The Left-Handed Guitar Players That Changed Music By John Engel
ELIZABETH COTTEN


guitar
Plays Guitar Left Handed Upside/Down.


She created an unorthodox technique by playing left-handed upside down, yet her smooth and luminous fingerpicking style has anchored the development of myriad would-be guitarists and singer-songwriters.
A true national treasure, Elizabeth ‘Libba’ Cotten radiated grace and vitality. The Grande Dame of folk-blues guitar music was a petite and gentle artist with formidable talent and resilience who didn’t give her first concert until she was well into her 60s.  Her masterpieces “Freight Train” and “Shake Sugaree” are timeless jewels, which she consistently delivered with unassuming poise.  Celebrated with many awards and honorary titles during her lifetime, she was made a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1984 and won a Grammy Award when she was 91. 

Read about an extraordinary woman's uncommon life, with personal recollections from Mike Seeger himself, in the book Uncommon Sound.

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