Hi Everyone. I trust you all are doing well. This cold weather has cancelled church this morning, so I'll tell you about my excursion yesterday!! As many of you know, I am a guitar nut. I love old ones, new ones, and everthing in between. I have owned many old Martins and loved them all. However, there is something special about a hand-made instrument. Yesterday, I visited my old friend Wayne Henderson in beautiful downtown Rugby, Virginia. I have known Wayne since I was 13 years old. Those of you who don't know Wayne, let me fill you in. Not only is Wayne a great finger style guitar player, but he is a master luthier. Wayne builds some of the finest most sought after instruments in the world!! That is no exaggeration. A few years back, an author in New York wrote a book about Wayne. The book was based on the saga of Wayne building a guitar for superstar rock icon, Eric Clapton. However, folks got more than the story of Wayne building Eric's guitar. They got a glimpse of the man, Wayne Henderson, himself. Wayne is a mischievous, fun loving, incredibly talented human being. He lives a simple life in the Blue Ridge mountains in Grayson County, Virginia. His shop is located very close to White Top Mountain State Park where a festival named in his honor is held every year in June.( By the way, the New South will be playing there this year.) It is always an adventure to visit him. You never know who is going to show up or be at Wayne's "hanging out". Yesterday, when I left home, it was 4 degrees. At Wayne's it was 7 below 0 yesterday morning!! By the time I got there, it was a hot and humid 11. Either way, I went inside and met some friends of Wayne's from New York who had driven 9 hours to visit with him. This tells you something about Wayne. People are willing to drive 9 hours just to sit down and talk with him. Of course Wayne was busy in the shop with his never ending list of guitar orders. There is not enough space to cover the people and pickers who have owned a Henderson, including myself. I played a Henderson D18 style guitar on every recording that I made with Doyle Lawson and the Isaacs. In 2000 Wayne made me a mandolin. Every instrument Wayne has ever built me was a top quality, one of a kind instrument. Every curve and shape is maticulously detailed and crafted by Wayne's own hands. He has a keen sense of measurement that is unequaled. He can "eye-ball" a measurement without using a tape or a rule. It is quite amazing. His main tool is his trusty pocket knife. He once said when asked about making guitars, "I just trim away anything that doesn't look like a guitar." Funny, but you don't know how true that is!! Wayne of course is also a master repairman too. Wayne, who has a very nice collection of old guitars, can fix or rebuild any guitar. I've had him work on many of my guitars and it always turns out better than new. One would think that a man with Wayne's talent would sort of be "untouchable", but this man is just like your next door neighbor. He is a friend. I remember a few years ago, I went up to visit him for some guitar repair and I was too embarrassed to tell him I was hungry. He realized how time had got away from us and he knew the old country store about 6 miles away was already closed. He said, "Are you hungry?" I reluctantly said yes, I could eat. He said, "Let's take a break and go in the house and find something." So, there I sat in Wayne's kitchen. He fixed me the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever had!!! Man that thing was good. Again, it speaks of this man's character. I have known him a long time, but he would have done that for anyone. Wayne retired from the local mail carrying position a while back and now he plays and builds guitars full time. Wayne travels around the world playing and promoting this wonderful skill God has blessed him with. A few years back he found a cancer on his body and it was the first time I saw Wayne bothered about anything. I think he was amazed and humbled by the out pouring of love and prayers for him. The lump was removed and he's as healthy as an ox. Praise God. There have been many people over the years who have received much praise for their talents and accolades. CF Martin, Lloyd Loar, and Les Paul are just a few of those names. I believe with all my heart that someday Wayne Henderson's name will be mentioned among those geniuses. However, Wayne has always been a genius to me. But more than that, he has always been a friend to me. That is priceless. I will share one last story about Wayne. When I was playing with Doyle Lawson in 1991 I had found an old 1957 Martin D18 that I had made a deal on. I sold the guitar I was playing to buy the old D18. However, the deal fell through and I didn't have a guitar to play. I went to see Wayne and told him what had happened. In 3 weeks Wayne had built me a guitar. What a guitar it was! Wayne, I will never forget that. I was a young, inexperienced player and you showed me you cared about me and my career. I will forever be indebted to you. I am blessed to say that Wayne is building me another guitar. Yesterday, I got to pick out the wood. I took some pictures. We'll see if we can get them up on the website johnrbowman.com. So folks, there you have it. Wayne Henderson. Super picker. Super guitar builder. Super friend!! God bless you always.
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