Michael Stevens grew up on a farm near the little town of Newcomerstown, Ohio. His father cowboyed for the Scharbauer Ranch in Midland, Texas from 1934 to WWII. Later, Michael, his father and his brother, a farrier and major Ring Steward in the Ohio AQHA, roped, trained, contested, and traded horses till college and the service. Since then he's been in the horse business as a trainer as well as a guitar builder and player, and is considered one of the world's finest builders of electric stringed instruments. He was hired in 1986 to start the Fender Custom Shop in California.
In 1991, he moved to Alpine, Texas with his wife and ran into the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering. He was on their Steering Committee for 16 years, including about 10 years as president. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering's "Heritage Award" and considers himself lucky to have had Buck Ramsay, J.B. Allen, and Joel Nelson as tutors.
