in a life overflowing with music, art

By By Keith DuCharme

Daily Staff Writer

Alice McGary believes in the idea of downward mobility, which runs in contrast with the ideals of work hard, get more.

“I think that in America, we are driven to work harder and earn more,” McGary says. “We believe we will be happier with more money. We think poor people are lazy and it’s their own fault.”

Clarifying her own ideology, McGary says she doesn’t believe people should live in intentional poverty. People should decide their level of living by themselves.

“My goal isn’t to have a lot of money,” McGary says. “I’m just searching for happiness today.”

She seems to be living proof of her ideas. Her brick townhouse near downtown Ames is being swallowed by vines and shrubbery, almost becoming one with the environment.

That’s not to say McGary is living in poverty. Her house is clean and her refrigerator is full. She wears a purple tank top, recently dyed, and a blue skirt, which she made herself. Both look washed and clean.

McGary is doing what few others dare — trying to make it as a professional musician. She makes her money by performing live with bands Local Honey and Porch Stompers and through music lessons. She also has part-time jobs at Wheatsfield Grocery and as an instructor.

Naturally, there have been bumps along the way. After spending a year focused on both musicianship and creating visual arts, McGary was left with a choice.

“I couldn’t give enough time to both of them,” McGary says. “So, this year I’ve made a decision to focus more on being a musician.”

McGary finds most of her inspiration coming from traditional American music, such as the sounds of swing, jazz, and blues music from the early 20th century. She even has her own theory on that time period’s significance.

“Right before the ’20s, no one was really able to listen to other musicians,” she says. “They were just in their regions, so there was lots of rich regional music. Then all of the sudden, records and the radio started up and everybody started hearing everybody else. I feel like [the musicians] were just so excited about other music — you can hear the influence on everything else at that time. There was just a wealth of activity.”

Her musical appreciation shows. Her house is full of different instruments scattered around the living room. McGary never seems far from an instrument, ready to play the moment she has nothing better to do.

This isn’t to say McGary has dropped working on visual arts altogether. She says she is grateful for her teaching job at the Workspace because it allows her to maintain some dedication to it.

“I’m still teaching, and that’s good because it lets me keep my skill level up,” she says. “I’m there regularly and I’m producing.”

McGary is not alone in her house when it comes to artistic endeavors. Both of her roommates dedicate time to their own creative impulses. John Bovenmyer, a former ISU student, is also a musician who plays with a number of bands in the area. McGary’s other roommate, Colette Ryder-Hall, is a graduate student in English. She has published a ‘zine full of her writing and photography for the past 10 years.

Looking outside of her house and into her community, McGary says Ames is a unique place for fledgling artists in any medium.

“I think Ames is a strange place,” she says. “There’s a lot going on here, and there’s lots of people here. But other places I’ve been have had a stronger overall culture.”

McGary says making it as an artist in this city has its advantages and drawbacks. Unfortunately, there aren’t many places in Ames to promote her artistic endeavors.

“I think if I were to move to someplace like Chicago, it would be easier to find places to play,” she says. “It is a bit hard to find shows around here. There’s not many places that regularly book bands like mine around here.”

At the same time, Ames offers advantages to bigger cities. For example, McGary says, people in the community and who are active in the culture know one another and know the bands. This allows to create a better sense of unison among the artists.

“I feel like I know a ton of people in Ames,” McGary says. “I like how small and close-knit it all is.”