Tim A. Rutherford photos
From left, Shannon, Russell and Rebecca Rose, Connor and Taylor make Easter cards around the family's kitchen table.

If you go You can visit the Rose family bluegrass festival and hear their band at the May installment of the Lonesome Whistle Band Hometown Bluegrass Festival May 29-31, Mossy Oak Music Park, 533 Old Louisville Road, Guyton, Ga. Thursday 6-10 p.m., Friday 2-10 p.m., Saturday 2-10 p.m. Admission: Thursday night gospel show $7, Friday $10, Saturday $15,, All weekend $25. Ages 12-15 half price, kids under 12 are free. For more information or for RV campsite reservations ($10 per day), call (912) 772-5142 or (912) 772-3467. www.lonesome whistleband.com Performance schedule: Thursday: 6 p.m. Lonesome Whistle Band; 7 p.m. Furman Boyce; 8 p.m. The Chapmans; 9 p.m. Furman Boyce; 10 p.m. The Chapmans. Friday: 1 p.m. Valerie Smith; 2 p.m. Furman Boyce; 3 p.m. The Larkins; 4 p.m. James King Band; 6 p.m. The Larkins; 7 p.m. Furman Boyce; 8 p.m. Lonesome Whistle Band; 9 p.m. Valerie Smith; 10 p.m. James King Band. Saturday: 12:30 p.m. Tim Rutherford's Southern Tales; 1 p.m. River Bend; 2 p.m. Valerie Smith; 3 p.m. James King Band; 4 p.m. Larry Sparks; 6 p.m. Valerie Smith; 7 p.m. Riverbend; 98 p.m. Lonesome Whistle Band; 9 p.m. James King Band; 10 p.m. Larry Sparks.

GUYTON, GA.

Everyone knows it is tough balancing work with family life. But how would you manage if work frequently took both you and your partner away from home for days at a time?

Meet Russell and Rebecca Rose, professional bluegrass musicians and parents of seven children. For five years now the Roses have juggled family life with an intense schedule of traveling from show to show with their group, the Lonesome Whistle Band. As if that was not enough, they have also opened their own 40-acre music park where the band will host the Lonesome Whistle Hometown Festival in May and October each year.

The Lonesome Whistle Band plays bluegrass and gospel at festivals and church events around the country. Russell plays guitar, Rebecca plays bass, and their 12-year-old son, Evan, is the band's mandolin player. Fiddle player Scott Holton and banjo player David Newsome complete the lineup. The Lonesome Whistle Band has released five CDs to date, and has performed in 30 states since making the jump to full-time touring five years ago. The band spends around 215 days a year on the road. Each trip lasts an average of four or five days, except in August when Lonesome Whistle heads north for a month to perform in a series of summer festivals.

This life is not for everyone, but Rebecca and Russell, a friendly and easy-going couple, thrive on it. They make it work by combining their love for family and music with a strong faith and a low-key, common sense approach to parenting.

The family's three oldest children now live away from home. There's Buddy (26), a building contractor in Guyton, Rachel (21) a college student in Savannah, and Shannon (18) who is getting ready to graduate from high school in Guyton. The four younger children - Shane (15), Evan, Taylor (10), and Connor (9) - live at home with their mom and dad.

When the band goes on the road, Shane, Taylor and Connor remain at home and are cared for by a nanny, a retired registered nurse who Rebecca praises as "wonderful" and "like a surrogate aunt" to the children. Rebecca's parents and brother live close by and also help keep an eye on things. Although there were some ups and downs in the beginning, the younger children have adjusted well to their parents' near constant traveling. "It's what we do for a living and the kids respect it," says Rebecca.

A former teacher, Rebecca has been home schooling Evan for the past year. This allows him to keep up with his studies while on the road with the band. The idea of home schooling came up when Evan's frequent absences had become a problem for his school. Russell and Rebecca were reluctant to have him quit the band, seeing in their son a level of talent with the mandolin and a commitment to practicing and performing that is unusual for his age.



Evan gets in some solo practice time in the Rose family's living room.

Home schooling was the obvious solution, although Rebecca emphasizes the decision to give it a try was ultimately left up to Evan. The arrangement has worked well so far. Rebecca believes that, if anything, all that travel complements Evan's studies, giving him the chance to see for himself many places he has read about in his schoolbooks. Evan, who is quiet and introspective, is also learning a lot about life from the music. He says, for instance, he is not afraid of making mistakes on stage because he now knows even the very best musicians make mistakes once in a while.

The other children sometimes accompany the band on their travels, but never all at once - there is not enough space for everyone on the tour bus. Russell and Rebecca encourage this.

"Traveling is fun," says Russell. "It's nice to let loose and give them a vacation. They're smart and they keep up with their studies. If they had trouble with it we probably wouldn't let them come."

The couple's love for bluegrass and gospel stems from its power to evoke the spirit and traditions of rural America. They also feel the music attracts a nice family-friendly crowd. In addition, music is something of a religious calling. Performing gospel is about more than just tunes; it is a powerful expression of faith. For Rebecca, each gospel song performed is an opportunity to "touch somebody's heart."

"I really think this is what God wants us to do, or He wouldn't send us those who want to come and perform with us."

Russell and Rebecca both learned to play music as youngsters and they have encouraged their own children to do the same. While Evan is the only one to join the band so far, everyone can play an instrument. Buddy is a guitarist like his dad, while Rachel plays clarinet, Shannon plays flute, and Shane plays saxophone. Taylor plays fiddle, and Connor, the youngest, is a banjo player. The children also have wide ranging tastes in music and their parents encourage this too, although Taylor, in typical 10-year-old style, delights in pointing out that her mother is not fond of the rap and hip-hop that she and big brother Shane enjoy.

Believing that musical talent cannot be forced, Russell and Rebecca did not begin structured lessons with each child until he or she exhibited a desire to play. If they do not want to practice, that is OK, too.

"Every parent wants their child to be something wonderful," comments Rebecca, "and being in the music industry of course I want all of mine to be musical, but for them I want them to be happy and if it's not playing an instrument then I support them and let them be creative."



Russell and Rebecca share a moment with Shannon after she finished preparing invitations to her upcoming wedding.

Nestled in the countryside behind the Rose family home is the Mossy Oak Music Park. Inspired by visits to the hometown music parks of other bluegrass musicians, the park consists of a large covered stage in the middle of a grassy field as well as a sizeable and fully equipped campground. The park is carefully tended by the family, and it makes for an idyllic scene: the grass is neatly mowed, and the stage and nearby buildings (including the homes of Rebecca's parents and brother), have all been painted to match in classic barnyard red.

The park is currently in preparation for the upcoming May festival (May 29-31). Hosting the festival allows the Roses to bring music and family together in the place they love most.

"I was born in Savannah and lived in that area most of my life," says Russell, "but I love it out here in the country. It's the best place I've ever lived." As he talks he surveys the campground's orderly rows of RV hookups with quiet satisfaction. Completing the park was the realization of a dream for the band. It opened in 2002 after two years of planning, a lot of hard work, and thanks to the support of Rebecca's family (the park is situated on part of what used to be the family farm).

Parenting is a matter of old-fashioned common sense for Russell and Rebecca. They encourage core values like responsibility, mutual respect and honesty.

"I try to teach them that their space is important, but no more important than my space," says Rebecca. Everyone is expected to pitch in with household chores. The younger children are disciplined mainly by taking away privileges like computer time or visits to the local library, although a spanking is administered "when they need it."

Again, the Christian faith is central. Attending church as a family and praying together is an essential part of family life. Being parents, says Rebecca, "takes more than just me and Russell."



In addition to being the guitarist for the family's Lonesome Whistle Band, Russell is also chief mechanic for their tour bus.

It is clear that Russell and Rebecca really enjoy being around their children. "I always wanted a big family. I wanted to be a momma," says Rebecca. With Connor snuggled beside her, she is speaking in the family room of her home, which is adorned with photographs of the couple's children and one grandchild (two-year-old Hayley) at various stages of their lives.

"It's never dull, never quiet. When you have seven children you also have seven attitudes and seven demands all the time. One-on-one time is sometimes hard to get because I'm divided seven ways, so we take what we can get. Having a big household is really not any different than having a couple of kids. You just do more of everything. They're a real blessing."

Russell sums up the couple's measured approach.

"The kids have a pretty firm foundation. They know what we'll tolerate, home or away. If the nanny's in a jam others here can help out. We try to use a reward system but we're not tough on them. We don't make them do a whole lot of work, but we give them responsibilities and punish them when we have to. We let them be kids."