Wayne with up-and-comer Presley Barker.
Always held the third Saturday in June at Grayson Highlands State Park, the Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival & Guitar Competition pulls together old-time and bluegrass fans and musicians.
Wayne’s workshop is something of a hangout among friends and locals, who drop by to pick and jam.
The seventh guitar he made, which was the first he sold. It earned him $500 in the late 1950s; today, his guitars sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
“You listen to the wood and shape it the way it needs to be shaped. It needs to be light enough, but strong enough that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart.” —Wayne Henderson on guitar-making
Jayne Henderson.
Jayne’s guitars feature inlay designs using materials like abalone. “ Guitars are kind of like kids. Each one is different.” —Jayne Henderson
