About Wayne
Please visit Wayne’s official page to learn more about Wayne and his performances.
Wayne Henderson was born in Grayson County, Virginia, where he lives today. He is a full-time instrument builder and musician, specializing in building guitars, and playing in a unique finger-picking style. Though he has lived in Virginia all of his life, Henderson has played countless performances throughout the United States and Europe.
Henderson’s father and uncle were musicians who played with Estil Ball, an admired finger-style guitar player from the area who influenced Wayne’s playing. Inspired by Ball, Wayne ordered a cheap guitar from the Sears catalogue. Disappointed with that instrument, he decided to build his own guitar, out of a used dresser drawer bottom. When he struggled to find the proper glue for his newly crafted instrument, he sought out the advice of a neighbor, Albert Hash, who built fiddles and other instruments. With Hash’s encouragement, Wayne continued working on his instrument building.
He sold his second guitar in exchange for some tools and cash. “Ever since,” he says, “somebody’s wanted one as soon as I get it finished.” For years he worked as a rural mail carrier, spending his off-time performing and building guitars and other instruments. He has become so famous that he has a long backlog of orders placed for guitars. Henderson has built guitars for Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, Peter Rowan, and Eric Clapton.
You can read about his experiences and process in the book: Clapton’s Guitar, written by Allen St. John. In this book, St. John talks about his journey to “Wayne’s Workshop” in Rugby, Virginia and the marvel of Wayne’s craftsmanship.
Wayne Henderson has trained several apprentices, including our own Gerald Anderson, who passed in 2019. Gerald worked with Wayne for more than forty years, and our Lutherie is named after him. Our instructors, Spencer Strickland, Josh Reese and Marty Howard all learned their craft from Gerald and Wayne.