Carry on: McVey puts Iowa values to work building career

By Diana Nollen

It's payback time for Jake McVey.

The Eastern Iowa native landed in Nashville five years ago and is making his mark on the country music scene.

He's been performing 300 concerts a year for three years, opening for such heavy-hitters as Dierks Bentley, Sugarland and Martina McBride. And he's creating a stir with his second album, “Anything is Possible.”

The video for “Carry On” is consistently landing at or near the top of Country Music Television's “Pure 12-Pack Countdown,” earning more viewer votes than videos from the likes of Keith Urban, Toby Keith and Carrie Underwood.

But wherever he roams, he makes sure the road brings him home to where it all began.

McVey, 29, was born in Washington, Iowa, and has lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Burlington and a farm south of Mediapolis, where his family still lives. He now has places of his own in Nashville and Crawfordsville, north of Mount Pleasant.

He played 10 days straight at the Iowa State Fair last summer and will return there for a couple of days this summer. This month, he's back on his home turf to play for the folks who helped him launch his career.

He'll be at City Beat in Cedar Rapids at 7 p.m. March 11; the Chrome Horse in Cedar Rapids at 3 p.m. March 17; the Riverside Casino Show Lounge on March 19; the Stockyard in Wayland on March 20; J&A Tap in North Liberty on March 21; Dance-Mor Ballroom in Swisher on March 27; Cooter's in Cedar Rapids on March 28; Sammy's Lounge in Cedar Rapids on March 31; Bourbon Street & Voodoo Lounge in Cedar Falls on April 2; and Wildwood Smokehouse in Iowa City on April 3.

For times and details, go to http://jakemcvey.com/fr_index.cfm

McVey grew up surrounded by music of all kinds, from the Beatles to Johnny Cash. His dad, Lewis, plays drums and his mom, Janice, plays piano. At age 9, he decided to play bass. But first, he had to earn the money to buy one.

“With good old family values, if you want something, you gotta work for it,” he says by phone from a recent tour stop in Potosi, Wis. “I'd mow lawns, bale hay - whatever I could do to make some money. I learned nothing in life is free. That work ethic has paid off immensely.”

He switched to guitar about a year later and stuck with it. After graduating from Mediapolis High School in 1999, his parents said, “What's next?” 

“I told them I was moving to Nashville to be a big ol' star,” McVey says with a laugh. “They said, ‘That's great, but what else do you want to do.'”

So he went to school in Phoenix for a year to learn how to build guitars. He uses his own creations on stage and figures those skills will come in handy later in life, too, especially after he's married.

“When my wife gets mad at me, I can go to the garage and build guitars.”