No apologies for drifting, morphing, spinning topics necessary for me...in my thinking, forums are a substitute for what we'd all be saying if we were sittin' around with fiddles in lap and having a few sips of whatever in between tunes...we wouldn't fall into strict line like talking robots...we'd be letting the conversation travel around. JUst my thought...it has always seemed more natural to me to let a thread morph some than to just stay in a straight line. So...please drift away, well I didn't mean drift away from here...lol...drift as desired. It'll all come back to complete the circle given enough time.  At least on any thread I start...I'm ok with it.

bacfire - As it happens I was thinking about Lowe Stokes recently and did a little reading. If what I found is correct, the shooting incident happened Christmas Day, 1930, "Broken Down Gambler" was recorded at a session on December 4th, when he still had his hand. He had one more session with them, with his mechanical hand, in October, 1931, when they recorded 6 sides, and you're right, there was some great stuff!
I met Lowe Stokes when he came to the Brandywine festival in 1982, and somewhere I may still have a photo of us together. The Field Recorders Collective has a CD of him playing that year with Joe LaRose and Mac Benford.

Gettin' your hand shot off don't sound like a very good Christmas present to me...wonder what he got the guy with the shotgun...hopefully not shells for it...lol. Sorry for the joking...it's not funny really but it is inspiring to know he could go on and do things like fiddling...that's amazing.

GHP - From what I read, Lowe Stokes was found with the wife of another man, who drew a pistol, which Lowe attempted to grab, and in the ensuing fight the gun went off, injuring his hand. There are songs about other violence at Christmas. I guess people got together and drank too much, and problems emerged.
So not a shotgun, but shells have been used as a Christmas theme: youtu.be/0NHZinVefRI?si=l2rHXfABfhvk6p3g