Saturday night attraction during the summer at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Rock Hill. Often they play at musical gatherings in Blackstock in Chester County. The family began playing in public in 1997, first at nursing homes.

"We were looking for a family atmosphere to play at," said William when they started playing at the Cracker Barrel. William is thankful to the general manager, Frank Sanders, for the restaurant's hospitality.

"We try to bring in everbody and feature everbody," said William, 46, of their public performances. Father and sons play mostly the stringed instruments, while the girls sing and play the fiddle and Emily, 7, is learning the auto harp.

"We started all of them on the harmonica. They all have the tendency-we don't force it or push it," said William of his family's musical talents.

A soft-spoken man, the elder Hudson works in maintenance for a local motel and helps at a York tool sharpening service. Mother Nancy stays home with the children. William is a native of York; Nancy grew up in Hickory Grove.

"I count heads," said Nancy in terms of keeping up with them.

Half the pleasure is hearing them play. The other half is getting to know them. All the Hudson children are unfailingly polite, punctuating their sentences with "yes sir" or "no sir" and addressing all adults as "mister" or "missus." All the boys are attired in plaid shirts, cowboy hats and blue jeans. The girls wear skirts and kerchiefs.

Music might make them a group but their deep-seated faith in God keeps them a family.

"I want to credit the Lord for blessing me with this family and their talents. God uses children as a blessing. But nowadays people see children as a burden," said William. He said the Bible teaches that God created the family as the first social institution even before the church.

The sun in its westbound trail toward the horizon shines directly into the Hudsons' faces as they play on the front porch of the Cracker Barrell on Saturday afternoon.

Seth is boxed in behind a drum set providing percussion as father William accompanies him on the electric guitar. Patick and Caleb join in with the guitar and mandolin respectively. Katie, the little scene-stealer, scurries from one knot of people to the next not meeting a stranger yet. Already she is learning the harmonica.

"She can get a sound," said Nancy of Katie's harmonica blowing.

Family members swap off instruments with ease. William will often take the bass from Jared or the banjo from Seth. Patrick and Seth have developed a stage trick where Seth replaces his brother on the electric keyboard during the middle of a song without missing a beat.

Besides their harmonica playing, Hattie, Emily and Martha and Seth share the fiddle.

They launch into 'Rocky Top,' a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, as the girls take a break and play on the grass in front of the restaurant. The band then jumped into a quick surfer riff from an old Beach Boys song. The crowd settles into rockers lining the front porch or brings camp chairs to sit on the lawn.

"You never hear a one of them say a bad word. We think the world of them," said Henry Hammond of York, as he and his wife Jospehine catch the Hudson's restaruant show from their lawn chairs. It's become a weekly outing for them.

The Hudsons do more than just "a-pickin' and a-grinnin'" as Buck Owens would say.

Besides bluegrass, gospel and country, the family plays big band tunes, instrumental sets from old rock tunes and jazz. Often they play Floyd Cramer songs, a musical innovator who played with country artist Chet Atkins. The Hudson's instrumental version of the Beatles' 'Yesterday' is often requested.

"They had some strange religious beliefs but they were talented," said William of the Fab Four.

"Everything we do is a good down-home music. We do clean songs, nothing vulgar. I think it reminds them how it used to be," said William.

Already the family has made their first studio recording working through Woody's Music of Rock Hill. But even if their fan base grows, the Hudsons know the source of their strength is the Lord and their own family ties. Patrick has been asked in the past to branch out and play with other groups, but he wants to keep the music a family affair. Seth echoes that desire.

"I'd like to keep it in the family. I love my family; to see everyone develop together. It's like a family reunion," said Seth.

"I think it's a wonderful blessing to play with my family. Seeing a smile on someone's face puts a smile on mine.

"It's amazing really the number of people who come back to hear us," said Patrick.

William is careful about when and where the family appears and doesn't play where alcohol is served, wanting to keep their performances more like family outings. Plus, he wants their performances to be witnesses to God, which makes money secondary. At Cracker Barrell, they are not paid, though the restaurant feeds them after each performance and they have a bucket which appreciative music lovers can drop in donations.

"If I can't feel comfortable with my wife and children, then I don't need to be there." he said.

Because they are a big family and close, the Hudsons have been compared to another television family, however, the Waltons. 'The Waltons' was a 1970s semi-autobiographical version of producer Earl Hamner's family growing up in Virginia during the Great Depression.

"I really take that as a compliment," said William.

"I wish everbody saw the value of family."

God, family and music in that order make up the Hudson clan.