Have you ever wondered about the offstage world of a professional musician? Every month in this column, bluegrass now will provide a glimpse into the lives of some of your favorite bluegrass stars. To see captions, just move your cursor over the photos!

Thanks to his lead vocal on that song in that movie*, millions of moviegoers think about Dan Tyminski's voice when they see actor George Clooney.

Well, Clooney's cute, but he sure can't sing like Dan. That rich baritone booms with power when Tyminski takes over lead chores, and blends perfectly with the delicate voice of bandmate Alison Krauss when he supports her with harmony. Add some brilliant picking to the mix, and… George who ?

Apparently, Dan hasn't let it go to his head. When he's asked what three words his friends and family might use to describe him, he doesn't hesitate for a moment. "Full . . . of . . . it!” With roots in Rutland, Vermont, Tyminski has a rural Yankee boy's charm: he's a bit self-conscious, earnest and polite, very down-to-earth--and maybe just a little goofy .

He says, for example, that the kitchen is his domain. He watches the Cooking Channel a lot, and tries to copy the recipes. He likes “Molto” Mario Batasi, Emeril Lagasse, and Rachel Ray. “I'm pretty much the cook: Chef Boy-ar-ski! I don't think I have a specialty. I like to cook different things. I mean, what I do most often is probably grill out. Arf, arf! ”

And what could be goofier than this? “I have had, and still have, a passion for that game.” He's talking about foosball, you understand: four-player table hockey; little wooden guys with the rods through their heads. “We had a local hangout when I was a kid growing up, Luke's Diner. They had a foosball table in the back. It ended up consuming all of my time! I spent 50-plus hours a week at a table. I was what you'd definitely classify as a foosball head."

Dan even met his wife Elise through a foosball friend. “Tag was one of the people I spent 50 hours a week playing foosball with. His sister went to summer camp with Elise, who knew of me from the band (Green Mountain Bluegrass) I played in with my brother Stan. She mentioned to Tag's sister that she liked a banjo player in West Rutland. And Tag's sister said, 'Well, my brother plays foosball with a guy who's a banjo player in West Rutland.' I don't know if you'd call it a blind date, but they invited us both to dinner.”

Now that he's an adult, Dan has a foosball table in the basement of his place near Roanoke, Virginia. He enjoys playing with his kids: Kathryn, ten; Christopher, eight; and John, six. The Tyminskis moved into their home a few months ago. “It's pretty much out in the country. We have just a little bit of land. We're doing work on the horse barn and fence, and then it will be a horse farm.” Dan himself isn't an equestrian; he hastens to add. Though he enjoys horses, it's actually Elise who wears the jodphurs in the family. "She has been riding as long as I've been playing music!” he reports.

After an absence of several years from competitive riding, Elise Tyminski has gotten back into the ring. Her thoroughbred Percheron crossbred, Brownie, has already taken several blue ribbons. “Elise is trying to do as many shows as she can. She might actually be in a show this weekend! ” Dan reports. His voice resonates with pride, and a bit of sadness, too, because he wishes he could be there. “It's rare to have any weekends off,” he sighs. “When I do, it's just never worked out where it's been a horse show weekend.”

Despite his hectic touring schedule, Dan somehow managed to record “Frosty The Snowman” for a Special Olympics benefit album, to be released just in time for the holidays. But fans expecting a new Dan Tyminski solo project under the tree on Christmas morning will just have to be patient. “I'm not in a hurry to do the next one,” he says. “I'm waiting till I can get a reasonable amount of time, and then I'll work on another. Right now, I have to put our band first.”

As a member of Alison Krauss + Union Station, one of the busiest bands around, Dan can't put in 50-hour weeks at the foosball table anymore. He doesn't even seek out the game when he's on the road. “If I do anything, I'll look for a golf course. That's my current passion. Golfers are more common than foosball players!” By the way, his handicap is a very respectable 12.

Visit Dan online at www.dantyminski.com .

* “Man Of Constant Sorrow,” and O Brother, Where Art Thou? But you knew that, of course!