Complex sentence: He was a capable guitarist and singer but was better known as a master of the blues mandolin; he bought his first mandolin at age 8, in a trade for a pig his family had given him to raise.
Split into simpler sentences: He was a capable guitarist and singer but was better known as a master of the blues mandolin. He bought his first mandolin at age 8, in a trade for a pig his family had given him to raise.