Sound of Music tradition lives on in von Trapp family

50 years after the release of The Sound of Music film, the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp are continuing the family tradition with the release of a collection of original songs.

"It's young and fresh but it still carries a lot of that optimism that is similar to the Sound of Music but with a bit of a contemporary feel to everything," Melanie von Trapp, 23, told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.

"A lot of it's based on inspiration we've had by being on the road and travelling most of our lives."

This will be the first release of original songs from Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August von Trapp, but the siblings have been touring and performing classics for the past 12 years.

Melanie von Trapp said their grandfather, Werner von Trapp — portrayed as Kurt, the youngest of the boys, in the film — taught them to sing.

"He would always come to Montana, where we grew up, and teach us folk songs and little Austrian yodeling songs," said von Trapp.

"Eventually he had a stroke and couldn't come visit so we ended up recording the songs that he taught us and making a little album for him to listen to in the hospital, and that kind of set the ball in motion."

The four von Trapps will perform at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver tonight, and the audience can count on a few classics from the Sound of Music soundtrack.

"I think we'd have tomatoes thrown at us if we didn't sing Eidelweiss, but we actually love it. I love that music," said von Trapp.

To hear the full interview with Melanie von Trapp, listen to the audio labelled: The von Trapps are still singing.