Editing Lead Belly (section)

=== Nicknamed "Lead Belly" ===
[[File:Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and Martha Promise Ledbetter, Wilton, Conn..jpg|left|thumb|Lead Belly and Martha Promise Ledbetter, [[Wilton, Connecticut]], February 1935]]
There are several conflicting stories about how Ledbetter acquired the nickname "Lead Belly", it probably happened while he was in prison. Some claim his fellow inmates called him "Lead Belly" as a play on his family name and his physical toughness. Others say he earned the name after being wounded in the stomach with [[buckshot]].<ref name="mudcat">The Mudcat Cafe. [http://www.mudcat.org/huddie.cfm Leadbelly – King of the 12 String Guitar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102033526/http://www.mudcat.org/huddie.cfm |date=January 2, 2016 }} Retrieved on January 30, 209</ref> Another theory is that the name refers to his ability to drink [[moonshine]], the homemade liquor that Southern farmers, black and white, made to supplement their incomes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neff |first=Kyle |title=Research Guides: Louisiana Music History: Materials in Special Collections: Huddie William "Lead Belly" Ledbetter |url=https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/LouisianaMusic/leadbelly |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=guides.lib.lsu.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Blues singer [[Big Bill Broonzy]] thought it came from a supposed tendency to lie about as if "with a stomach weighted down by lead" in the shade when the chain gang was supposed to be working.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Terkel | first = Studs | author-link = Studs Terkel | year = 2009 | title = And They All Sang | publisher = New Press}}</ref>

However, his strong local accent is most likely to have led to the nickname. Huddie Ledbetter from Shreveport, became Huddie Leadbelly from Freeport.