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Heritage Christian School is hosting a concert Tuesday, July 24 at Living Faith Chapel featuring the Petersens from Branson, Mo. and Canada’s Double Portion.

The concert at 7 p.m. is free to the public and is a fundraiser for Heritage Christian School, with donations gratefully received.

The Petersens are an award-winning bluegrass band. They began playing bluegrass in 2007 when they stumbled across a bluegrass festival while on a family road trip. 

After the father retired from the United States Air Force, the family moved to Branson where they started to have more opportunities to play at Silver Dollar City, local festivals and churches. After winning a gospel sing-off in town, the family was offered their own Branson show at the Little Opry Theatre where they have performed for the past eight years.

In 2015 the band received international attention when banjo player and lead singer, Ellen, competed in the reality TV show, American Idol, and placed in the top 48.

The band consists of mother, Karen, on bass, oldest sister, Katie, on fiddle, second oldest sister, Ellen, on banjo, the brother of the family, Matt, on guitar and the youngest of the family, Julianne, on mandolin. The newest addition to the family is Emmett Franz from Berryville, Ariz., on the dobro.

The family tours throughout the United States, Canada and Ireland, but spends most of the year performing at their bluegrass show in Branson. 

Canada’s Double Portion from North Battleford is a  five-piece gospel band made up of entirely one family including parents Duncan and Debbie Hemmerling and eight of their 10 children.

Juggling homework and musical instruments is a daily routine for the Hemmerling children. They trade in riding the school bus for riding across the country in Canada’s Double Portion tour bus for almost half the year.

2018 marks the 36th year of ministry for this veteran group. Originating with Duncan and his three sisters, Canada’s Double Portion has crisscrossed the continent from Newfoundland to British Columbia, Georgia to Alaska. Three decades of travel have provided unique experiences like singing on the Grand Ole Opry stage, backing up Johnny and June Cash at a Cash/Rivers family reunion and performing with many of gospel music’s premier groups at North America’s largest events. 

Canada’s Double Portion has been nominated for group of the year numerous times and have received multiple awards for album, song of the year and live band of the year in the Gospel Music Association Canada. 

Tours in 2018 are taking them to events like Â鶹´«Ã½AVwest Gospel Fest in Phoenix, Ariz., Preacher in the Patch crusades throughout the North Central United States, the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration in Red Deer, Alta. and concerts across the United States and Canada.