Dan Bowman is one of those rare and fortunate individuals who knew early on exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Born and raised in the Chicago area, Dan got into model building at a young age, entering numerous competitions. He became so accomplished at designing and building various cars, planes and houses that by age 12 his entries were no longer welcome. "I was disqualified from the juried competitions because I won all the time.

 

It was around this time that Dan turned his attention towards the guitar, after hearing Chet Atkins play. "I said, 'That's it. I want to play guitar like that guy.' " The two crafts came together when Dan was in his teens. "By the time I was in high school, I'd been into woodworking and playing the guitar for several years; The idea of making guitars just seemed like a natural progression to me.

The path was not without bumps, however. Dan actually flunked a high school woodworking class after a dispute with his teacher. "He and I didn't get along," Dan said. "I wanted to do something really cool and he wanted me to make a shelf." The setback was a minor one, and Dan later went directly from high school to study his craft at the Roberton-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix. (read more)