Sarah (left), Hannah, and Leah are maturing into their own sister act after debuting to the world on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

Sarah, Hannah, and Leah Peasall began singing together at ages 10, 6 and 4. Their family hobby mushroomed into a career three years later when the girls provided vocals for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its soundtrack. The album received Grammy and CMA awards, and they toured nationally with the Down from the Mountain Tour. Now 18, 14 and 12, the Peasall Sisters have released Home to You, their first album on a major label. Through it all, faith and family help them maintain their perspective. Sarah Peasall spoke with us from her home in Tennessee about life as a teenage singer.

Tell me about life in the Peasall household.

Sarah Peasall: It's like a circus! There are six kids plus my mom and dad. We range in age from 18 years old to 18 months old. There are five girls and one boy. We are a close-knit family who loves spending time with each other.

What's a typical Peasall family day?

Peasall: We have a very normal family life. My dad works and my mom has homeschooled all of us. I graduated this year and work at a coffee shop 25 hours a week. After school and work, we run errands, play outside and just have fun with each other. We try to eat dinner together every night. After dinner, dad, the girls and I practice every night for at least an hour. The other kids are running around dancing and singing along while we practice. It gets crazy, but we love it.

I don't think too many Grammy award winners work in coffee shops.

Peasall: I'm not a typical Grammy award winner. It doesn't define who I am, and I never want it to. I'm glad we won the Grammy, but to me, it's not that big of a deal. It's just sitting at home on a shelf mixed in with dance and soccer trophies collecting dust.

What does define who you are?

Peasall: It's about having a relationship with Christ. That's what defines me. That's who I am and is most important to me. It's what I wish everyone would see, that I'm a girl who loves the Lord, not a girl who won a Grammy at 14.

You and your sisters are similar through music and your faith, but how are you different?

Peasall: I'm an outgoing, type A person. That's why I'm the spokeswoman of the group. Hannah and Leah will tell you that I am a bossy control freak. I like to be in control, so I'm working on not being so bossy. It's hard. As the oldest of six kids, I have a lot of responsibility and I know what needs to be done, so I will just say, "Do this," and they will say, "You are not my mama!" Hannah, 14, is quiet and laid back. She's more reserved, but when she has something to say, it's profound, because she's a deep thinker. Leah, 12, is very passionate and also outgoing-I just don't ever let her talk! I take charge of the conversation, but she's learning to cut in and talk. Both of them have a lot of wisdom for their ages.

Do you fight?

Peasall: Leah and I argue more than any of the other kids because we are so similar. We can either get along and have a blast or be on each other's nerves. We'll be mad for ten minutes, and then we'll start laughing and it's okay. I get along well with Hannah. She's very passive, so that's good (laughing).

What do you and your sisters like to do together?

Peasall: We hang out with friends and go shopping. We pick out clothes that we all like, so we don't just have one wardrobe to pick from, we have three. We like to hike, explore, go see movies and design floor plans for our dream homes. We go to youth group and church. My parents are very good about not putting too much on us with the music.

How old were you when you began performing with your sisters as a group?

Peasall: Leah was 4, Hannah was 6 and I was 10. Also, I now play guitar, Hannah plays mandolin and Leah plays fiddle.

How did you get your break?

Peasall: We went to an open audition to try out for the part of George Clooney's daughters in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers [filmmakers] called us back and said that although we didn't look pitiful enough for the roles, they loved our harmonies and sound. They hired us to do the vocals for the girls in the movies and on the soundtrack album.

What was that experience like?

Peasall: It was great. I met George Clooney! He was so nice, very down-to-earth and real. We went to a studio in Nashville and recorded "In the Highways" and "Angel Band." We met all the artists from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. When I met John Hartford [also on the soundtrack], I didn't know who he was or how big a deal it was that I met him. After he passed away, I realized it. Now, I wish I had known who he was, picked his brain and gotten musical advice. The tour was our first and it was absolutely amazing. I loved every minute of it. We were full time, on the road, in a bus for a solid month.

John Carter Cash, son of Johnny and June Carter Cash, produced your album. How did that come about?

Peasall: Leah takes fiddle lessons from his wife Laura at their house once a week. When his mom heard our song on the O Brother soundtrack, she almost had a meltdown saying how much it sounded like her and her sisters. I think he likes us because we remind him of his mama's music. Then, we worked with John Carter on The Unbroken Circle project that he produced. It was a Carter family tribute album. We did a number with Emmylou Harris. John Carter called afterward and asked if we'd be interested in recording an album and pitching it to labels. We did a demo and Dualtone loved it. We signed the contract this summer.

Country great Earl Scruggs' son Randy Scruggs and bluegrass legend John Hartford's son Jamie Hartford play on this album. What's it like to work with sons of three legends?

Peasall: John Carter Cash is amazing. He's a wonderful guy and so brilliant when it comes to music. The way he communicates with artists is so easy to understand. It was so weird to play guitar in front of Randy Scruggs, but all three of them were very encouraging about our playing.

What's it like to be considered the modern-day version of the Carter Sisters?

Peasall: It's some big shoes I'm stepping into. It's wonderful. It's such a good feeling to know that people associate us with such legends. I absolutely love all the music of The Carter Family.

You wrote the title cut, "Home to You." What inspired the song?

Peasall: Our tour manager rode with us on the bus for a solid month. He was Jewish and he had said to us that he wished Messiah would come. We got to share with him over that month that Messiah had come and his name was Jesus. We showed him the love of God through our family and how we live. For two years, we prayed for him every single day. He called us about a year ago and asked how he could become a Christian and still honor his Jewish heritage. He is a Christian now. It was absolutely wonderful. That song came from a prayer I had been praying for him. That is what makes our music and ministry worthwhile. It doesn't matter if I ever win another Grammy or CMA. I know that he's going to spend eternity with God. That's all that matters to me and my family.

You sound so emotional singing "Logtown," like it brought you to tears. What brought out so much feeling?

Peasall: My mom's family lived in Logtown, Mississippi. In the '60s, NASA came in and made everyone leave. It was sad for our family to leave all they had ever known. NASA even moved the houses to Gulfport and Biloxi. I was crying singing about it. It was supposed to just be the scratch vocal, but John Carter loved the emotion in my voice, so, he left it the way it was. I might choke up again right now, because all the things we had left from Logtown were in our cousin's house in Gulfport. The house was obliterated from Hurricane Katrina. Everything from Logtown is now gone. It's been kind of rough for our family. I just praise God that nobody in our family was killed. At the same time, it's depressing to know that all we had left of Logtown is now gone.

You sing a lot of traditional bluegrass songs. Were you raised on bluegrass?

Peasall: No. My grandfather plays fiddle and guitar and mandolin, so we've been around that music, but we didn't listen to it. We listen to contemporary Christian music and praise and worship. When the O Brother thing happened, we got into the whole bluegrass world, and now I absolutely love it.

Read our review of Home to You. Learn more about the sisters at their official website.

© Maryann B. Hunsberger, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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