By: Ellen Haygood | Oct 11, 2017

CD Release Party for Shenandoah

The Petersens are excited to announce the completion of “Shenandoah”, their newest album. To celebrate the nine-month project, The Petersens’ Sunday, October 22 show has been designated as the Shenandoah CD Release Party.  At this concert, The Petersens will play through the entire Shenandoah CD track-by-track sharing the history and inspiration behind each song as well as some of the funny things that happened along the journey.

About the Album

The Petersens began working on Shenandoah back in January. This is the second album that John Chapman from The Chapmans has produced for them in the DigiGrass Music studio in Ozark, MO. The album features a mixture of original music, gospel, acapella, and, of course, some hard driving bluegrass. While the recording process started in January, thanks to Ellen’s busy graduate school schedule, Katie moving to Nicaragua for the Spring (more details here), Matt finishing his last semester of college at College of the Ozarks, and Julianne breaking her wrist, the actual album was not finished until early October. Needless to say, The Petersens are VERY excited to share their music with everyone.

The release party is one of the last shows of the regular season as Christmas shows start in November. The Petersens’ show schedule switches from Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 5 PM to just Sundays for November and December.

The Real Hero

This album would not have happened without the one and only John Chapman. He is quite possibly the only person the Petersens know that is busier than themselves. John spent countless days working in the Acoustic Shoppe, teaching lessons till 9 PM, and THEN working with the Petersens far into the night. He helped choose the songs, arrange the selections, and then coached them every step of the way in the studio. From laying down the guitar, teaching Ellen banjo licks, and adding many extra special effects to the album (which may or may not have included hammering on pipes), John went above and beyond to make Shenandoah an album we are all proud of. The Petersens want to extend a huge thank you to all of the Chapmans for putting up with us and making our album sound so amazing.

Event Details

The Shenandoah CD Release Party will be held at the Little Opry Theater.  The Little Opry Theater is located inside the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex. The theater is a perfect venue for the event as it is where The Petersens have their weekly bluegrass shows. The theatre seats just over 200 people and we recommend early to reserve your seats. To reserve tickets for the 5 PM Sunday, October 22nd special show, call the IMAX  box office at 417-335-4832. For more current event details, check out the event page on Facebook.

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Ellen Haygood

Ellen puts her master’s degree in marketing to work serving as the band’s full-time marketer. She also sings and plays banjo, which she did on season 14 of American Idol, making it all the way to the top 48. In January of 2020, Ellen married Michael Haygood of The Haygoods, another performing family in Branson.

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