By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

They all have different roommates at camp.

That's OK, because they see enough of each other at home.

And they're also all three members of the honor band, the top high school band, at this year's High Plains Band and Orchestra Camp at Fort Hays State University.

So they spend quite a bit of time together at camp, too.

That's been the case for a long time for Gregory, Geoffrey and Galen Whisman from Palco.

People in their hometown of 300, about 40 miles northwest of Hays, have become accustomed to seeing, and hearing, the Whisman trio play together.

In fact, music and the name Whisman were synonymous long before this generation of musicians even was born.

The boys' father, Daren Whisman, comes from a family of three siblings who all played instruments and sang with their father and mother, George and Berdena Whisman, who played the guitar and accordion, respectively.

"We didn't have a TV until I was 14," Daren said. "That's what we did (for entertainment) -- music."

That passion for music was passed on to Daren's children, stairstep brothers all 15 months apart who all chose their own instruments when each was in fourth grade.

Eighteen year-old Gregory, who plays the baritone saxophone, is in his fifth year of attending the band camp and is enjoying his last camp participating with his younger siblings.

Geoffrey, 17, plays the trombone, while youngest brother Galen, 15, chose the trumpet, partly because that's what his dad played growing up.

Gregory graduated this spring from Palco High School, where Geoffrey will be a senior and Galen a junior this fall.

Oldest brother won't be far away, though, as he will be playing for the FHSU marching band while working on a double major in agriculture business and music education.

Still, Galen said he'll miss Greg next year.

"He's the one who actually pushes us," Galen said. "He's kind of our base."

Even without the day-to-day interaction with Gregory, the younger brothers still will have family to learn from.

Their aunt, Carol Whisman -- one of their dad's older sisters -- is the vocal and instrumental instructor for kindergarten through 12th grade at Palco.

A long-time music teacher in several Kansas towns, Carol returned to her hometown last year so she could teach her nephews.

"I love having them in my class," Carol Whisman said. "We have a good time; they work hard."

Palco's high school band is small. There is only one other member besides the Whisman brothers.

So Carol Whisman thinks participating in the band camp is invaluable.

"It reinforces what you've spent all winter teaching them," said Carol, whose other sibling, middle sister Nancy Beyea, is a middle and high school band teacher in Aspen, Colo.

All three brothers have been reaping the benefits of FHSU's band camp since their junior high days.

They also take private lessons at Fort Hays and last year made the Jazz II Band at the university.

While the Whisman brothers, like any teenagers, sometimes fight their mother, Leola, about practice time, they do take their music serious.

"That goes back to my dad," Daren said of his father, who lived with his wife near his son's family until George died three years ago. "He was either making music or dancing."

There still is a lot of music, and not much TV watching, in the Whisman house,

"Between the farm and the music, there's isn't much time for anything else," Daren said, adding with a laugh. "We have a TV now, but we still don't watch it much."