ROWLAND — A gospel group with strong connections to Robeson County is getting a national audience for its music.

The Peay family has made it to the elimination round of the Singing Family Face Off on “The Early Show” on CBS. The competition features six families chosen to perform live on national television.

Majid, Taimine, Katif and Solomon Peay will perform live in a head-to-head competition on the show on Wednesday between 8 and 9 a.m. The Peay family will face the Lorentzen Family from outside Sparks, Nev. Both groups will perform in front of non-voting celebrity judges whose comments will help viewers decide who will move onto the next round March 18.

Viewers can vote for their favorite group online at cbsnews.com. Just click on “The Early Show.” Voting ends March 9.

The six families were chosen from hundreds of families who submitted videos for the contest. They are competing for a record deal with CBS Records.

Although the members of the group live in Greensboro now, they grew up with their mother, Joyce Peay, in Rowland and graduated from South Robeson High School. Joyce bought a house in Greensboro for them because they all attend or attended college in Greensboro.

The brothers found out on Feb. 18 that they had been selected for the show when Dave Price, the weather anchor for “The Early Show,” knocked on the door of their Greensboro home.

“I’m ecstatic. We are still up on cloud nine,” Katif said during a telephone interview on Feb. 19.

The Peays will perform before an audience of about 3 million group — quite a gig for a group that typically performs at weddings, church or on campus. Katif said the group’s largest audience has been a couple of hundred people.

The group usually sings gospel music, and got to the finals on the strength of an original recording called “We Can Make a Change.” But Katif said on Feb. 19 he was unsure what he and his brothers will perform on Wednesday.

“Whatever genre it lands on, they give us a list of songs in that genre,” Katif said. “That’s a twist. It actually kind of benefits us. Because we are so used to performing so many places. We are used to singing any kind of music. I don’t think it’s a problem for us.”