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!

On Valentine's Day this month, many couples will enjoy candlelit dinners and romantic getaways. How will Eddie and Martha Adcock celebrate? Well, since Cupid's big day falls on a Saturday, they'll probably be on a stage somewhere, playing the music they've performed together for over 30 years. And if they're not performing, they'll likely be home, doing household chores.

“Our situation is a little different from most other musicians', since we're both out on tour at the same time,” Martha explains. “Because there's no one left at home to take care of anything, life at home stops when we leave, and starts again when we get back. Things pile up! But it's hard to imagine how delighted we are to get back. I think no one on earth has ever been gladder to have their own little nest.”

The Adcocks' nest is a brick three-bedroom ranch with a full finished basement, located near Nashville. Such a house would seem perfectly adequate for just two people, but after 15 years, the Adcocks have grown out of their home.

With a wide variety of interests and hobbies, they've run out of space. They've got two vans in the driveway, and a big old motor home filled with Adcock Audio's sound equipment parked permanently in the yard. Inside their home is a recording studio, their library (with many books about world religions, which they both find fascinating), and Martha's various collections.

The Adcocks have two indoor cats: Mang and Nip. “Our license plate says MANGNIP. The plate on our old brown van says POOPSIE--our cat who lived and traveled with us for almost 20 years,” Martha says. “It's just wonderful to have your pets on the road with you. We don't like to be without them, really.”

A colony of feral cats has also found a home with the Adcocks. “They're mostly bobtails, and wild as can be,” she says. “We feed them, and trap them to take them to the vet, and Eddie builds little houses for them for the winter.”

One of the busiest spaces in their home is their workshop, filled with a wide array of tools and machines. “We can do anything-refinish instruments, repair them, build cabinets, almost anything,” says Eddie proudly. “We have the tools to do whatever we need to do.”

“That includes auto maintenance work!” adds Martha. “Someday when we have the room, we'll probably satisfy our yen for the cars of our youth. I'd like to find a 1955 Buick Century and a 1949 Hudson Hornet and have Eddie restore them!”

He could do it, too. Early in his career, from 1957 to 1966, Eddie was a master auto mechanic. His success as a drag racer attracted some serious clientele. “My garage did the whole county of Prince William, all the mechanic work on the police cars. The police started bringing their cars in to me, first one, then another, then another. I started to have a pretty good business just off the county!”

Martha's no slouch in the workshop, either. “She was a pearlcutter when I first met her, working for Randy Woods (a famed luthier). She's excellent at that sort of thing!” Eddie says.

“And I've owned several motorcycles,” adds Martha. “I was a wrenchturner. I wasn't afraid to approach mechanics.” Mechanical aptitude is one of the many things they share. “It's really nice if you have a lot of interests in common. To be together 24 hours a day is something that perhaps most people wouldn't want to do, or maybe couldn't do. We thrive on that! We're sort of loners together, is how I describe it sometimes.”

“I'm trying to think what he's talking about,” says Martha wryly, after a beat.

Visit the Adcocks online at www.eddieandmarthaadcock.com.