Wayne Henderson and Friends & the Jeff Little Trio

Wayne Henderson and Friends, along with the Jeff Little Trio, are coming to the Blue Ridge Music Center on Saturday July 7 at 7 p.m.!

A performance by Wayne Henderson goes beyond the music with hilarious and heartfelt stories about his life in Rugby, Virginia. His renown as a top-notch finger-picking guitarist and a skilled luthier are a great source of pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County. He is a recipient of a 1995 National Heritage Award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts. His trusted partners on stage are singer, fiddler, and tunesmith, Helen White, and bassist Herb Key, who complement Henderson with their own rich musical experiences.

With few exceptions, the piano does not play a prominent role in Appalachian or Americana music, and is rarely the lead instrument. But the music of the Jeff Little Trio is an exception. Little’s distinctive two-handed style, much influenced by the mountain flat-picked guitar tradition, is breathtaking in its speed, precision, and clarity. His involvement with fiddle tunes, old-time country, and traditional blues dates back to his childhood in Boone, North Carolina, when he would regularly sit in with musicians at his family’s music shop. In 2014, Little was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. Rounding out the trio are award-winning guitar and banjo player Steve Lewis and Josh Scott on bass.