MY OVATION GUITAR STORY

July 23, 2026

I grew up in a family where playing music was simply what everyone did. On both my mom's and my dad's side, playing and singing were everywhere.

My paternal grandparents were musicians for much of their lives. They played several instruments, but bluegrass and country music were their passion. My grandfather toured for a time with bluegrass artist Eddie Adams, playing fiddle, and they recorded together in the late 1950s.

Whenever we visited my grandparents, there was a good chance the instruments would come out. My grandparents, my parents, my aunts, and my uncles would gather together with a stand-up bass, fiddle, acoustic guitars, and whatever else happened to be nearby. Before long, the room would be filled with songs and harmonies. As a kid, I never thought much about it. It was just what our family did.

Music was just as much a part of my mom's side of the family. My grandmother was a gifted singer and multi-instrumentalist. She played guitar, ukulele, autoharp, and several other instruments, and she traveled around Michigan performing at country and bluegrass jamborees with a group called The Back Porch Pickers.

Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to grow up surrounded by musicians, but at the time it all seemed perfectly ordinary. When I would visit my friends' houses, I wondered where they kept all their instruments.

When I was about twelve years old, my grandmother bought me my first guitar. I never had an official lesson. I simply watched the people around me play and tried to copy what they were doing. For me, guitar was more caught than taught.

One evening at my grandparents' house, the family had gathered around a bonfire when my Uncle Darrel brought out his guitar. He started playing a beautiful arrangement of Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind. I had seen my dad use that style before on his version of Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind, but this time I couldn't take my eyes off either his playing or the instrument.

My uncle's guitar looked unlike anything I had ever noticed before. The headstock had a distinctive shape, and instead of a flat back, the body was rounded. It looked modern, almost futuristic. It has personality. It was an Ovation. I remember sitting there thinking that someday I wanted to play like that, and if I ever could, I wanted a guitar just like his.

Not long afterward, my grandmother took me to Cook's Music in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. I had heard they had an Ovation at a good price. The only one they had was a nylon-string classical model that happened to be on sale for around $150. She bought it for me.

I immediately glued myself songbooks. The first one was a Gordon Lightfoot songbook. Later came Stan Rogers, James Taylor, Jim Croce, and several others. I'd sit for hours working through the arrangements, measure by measure, trying to figure out the fingerpicking patterns and crafting my own "language" with the guitar. The guitar basically became an extension of my body, like a new appendage.

Eventually I played that little Ovation so much that I simply wore it out. By then, Ovations weren't easy to find where I lived, so I picked up whatever guitars I could afford over the next several years. Different brands came and went, and somewhere along the way I stopped thinking about Ovation altogether. Eventually I found myself enjoying Martins, Taylors, and even a cheap Yamaha that spent a lot of time in my hands at home.

Thirty years of playing, writing, and singing passed.

Then, at the beginning of 2026, life took an unexpected turn. I spent nearly a month in the hospital and underwent open-heart surgery. Recovery was slow, and I found myself with more quiet time than I had been used to. Like a lot of people recovering from surgery, I ended up spending hours wandering through YouTube.

Somewhere along the way, I fell down a rabbit hole of Glen Campbell videos. I'd always admired his playing, but this time something else caught my attention. There it was again—that unmistakable rounded back and distinctive headstock. Glen was playing an Ovation in several of the videos. Seeing that familiar shape brought back memories I hadn't thought about in years. Before long I was reading about Charles Kaman, the history of Ovation, and the innovative designs that had fascinated me as a kid. Something about the story resonated with me. I decided it was time to own one again.

I traded in one of my electric guitars and bought my first Ovation in nearly thirty years—a full-body model (a 2078TX). Picking it up felt strangely familiar. The neck, the rounded back, the way it balanced against my body—it all came back almost immediately. I loved how it played and how it sounded. It took me back, for sure.

Not long afterward, I found a Celebrity CC44 on Facebook Marketplace and added it to the collection as well. I'm still keeping an eye out for a few more. Someday I'd like to own one of the thin-body models, a double-neck Ovation, and, if I'm fortunate enough, a high-end Adamas.

It's funny how something as simple as a guitar can quietly connect so many different seasons of life—from family jam sessions as a kid, to learning songs from worn-out music books, to rediscovering the same instrument during recovery from heart surgery.

We all have a story. I hope you found my story encouraging and I hope you have a chance to share yours.

Mike

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