When Tony Roth and his wife Joyce Walker were looking for a house in Kalamazoo to buy they wanted to make sure there would be plenty of room to put up people they had yet to meet.
The couple settled on a house on Elm Street for the sole purpose of providing a place for musicians traveling through and around Michigan to stay free of charge.
Miss Muse, as the house has come to be known, represents an effort the couple started in 2006 when they moved to Kalamazoo from St. Petersburg, Fla. The house takes its name from a song by Chris Dorman, originally from Lansing, who now makes his home in Vermont with his wife on Bread and Butter Farm, says Roth.
Most weeks musicians take up temporary residence on the Elm Street home’s third floor, which has its own bathroom and kitchen and more importantly beds with clean sheets. Roth, 42, says his wife has a genius for creating a homey atmosphere for guests who stay anywhere from a day or two to a week, depending on their performance schedule.
All of this would probably make a lot more sense if the couple were also professional musicians, but they’re not and that’s what makes what they’re doing extraordinary. Roth is an arbitrator for the insurance industry and Walker, 46, is an associate professor at Illinois State University and director of the school’s writing program.
"It does seem difficult for people to grasp, that we bought the house for that purpose," Walker says. "Most people outside of the community think it’s pretty odd and other family members think that it’s pretty weird. It’s not something many people would do."
The couple, who grew up in southern Illinois, relocated from Florida to Kalamazoo when Walker was offered a job teaching at
Western Michigan University. Roth says they both knew shortly after the move that there was something very different about Kalamazoo and they wanted to be a part of it.
"I was amazed from the first time I even came to Kalamazoo. I never could have pointed it out on a map, but when I came here that first day I fell in love with the place," Roth says. "One of the things I didn’t realize is that so many people here are trying to make this place better with everything they do.
"After learning a lot about the history of the town I appreciated it even more because it kept reinventing itself."
When Walker began teaching at Illinois State she and Roth lived in a small house in Champaign, Ill. and kept a one-bedroom apartment in Kalamazoo that they made available to traveling musician friends. This would be the genesis of Miss Muse.
The couple’s work also is inspired by
The Earthwork Music Collective, a group that says it "believes in the intrinsic and historical power of music to raise both community and self-awareness and serves to facilitate and encourage original music in the state of Michigan and beyond."
"We knew we loved Kalamazoo and wanted to stay in touch with our friends here and give something back," Roth says. "There was such a huge response that we knew the need was there."
Walker says she appreciates the good work people are doing with their music and their lives and wants to support this in any way she can.
"They’re not traveling and staying in five-star hotels," Walker says. "Staying at our house lets them rest a little bit in the process of doing their jobs and there’s spaces for them to practice and have privacy, which they can’t get on the road.
"We also have a lot of friends traveling on the road so much that they don’t really have an apartment anymore. This allows them to save money because they’re basically on the road constantly."
Miss Muse is not open to any band or musician, however. Guests are usually friends or acquaintances of people who have already experienced the Walker-Roth’s hospitality.
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe and
The Strutt are among the venues some of these musicians play. Seth Bernard and May Erlewine were the first musicians to stay in the house on Elm Street and began spreading the word to others.
"The house is foremost our home, and that’s kind of important to know," Roth says. "It’s a lot of work for us to keep real sheets and pillows on the beds."
But it’s a labor of love, he says. "We want to make Kalamazoo a little bit of a destination for musicians when they think of places to play and record their music."
The third floor of the house can easily accommodate four or five people at a time.
Roth and Walker primarily live on the second floor and a housemate, Paul Janson, occupies primarily the first floor.
When Roth and Walker are traveling Janson makes sure guests have what they need.
Janson also helps orchestrate impromptu musical gatherings that take place after musicians perform and more formalized Saturday events each month featuring food and music.
Roth says he and his wife make no money on Miss Muse and are actually suffering a little bit financially to keep their Stuart neighborhood home open to musicians.
"Tony and I are dedicating ourselves to turning our home into a community hub," Walker says. "People who live in other parts of the country don’t realize all of the live music and talent going on in live music in Michigan. It’s amazing."
Music, Roth says, can be a gateway to community building and sustainability.
"I’m one of biggest cheerleader that I know," Roth says. "Joyce and I lived where we grew up and Kalamazoo is a place like no other that I’ve ever been. It’s more open in the sense that people are more open to new ideas and more accepting than any place I’ve ever been."
Jane C. Parikh is a freelance reporter and writer with more than 20 years of experience. She is the owner of In So Many Words, based in Battle Creek.
Photos by Erik Holladay.
Joyce Walker and husband Tony Ross have transformed their Elm Street home into a comfortable stop for traveling musicians in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Tony Ross and his wife, Joyce Walker, enjoy housing traveling musicians for free while they stay in Michigan.
The third-floor of the house has enough room to sleep six to eight members of a band.
The apartment not only provides their own space to sleep and relax but also offers a small kitchen.
Joyce Walker and Tony Ross house traveling musicians in their home that has become know as Miss Muse.