I'm In Love

[El Gordo]

Nope, still not what I was after. Apparently, as a young man, he had to give up the piano after losing a finger in a cotton gin accident, and switched to gee-tar. Now that's the blues.

No wait, I spotted the finger -- or rather, I didn't. Didn't think I had to spell it out. But that led onto the separate thumb pick observation.

Had to look up the meaning of "cotton gin". It seems that gin is short for engine. Agree that such an accident gives him first class bluesman credentials.