Although GENERAL HOSPITAL's Wally Kurth (Ned) is as accomplished musician as he is an actor, you won't find him hitting the club scene these days. That's because the actor can be found at home serenading a happily captive audience:  wife and former co-star Rena Sofer (ex-Lois), and their 2-month-old daughter, Rosabel Rosalind. In fact, with a new baby at home the actor/singer/songwriter has found a new song-writing subject. "So far she's a total inspiration," he says. "She's just so sweet," he gushes.

Kurth just smiles incessantly when asked about the infant, named after his grandmother and his late co-star Rosalind Cash (Mary Mae). "We're calling her Rosie-Rosie, Rosie-Roz, Rosabel, and everything in between...as long as it's not Rose," he reports.

Kurth has a 10-year-old daughter, Meghann, from a previous relationship, and she seems to be following in her father's footsteps. "Meghann and I have written a song for Rosabel," says Kurth, who may be spending much of that time consulting a rhyming dictionary. "I'm trying to think of all sorts of thing that go with Rosie and Rosie-Roz. I've already used Rosabel up with, "I can tell...there she fell...' Now I've got to come up with something new."

Now that Sofer's record-producer character is away from Port Charles (Sofer has chosen to stay at home with Rosabel), Kurth's singing appearances on the soap have already become scarce. He and music partner Christian Taylor, however, are not letting their music slide but are shopping themselves around to major record labels. The two are heading to Nashville this month, where they will stage an industry showcase and appear on PRIME TIME COUNTRY.

"At least the people there are meeting us," says a relieved Kurth. "That's better than the reception we got here in L.A. [Record producers] weren't even willing to sit down and talk to us." The actor says his and Taylor's sound doesn't really fit the mold in Los Angeles, but they'll "see where it lands in Nashville." With a charm like Rosabel at home, good luck should be on their side.

Kurth and Sofer recently won Best Couple at The Soap Opera Update Awards. "I think of it as a Godsend, a blessing, that I was able to work with somebody that I am intimately involved with off-screen," admits Kurth. For the time being, though, Sofer has opted to stay at home with the baby and give the soap a rest. "She loves being a mother and is just thrilled. Rena has really taken to it."