In honor of Elizabeth Cotten's birthday, we want to share this rare clip of her playing "Washington Blues," a song she wrote in 1965. | Dust-to-Digital

At age 85, Elizabeth Cotten demonstrates how she taught herself to play guitar as a child and performs the first tune she ever learned, "Wilson Rag." Special thanks to Mike Seeger for everything he did to bring Elizabeth Cotten's music to the world including this footage filmed at Black Hawk College in 1978. | Dust-to-Digital

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten was a self-taught musical prodigy who created a unique legacy in American folk and blues. A left-hander playing a right-handed guitar upside down, she developed the "Cotten picking" style—using her thumb for melody and fingers for bass. At just 11 years old, she wrote the timeless classic "Freight Train," inspired by the trains near her North Carolina home. After decades away from music to raise a family, she was "rediscovered" in her 60s while working for the Seeger fam

Elizabeth 'Libba' Cotten whose precise 'upside-down' finger-style was called 'Cotten-picking'born on Jan 5th 1893. http://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/elizabeth-libba-cotten/ Libba wrote the song 'Freight Train' when she was just 12 years old. She later worked as a nurse for the Seeger family and when they recorded her in the 50's, Libba went on to worldwide fame. | All About Blues Music

Remembering Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) She was an American blues and folk musician, singer, and songwriter. A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed her own original style. She played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down, as she was left-handed. This position meant that she would play the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature alternating bass style has become known as "Cotten picking".

Remembering Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) She was an influential American folk and blues musician. A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed her own original style. She played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down, as she was left-handed. This position meant that she would play the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature alternating bass style has become known as "Cotten picking".(Wiki) #eliz