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The Night I Failed to Sell My Soul at the Crossroads: Debra Devi Unpacks the "Blues Devil" and Tonight's Latest Blues-Rock Hits Late at night, as the ice clinks weakly in a glass of cheap whiskey, a thought often crosses my mind: why were the old bluesmen always so eager to sneak out to the midnight crossroads and sell their souls to the devil? I’ll confess: back in my naive twenties, idolizing Robert Johnson, I once stood clutching my guitar case at a local intersection (right in front of a highway convenience store) at 2 AM. But stepping out of the darkness wasn't a red-skinned devil—it was a bewildered police officer. "Son, what are you doing out here at this hour?" That chilly, awkward questioning might just have been my very first authentic blues experience. What brought back that bittersweet memory is an intriguing essay titled "Language of the Blues: The Devil in Blues Mythology and Song," written by author and rocker Debra Devi and published on American Blues Scene. …