DeKalb guitar shop still strumming along 60 years in

DeKALB – Ax-In-Hand Guitars in DeKalb hopes to celebrate its 60th anniversary in a big way this year and is in the process of expanding into the unit next door.

In doing so, the establishment, 817 W. Lincoln Highway, Suite B, will have added space for live entertainment, open mic nights and more.

Owner Damon Henrikson, the second generation in his family to run the store, said the milestone is huge for him. He’s worked in the shop under the tutelage of his father, the late Larry Henrikson, since the 1980s. As a youth, Damon said he tended to the store often after school at Clinton Rosette Middle or DeKalb High.

“It’s hard to believe,” Henrikson said. “Now I work at the store and didn’t even think about the store’s history or that it would last as long as it has, but it’s obviously a great feeling to know that it still stays in town, that it’s still supporting DeKalb, the town that I care very much about and that I’ve been a part of my whole life.”

“It’s part of the family, the store. We want to make sure that it stays in DeKalb. We want to make sure that it’s always supporting DeKalb because I feel it’s important that there’s a music store in town that is helping people find good instruments...”

—  Damon Henrikson

Henrikson history apparent at shop

There are two generations of the family working from the store these days with Damon Henrikson’s daughter, Anna Henrikson, on board as one of the managers. Both father and daughter are musicians themselves.

Anna Henrikson said her favorite part of the job is helping patrons to achieve their music goals.

“Being surrounded by music and the community, I really enjoy it,” Anna Henrikson said. “I really enjoy helping people, too. Being able to fix their instruments, especially beginners. They’ll come in with their guitars and it’s not set up correctly or it was never set up at all, and I get them started. That’s kind of like I’m getting them started on their journey of music.”

Damon Henrikson took possession of the music store in 2003 from the estate of his father, who founded the establishment in 1964.

Larry Henrikson died in 2000.

Damon Henrikson said carrying on the family legacy means everything to the Henriksons.

He bought Ax-In-Hand Guitars from his father’s estate to continue the legacy, a tale that goes back further than his dad.

“Our great aunt opened up a guitar store in Ottawa, Illinois, back in 1940,” Damon Henrikson said. “[It’s] quite possibly one of the first female-owned guitar stores in the country. There’s been a guitar store in our family now for almost 85 years.”

Damon Henrikson said his father was someone who should be revered.

A portrait of Larry Henrikson hangs behind the checkout counter at Ax-In-Hand, a prime spot on the wall for all to see. The photo’s red background is emblazoned behind Larry, sweater clad and bearded, as he holds two guitars.

“He was quite an energetic, wonderful musician,” Damon Henrikson said. “He had such a great knowledge of music and the guitar industry, of the vintage guitars. He should have written a book, he had so much knowledge. People would call him just to pick his brain on the history.”

Damon Henrikson remembers his father as having a great knack for the technical aspects of guitar.

Popular guitar company Fender, based in California, leaned on Larry to help bring back one of their guitar lines in the 1970s, Damon said. The company was bought by CBS from founder Leo Fender in 1965. Company employees, citing lowered instrument quality, bought back the corporation in 1985 and renamed it Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company.

Damon said it was then that Fender’s employees reached out to his father for his knowledge on playability to help improve guitar quality.

“He was like a test subject, almost like a lab rat with these guitars,” Damon Henrikson said. “They’d send it to them. He would critique it, send back his notes and they’d keep modifying it until he felt and they felt that they were making guitars like they were in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”

Anna Henrikson said a large part of what she knows about Larry Henrikson is from what’s shared by other people who drop into the store.

She said she doesn’t have memories of her grandfather because he died when she was a toddler. Still, his legacy lives on.

“But I feel like I know him because of all the stories,” Anna Henrikson said. “It’s kind of cool because people come in talking about how he had all these insanely rare instruments like in the old space and how they would just be like in awe of the musicians that he dealt with.”

The DeKalb shop’s no stranger to big names either.

Damon Henrikson said the likes of The Beatles lead singer and bassist Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger were among those who have visited Ax-In-Hand Guitars in the past. He said while his dad wouldn’t often tell anyone the music legends were coming by, there’s pictures to prove it.

He pulled out a photo of his father sitting next to a casually dressed McCartney.

What’s next

At Ax-In-Hand Guitars, patrons will find not only new, used and vintage instruments for sale but private music lessons and a repair shop.

Damon Henrikson said the store takes great pride in making private music lessons available to patrons. Often, they’re educated in their craft or local music students.

“We take great pride in that that we’re teaching theory, but as well, helping them learn something that they’re interested in,” he said. “So, we do teach the style of music and the actual songs that they love.”

Among those who teach private music lessons is Wesley Carr, one of the managers and a self-proclaimed Ax-In-Hand super fan. He said he’s long felt compelled to become part of the store’s family.

Carr familiarized himself with the shop first as a customer. When he became a student at Northern Illinois University, he joked that the store’s manager got tired of his frequent visits and wanted to put him to work.

“So, the person managing it basically came up to me and basically was like, ‘If you’re just going to be here, you can at least teach some lessons,’” Carr said.

Soon there will be more room for private lessons and more. An expansion is underway which will extend the shop into the space next door. Staff said the space will be used for live events, performances, open mic nights and group activities.

Ax-In-Hand Guitars also is planning a 60th anniversary celebration in the fall. More store signage and updates on the shop’s Facebook page are expected.

Damon Henrikson said he wants the store’s longstanding commitment to serving DeKalb to continue for many more years.

“It’s part of the family, the store,” he said. “We want to make sure that it stays in DeKalb. We want to make sure that it’s always supporting DeKalb because I feel it’s important that there’s a music store in town that is helping people find good instruments and helping people learning how to play the guitar, bass or the violin. I love that we can support the community in that aspect.”