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!

Dan Crary and Doc Watson, recording at Doc's place

Who on earth would name a dog Gemütlichkeit?

A world traveler and bon vivant like guitarist Dan Crary, of course.

“We rescued this dachshund out of the middle of a busy street. I pulled the car over and stopped three lanes of traffic! Laree opened the door and this little character jumped in and curled up on the seat.” Translation, please? “Gemütlichkeit is when Germans are feeling cozy and convivial, sitting around a fire drinking beers and singing wandering songs. We call him Gemütie. He's the most engaging dog I was ever around.”

Dan and his wife, managerial behavior consultant Dr. Laree Kiley, have busy, complicated lives. The oddly named wiener dog complicates things even more, but they are devoted to him. At the moment, Gemütie is with Dan at their second home on the Pacific Ocean in Depoe Bay, Oregon. “We try to escape up here through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and part of the summer. Being from Kansas, an ocean was a great miracle to me. I'd always had a dream of being able to go to sleep by the ocean and look out my window at it.”

In 1987, Dan and Laree (whom he affectionately calls Reedie) went to Oregon to do some gigs, and decided to look at property. “We figured it was safe 'cause we didn't have any money. I was post-divorce-broke, and she was post-graduate school-broke!” A realtor insisted that they take a look at one particular lot. “It was beautiful--had some big trees, and about a 50 ft. cliff right over the ocean. But it was way beyond our means, so we shed a tear over it and went home.”

A few months later, things changed. “The stock market took a little 25% correction, and the guy who owned the lot took about a half-million-dollar hit. By sheer dumb luck, we wound up with this beautiful oceanfront lot!” Within a few years, they built a second home on the property.

For many years, their primary home was in Fullerton, California. Recently, however, they relocated to Placerville, a little gold-mining town located several hundred miles north. “The house is sort of rich-folks rustic from the 70s. It's got great big rooms and a brick fireplace. We're gonna have to put some elbow grease into shining it up, but somebody built it well, and put a lot of thought into it.” Dan won't do the work himself, though. “I'm on the road so much that men with tools are going to have to come!”

Taken at Folk Alliance 2003 in Nashville. L-R: Pop Wagner, Beppe Gambetta, Federica Gambetta, Dan Crary, Sandy Beesley, viewing Beppe's new DVD cartoon "On The Road with Mama". It was the first time anyone but the Gambettas had seen it! Courtesy Sandy Beesley.

Though time for hobbies seems rare these days, Dan has a wide variety of passions and interests. Inspired by Beppe, who is known for his fabulous Italian dishes, Dan likes to cook. He loves fine wine and great beers. He's also a serious history buff. He finds medieval history fascinating, and has extensively studied the origins of the guitar. And he's recently been reading up on the history of Kansas, and Constitutional history-“just to get less ignorant,” he says.

He also tinkers around with an old British sports car, and he's looking forward to exploring the roads around Placerville with it. “I've got a 1968 MGB, a little two-seater roadster. I don't do any major mechanical stuff, but I keep it running. The things the British do to their sports cars are completely irrational and adorable. Think about the most awkward place to put a battery in a car, and that's where they put it--down behind the seat, underneath the carpet, beneath a metal plate with five screws! Jiminy Christmas! But when they're running right, those little four-banger motors work really hard, and they're a great joy.”

Visit Dan Crary online at www.dancrary.com.