dells, since they write about where ever they go.