Now playing: Lost Indian

Off the new CD, Down the Road by Chamber music

We're a family band, playing bluegrass and classical music for 11 years. And the kids are constantly re-forming their sound, as two older brothers headed to college.

The 3rd CD, Black&white remains the most popular; and the 4th, Down the Road, is selling almost as well. We were tickled pink to have been considered for a talk/variety show that aired fall 2006 on Fox; most recently, we were thrilled to play at Starlight for a pre-show. We've played for Missouri's governor Matt Blunt during his campaign, for our bishop in Kansas City, for true bluegrass fans at Winfield on the Acoustic Kids stage. 

We took 1st place at the New Musicians Showcase, sponsored by the Liberty Performing Arts Theatre. The kids were thrilled to see so many folks from different genres of music cheer them on, with standing ovations after each song. And July 2008, we put on a benefit for KC kids and families at the Liberty Performing Arts Theatre. We had many guest bands help us raise money by doing what they do best: play bluegrass. All funds went to three area children's organizations: Alexandra's House, Children's Mercy and Marian Hope Center.

We couldn't have planned this route; we're just following what He's laid out for us as a family and trying to keep a slow enough pace to enjoy the scenery. And as the kids "age," and our two oldest in college, the face and sound of Chamber music is changing. And Dominic, 17, Sophie, 13, and John, 11, are picking up on new instruments all the time.

Music opens doors to conversations with many we've met. Whether we're at libraries, nursing homes, festivals or private parties, folks and kids love to talk about their experiences, about all our instruments and the kids' training. (We love to talk, too, if we could just keep track of the still rambunctious, experimental 11-year-old John, the actor/comedian in the group.)

All began early playing via Suzuki method--parent, teacher and student, weekly and parent and student, hopefully each day. What a great discipline, a  lasting gift to give our children. So we began with Gabriel at 4 on violin, and Luke at 5 on guitar, Suzuki style. From there, as our children hit the age of 5 or so, they began classical training. And our violin teacher, a bluegrass performer with Fresh Cut Grass, suggested we look at some bluegrass as a family. Sounded good to us!

Nothing is ever easy. We almost lost Sophie off the back of the stage at the Glenwood Theatre; strings have snapped and broken just before or during a performance; we've sweated in 105 degrees at a state fair; and nearly frozen in 40 degree weather at a barn hoedown. We've forgotten instruments at the Liberty Performing Arts Competition (Luke can tune a bass uke to cello-talk); we've gotten a bit steamed and stressed at setting up and breaking or taking down.

But it's given us this nugget of what a family does and can do when we work together and follow talents as given by God.

Luke, 22, flatpicks a mean classical and bluegrass guitar. He's been strumming since age 5, teaching guitar since age 13, as he managed a neighborhood paper route with his brothers. He also began learning classical bass at age 13. In the early days, he was the main arranger-producer; as he begins his senior year in college, he still lends a hand to a tune now and then. He's worked at Children's Mercy Hospital as nephrology assistant, and spent his junior year at Cambridge in England.He's been a part of ACES, Area Career Enhancement Scholar program in Northwest Missouri. He's put in many hours shadowing a variety of health professionals and, in his senior year in high school, he presented a health talk on Wolff-Parkinson-White, a heart condition his mom once had. He's played with the Northland Symphony Community Orchestra and Missouri Western's Youth Orchestra, and the Liberty Symphony Orchestra, the William Jewell Chamber Orchestra, and a classical guitar ensemble. He was featured in 2006 on FOX 4 with Phil Witt and his Young Achiever's segment. He's hoping to enter KCUMB in spring for a masters in bioethics.

Gabriel,  21, is in his senior year at Benedictine College, Atchison, majoring in criminology, minoring in computer science. He's interested in international relations, federal security issues, music and Italian! In fact, he received offers for internships from the FBI and Secret Service in Kansas City this past summer, and opted with the SS. He recently returned home from a FOCUS mission working with the brothers in the Missionaries of the Poor.  At home, he taught violin for 3 years. He took 3rd place in the Beatrice, Neb. fiddle competition in 2009. As of February 2008, he won the Northland Symphony Concerto contest for high school students. He, like Luke, was featured on FOX 4 with Phil Witt's Young Achiever's segment. In 2007, Gabriel took 2nd place state in fiddler at the Missouri State Fair in the junior division. He began Suzuki at age 4 on a 1/16th size violin. He's mastered the fiddle and handles mandolin, bass and guitar well. He donned a cap his freshman year in high school as honorary page at the Missouri Legislature, being introduced by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and State Sen. Charlie Shields. He's volunteered for U. S. Congressman Sam Graves. He's played in youth orchestra as one of the first violins at Missouri Western State University. He played with the Northland Symphony Community Orchestra through high school, and volunteered at Children's Mercy in Endocrine. With his report on "Phthalates: Legal or Lethal?" he took 1st place in the Homeschool Science Fair. He is a part of Benedictine's Community Orchestra.

Dominic, 17, is one of the key vocalists and main violinist with the family group; he also plays the mandolin, guitar and piano. He now is the main arranger in the group, with Sophie close at his heels. He won the Northland Symphony Orchestra's Concerto Competition for 2011. He took first place in the 2010 Yankton Fiddle competition, junior division. Once known as "smiley," he still manages to keep things light during music practice. Dominic's big news for 2011 was his acceptance into the Naval Academy Summer Seminar. Go Navy! He had an awesome time in Annapolis and is now awaiting work on acceptance into the academy in 2012. It's that or nursing school. He is a dedicated altar server at Our Lady of Good Counsel. He's always interested in nature and biology, having constructed our water feature and ponds out back, and now offering this to the community.  He took first place in the Home School Science Fair with his project on converting guppies from freshwater to saltwater (no guppies were harmed in this experiment; they adapted just fine!). He relishes the science classes of zoology, biology and physics. As a high school junior, he helps out with JMJ Communications tapings of area talks, he volunteers at North Kansas City Hospital, and is interested in nursing. He's active, as school work allows, in the pro-life group "Truth Illuminated" and Boy Scouts.

Sophie, 14, had to copy her brothers when she was 3. OK, so the violin was a wooden toy, but she didn't care. She even fancied herself as Shirley Temple until Mom intervened over those really short little dresses! We did keep the curly lock look, though. Sophie moved to cello at age 4 and is the main vocalist, if only she would keep her mouth on the mic. She's been singing at an early age, as we dubbed her, "singing Sophie." She's getting quite proficient on her cello, and on violin and mandolin. She took guitar lessons from Luke this past summer, and now accompanies her brothers in fiddle competitions and plays and sings in performances. She's one of the three in Aria delle Celliste, a cello group with a unique sound, and a part of a bass/cello group, Cellifish. She can usually be found singing, playing cello or reading.

John, 11, marches to his own drummer, yes a percussionist, but mainly a violinist and bassist. He took first place in the junior division fiddling at the Platte County Fair. He's loving playing his 1/8 size bass, while Mom plugs feebly away at the 3/4 size bass. He is our vocal joker, on stage and off. We never know what to expect. His harmonies with Sophie on our new CD are wonderful. Ingenuitive, imaginative, exhausting and exhilirating on good moments, exasperating many times, you parents with kids with this temperament know the feeling. They're all gifts from God!

Mom, no age required as John revealed it years ago, plays the bass, a little mandolin. I'm working on guitar, but even the chords are strenuous on the fingers. Calluses, as Luke has always said. Gotta love that deep sound of the bass after playing flute for many years. I credit the Suzuki method for the kids' ability to learn easily and perform a wide repertoire from memory. I also publish the FIAT, a Catholic homeschool newsletter, and head toward my 11th year homeschooling. 

Dad, alias the roadie, never played an instrument and isn't about to begin. But he enjoys it when the family plays, and has picked up the train whistle on Orange Blossom Special.