Backroad Sermons
& Barroom Confessions

Music has been woven through Dean Dostal’s life for as long as he can remember.

He grew up surrounded by classic country, gospel, rock and roll, and the songs that seemed to live wherever family gathered. At fourteen, his dad gave him his first guitar—a gift that began a lifelong relationship with music. That road eventually led to a music scholarship at the University of Idaho, followed by ten years of service in the United States Air Force.

After leaving the military, Dean earned a degree in Biblical ministry from Great Lakes Christian College. He spent years preaching, leading worship, and using music as a way to connect with people. Life eventually carried him away from the pulpit, but never far from the songs. The stories changed. The voice grew rougher around the edges. The music became more honest.

Then, in 2021, everything nearly ended.

Dean spent twelve days in a coma and nearly sixty days in the hospital. When he came home, even familiar things were no longer easy. He had to rebuild his strength, recover pieces of himself, and learn to play guitar again.

But he played.

During that recovery, Dean discovered the raw, unmistakable sound of the cigar box guitar. Inspired by players like Justin Johnson, he built one of his own—and then another. What began as curiosity became Soundbox Guitars, where Dean now builds one-of-a-kind instruments from reclaimed cigar boxes and gives each of them a second life.

He approaches every build as a musician first. Intonation and playability come before decoration. The scratches, faded labels, and worn edges are not flaws to be hidden; they are part of the box’s history. Dean believes those scars help tell the story of what the instrument was before it became what it was always meant to be: something that makes music.

That same spirit lives in Dean’s original songs. His music has been described as backroad sermons and barroom confessions—plainspoken stories about faith, failure, survival, family, and the hard-earned grace found along the way. Whether performing solo or with The Revenant Roadshow, he brings the same thing to every stage: honest songs, weathered vocals, and no interest in pretending to be anyone other than himself.

Dean is also the founder of the US‑10 Cigar Box Guitar Festival in Custer, Michigan. What began as a simple thought—wouldn’t it be cool to bring some of the musicians and friends he had met at other festivals to his hometown?—became a free community celebration of handmade instruments, roots music, and the people who keep both alive. The festival welcomed approximately 400 people in its second year and donated $1,000 to Lakeshore Animal Friends.

Today, Dean continues to write, record, perform, and build from his home in West Michigan. His road has taken him through the military, ministry, loss, survival, and more than one unexpected beginning.

The scars remain.

So does the music.