" 'I watched my daddy's fingers on the guitar and I caught it,' remembered Lonzie Thomas, who was born in Lee County, Alabama in 1921. He was shot in the face and blinded at the age of 22. 'After I got blind, I got more interested in playing and singing,' he said. 'It was something to keep my mind off worrying.' It was also one of the few ways a blind man could make a living, and he began playing on the streets of Opelika and Columbus for tips and at parties." (George Mitchell, from In Celebration of a Legacy: The Traditional Arts of the Lower Chattahoochee Valley)

Source: http://southernspaces.org/2004/blues-lower-chattahoochee-valley

More info: Photo by George Mitchell http://www.flickr.com/photos/44362663@N06/4418239505/

Listen/Purchase

Song: Lonzie Thomas – Red Cross Store http://www.last.fm/music/Lonzie+Thomas/_/Red+Cross+Store