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!

Tell folks you're from New York, and you can just about see the Manhattan skyline reflected in their eyes. That's what most people think of, when they think of the Empire State. Old Forge, the hometown of singer/songwriter Kim Fox, is 300 miles northwest of the Big Apple, but it might as well be 3,000.

This tiny jewel in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains lies at the edge of a chain of eight crystalline lakes, and has an off-season population of less than 2,000. “It's a little town; we don't even have a stoplight,” Kim says. “I graduated with about 30 people in my class!”

She first began skiing at age five, raced as a downhill skier all through high school, and taught skiing in college. “There's not really much to do in Old Forge in wintertime!” she laughs.

Winters get seriously cold in Old Forge. In fact, the state's lowest recorded temperature was reported here in 1979: 52 degrees below zero! “My mother wouldn't let us go skiing unless it was ten degrees. I remember sitting in the kitchen watching the thermometer, hoping it was gonna get to ten degrees!”

Kim is the oldest child of Tom and Suzanne Fox. “There's five girls and my brother Joel. He's married, and he and his wife just had twin girls! It's as if he was destined to be surrounded by women.” Kim, Joel, and their sister, Barb, have recently reunited The Fox Family bluegrass band. Each August, the clan works together to promote the Fox Family Festival in Old Forge, now in its 15th year. Kim is also promoter of IBMA's FanFest, a three-year commitment that will climax in 2005 when the huge event moves from Louisville to Nashville.

She has lived in Madison, a Nashville suburb, for the past seven years. “I was 30 when I moved here. I didn't want to live in my car like other young songwriters that come here. I bought a house in 2002, and I want to be able to pay for it!” Kim taught history in junior high school on and off for almost a decade. She enjoyed teaching, but realized eventually that it wasn't for her. “Everybody thinks it's a great thing-you get summers off; get out at 3:00 PM . . . but that's not how it really works. It's like music; you have to put your heart and soul into it.”

Kim now works for a company called Corrections Corporation of America. “We run prisons. I'm the office manager, something I never thought I would do!” she chuckles. “I have a really flexible job, and that's why I do it. Eventually, I would like to write full-time. And that might happen sooner than I thought!” In late 2003, country diva Trisha Yearwood recorded one of Kim's songs. Though it's still uncertain if the tune will be selected for Trisha's new album, Kim is keeping her fingers crossed. “The good thing is it's an up-tempo song. They're harder to find!”

The house Kim bought two years ago sits on a hill overlooking the Cumberland River. “I can watch the boats go by. My house has four bedrooms. I've got a lot of room; one room I don't even have anything in yet! It's got a big yard and porch. It's a great place for having people over, and picking.” Her social circle includes bluegrass couples Ronnie and Garnet Imes Bowman, Lisa and Rob McCoury, and Mike and Meredith Bub. “We're all good friends. We're kinda like a big family!”

In her leisure time, which is becoming increasingly rare, Kim enjoys reading, fishing, NASCAR, and football. “I am the biggest Tennessee Titans fan that ever was! We watch football and NASCAR every Sunday!” She has a friendly rivalry with Russell Moore from IIIrd Tyme Out. “He bets on the 49ers, and I bet on the Titans, and he's losing bad right now!” she grins. “He lost last year, and he had to wear my Titans jersey at SPBGMA. He was supposed to wear it onstage, but he just couldn't do it!”

Photos on Kim's refrigerator reveal an aspect of her musical personality that often surprises and amuses her guests. “I love Barry Manilow,” she says reverently. “I was in the fan club; I had posters, every record, the whole thing.” She shares her devotion with Meredith Bub, who once threw a birthday party to honor the pop star. “I told Meredith, 'You know, I don't think I would be a songwriter if it wasn't for him.' Every song has a pinnacle; they inspire emotion. That's what I learned from his songs.”

Visit Kim Fox online at www.foxfamilybluegrass.com.