Eventually Farmer earned sufficient funds from picking cotton that he bought his own guitar, and later still an electric model and amplifier, purchased from his cousin.
[1] He initially played the guitar for home audiences and at schoolday events, having learned blues and R&B songs through listening to a radio station based out of Nashville, Tennessee.
[1] By the age of 15, Farmer was proficient enough to expand his musical horizons and by his early 20s he had joined a loose knit ensemble that played at local juke joints.
[3] By this time Farmer was a self-taught auto mechanic, and he eventually opened his own business in Duck Hill, next to a property he built on family land.
[3] The pull of playing blues music, and removing the hassle of maintaining a group, saw Farmer develop his own solo act.
[3] He first played gospel music and then performed blues with artists such as Johnnie Billington, Bobby Rush, and Lynn White.
[4] Farmer worked for more than 30 years at his own auto repair business in his hometown, but helped to arrange a local blues festival in 2003.
[6] On the recording, Farmer alternated between electric and acoustic guitar playing in a style reminiscent of Lightnin' Hopkins.