Bonefaas and his Gourd Banjo Style

Hello friends,

I recently came across this video of Bonefaas playing his gourd banjo and really caught onto the rhythm and sound of the style he uses in the beginning of the video. He mentions something about moving the slide an eighth of the measure ahead by playing it with the thumb. I've given this a shot, but I can't seem to get into the pocket of the rhythm that he does as he continues playing--what I end up with is a clunky drop thumb sound. Perhaps someone out there could shed some light on this?

Here's a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqh0ByMWOc

Thank you all very much!
Logan