The Pendleton Sisters

Fiddle-dee-dee
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
2/24/2007

Local sisters advance in national television contest

The Pendleton Sisters have become the second Tulsa-area music to win national attension on the CBS "The Early Show" music video segment, "Living Room . . . Live! Kids." The segment invites young performers to submit video tapes, which are aired on the "Early Show." Viewers then can vote online for their favorite.

The girls, 13-year-old Emma Jane and 12-year-old Marina Pendleton, performed the song "Cotton Patch Rag" on their fiddles. The voting viewers picked the Pendletons' tape over the competition, which included a 6-year-old pianist playing music from the "Nutcracker" and a New Jersey blues band.

The girls advance to the next round Monday, when they'll face two teenage singers from the Carolinas, said their mother, Virginia Pendleton.

"We were really excited," Marina said, describing the moment the girls found out they were winners. "We were kind of jumping around and screaming for a minute."

The girls hope they make it as far as Coweta metal band Crooked X, who has advanced to the "Ultimate Finals," with its taped performance of an original song "Death of Me."

Viewers can vote on their favorite clips at www.cbsnews.com, or on the Pendletons' Web site, www.pendletonff.com.

Voting starts Monday and ends Wednesday, and viewers can cast an unlimited number of votes.

The girls are thankful for the people who voted for them.

"They really attribute this to all their friends and family who voted for them as well as people that they don't even know," Virginia Pendleton said. "They're really very humbled by the people who voted for them."

The girls play classical music and bluegrass, studying with world renowned fiddler Jana Jae, who might be best known for her many performances on the television variety show "Hee Haw" and as a featured artist with the Buck Owens band, the Buckaroos. The girls also take lessons from Karen Naifeh Harmon.

They will be featured on KVOO, 98.5 FM, Monday morning between 7 and 8 a.m., Virginia Pendleton said.

---

Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com