Rebennack's career as a guitarist was stunted around 1960, when the ring finger on his left (guitar fretting) hand was injured by a gunshot during an incident at a Jacksonville, Florida gig. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument, developing a style influenced by Professor Longhair. Rebennack's friend Jay Woolfe, who had played in earlier bands, later recalled that Rebennack would often get into trouble with the police for hanging out with black musicians and in black clubs.