Ten years ago I was waiting for my Olson. I had ordered it a year earlier, and I remember thinking that soon Jim would begin to build my guitar, as the wait time was about 18 months and he usually began building after 12. I had settled in comfortably to the idea that a guitar was being built - personally for me - I really love that feeling! If it catches you just right it takes your breath away! I felt a connection to Circle Pines, Minnesota as I knew that something good would be happening there that would change my life. You'd have to work pretty hard not to be changed when such a work of art walks into your world. There is a responsibility to that. But, first, let me tell you the story of how I came to own an Olson guitar.

I played steel-string for the first four years of my guitar playing career - first on a Sears guitar owned jointly with a brother and sister, and then on a Yamaha FG170 that I fought for high school graduation, when my parents wanted to give me a typewriter! After working a summer job playing guitar in the background at the show at the local amusement park, I bought a 12-string and started taking lessons again. My teacher took me through the first two years of repertoire for the college level and encouraged me to study the guitar in school, but my parents strongly discouraged this (they were and probably still are mad about the typewriter) so I continued private lessons but switched to nylon-string guitar.

I bought an old Epiphone classical built in 1962 - it had amazing tone and a big repaired crack on the top. I loved it! Later I "moved up" to a Takamine nylon-string and then to an Ovation nylon-string with electronics! This is what I played for many years, performing at many weddings, funerals, church services and special events. I was perfectly happy with my choice of guitars.

But then, about 12 years ago I got bitten with the desire to study more, and I went back to where I had studied classical guitar many years earlier. Much to my surprise the store had switched from an emphasis on classical to an emphasis on rock and roll and my old teacher was still there, but looking and dressing more like a rocker than the man I remembered. No worries. I happily started lessons again, and I picked up and devoured the guitar magazines being sold in the store. This is where I became acquainted with my guitar heroes.

One of my new heroes was David Wilcox, who was known at the time for changing tunings on every song. By chance, I was walking past the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts one day and saw that he would be performing there that night! I went to the show - my first time at the Iron Horse - and was stunned by his songs. I felt that he had been looking over my shoulder during recent events - but I was equally stunned by his instrument.

I remember going down to meet David in the green room and asking if I could get a picture of his guitar. He kindly posed with the guitar for me, and I had to politely explain that I didn't want him in the picture! He must have thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. That guitar had captured my heart. I began to study up on acoustic steel-strings and that guitar in particular. It was an Olson! I found out that Jim Olson's guitars were handmade and not available in stores, so in order to hear and see them one had to go to concerts of people who owned them. The Olson ad in the magazines listed players, and I started going to concerts.

One of my favorite memories is of going to see Leo Kottke at the Iron Horse. He didn't have his Olson with him, just a Taylor 6 and a Taylor 12, so I went down to the green room to ask him what he thought of his Olson. Leo was distracted by a conversation with the person in front of me, so when I asked him what he thought of his Olson he said, rather annoyed, "What?!" I said that I was wondering what he thought of his Olson. He said "What are you talking about?" I said I was so sorry, I thought he played an Olson guitar, and I started to leave, and he stopped me, his whole mood changed, and he went on to tell me how much he loved his Olson and that it was in the shop getting a new fretboard. Yes, he encouraged me to definitely get one! It was a great moment for me - another road sign. "Go this way!"…

I continued in my search, going to see artists, and seeking out Olson guitars. One day I got a call from someone who said that a man named Jim Cole was coming to town and that I would love his music - I should go see him. I got to the show early and entered the large hall where he would be playing. At the other end of the empty room was a stage and on the stage sat a guitar with an unmistakable "O" on the headstock. I gasped, and said "An Olson!" under by breath, just loud enough for a man nearby (that I hadn't yet noticed to hear) to hear. He said, "You know about Olson guitars?" and I said, "Oh yes, I was hoping to get one some day." "The man was Jim Cole himself.

After the show Jim left the guitar at a safe distance from the edge of the stage and went to the back of the room to sell CDs and sign autographs. I stood at the stage staring at the guitar. Several minutes later, Jim Cole came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder, and said that I could play it if I wanted to.

He let me play his guitar for 45 minutes! I had never, ever played an instrument like this and I was astonished. It practically played itself! I heard and felt things I had never experienced on any guitar before. I wondered - did I dare dream? Who would I be as an artist if I had a guitar like this? Where would we go together? Jim Cole gave me Jim Olson's address.

I ordered my Olson in March of 1995, and it arrived on November 15, 1997. It was a cold snowy day and I forced myself to wait three hours before opening the box. I have pictures of the process, and what strikes me most now is how white the spruce top looked back then. I remember the first ding - someone else was playing it and bumped it into a metal music stand. My heart broke, and then I settled in to the idea that this guitar is for playing, not to be shown as a museum piece.

How has the Olson changed my life? I remember a compilation CD I had gotten back in 1995 - David Wilcox introduces his song "How Did You Find Me Here?" by speaking of that little voice calling you and telling you to "Go this way." Road signs. I was scared to order that guitar. Was I really good enough to deserve that instrument? No, but I could work at it. My teacher Brooks Williams spoke of finding all the songs in that guitar. Road signs. Here is my goal; here's how to get there.

Just before Jim started to build my guitar I called and asked him to change the top from cedar to spruce. It made little sense; I played fingerstyle and Olson's are known for being great cedar-topped guitars for playing fingerstyle. Jim asked me to send the request in writing - he wanted me to be sure that that was what I wanted. A few weeks after I got my guitar the January 1998 edition of Acoustic Guitar magazine came out with Patty Larkin on the cover and a picture of her with her spruce-topped Olson inside. I had just learned of Patty Larkin and loved finding out that she played a guitar like mine.

Since the Olson arrived ten years ago, I have learned to play more advanced fingerstyle, slide, alternate tunings, and-of interest in terms of the top wood- flatpicking and hybrid style. I am pretty sure that if I had stayed with a cedar top my guitar would look like Willie Nelson's "Trigger".

"Go this way"…

A few weeks ago I went to see Leo Kottke for the first time since I had spoken to him about the Olson twelve years ago, and I left with a new appreciation for this guitar journey and who I am today in comparison with whom I was when I asked him about his guitar. The Olson has pushed me to be more to deserve it, maybe even to make Jim Olson glad that he made it for me. I am still working on the latter issue; that would be very cool.

There is a connection between the musical self and the personal self. As Seymour Bernstein states in his book With Your Own Two Hands; Self-Discovery Through Music (Schirmer, 1981), "To reproduce music with our own two hands…elicits what is best in our nature, builds our self-esteem, and secures an enduring happiness." The Olson guitar gave me not only a responsibility but also "permission" to pursue what is best in me.

I recently went to see David Wilcox at the Iron Horse a second time. My heart was full of expectation and anticipation, and I was not disappointed; the night was very much like the first time I saw him and his Olson back in '95. It was a great moment to consider all that has happened since - love and loss, joy and sorrow, surprise and mystery. Musically I am collaborating with a brilliant songwriter and I am finding things in the Olson and my other guitars that were not there when I was playing alone.

As much as I enjoyed the concert, I could not wait to get back to my own music. That is now the greater high - tapping into something new - stretching, excavating, bringing to life all that has happened in an art form. The Olson opened the door for me to meet many heroes; it just seems to elicit a response. My heroes still inspire me, though they have become human in becoming my friends, and I love them more deeply and truly for knowing who they really are.

The Olson is steadfast in its power to inspire, provoke, encourage, and always be more than I had expected. I mentioned that I wondered what kind of artist I would be if I owned an Olson, but through owning the Olson I found out what kind of person I want to be - a person who is steadfast, and who inspires, provokes, encourages, and is more than was expected. That is how the Olson guitar has touched and changed my life!

To learn more about Olson Guitars please see Jim Olson's website at: www.olsonguitars.com/

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