“I watched my daddy’s fingers on the guitar and I caught it,” remembered Lonzie Thomas, who was born in his present home of 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.

Read more about Lonzie Thomas on Last.fm.