The Devil bowed her head because she knew that she’d been beat. And she laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Maddy’s feet.

Maddy said “Devil just come on back if you ever wanna try again…”

“Really?” the Devil interrupted. “I’d like that. I mean, I’m clearly not as skilled a fiddle player as you — that’s obvious now. But together we could form a pretty solid group. My band of demons, they’re amazing at backup.”

Maddy hesitated for a moment, not saying a word. This, after all, might be a sin.

“Look, the Devil implored. “I’m in a bind and I’m way behind and I really want to make this deal!”

The silence was deafening as Maddy pondered this Faustian bargain. In the distance you could hear what sounded much like a chicken in a bread pan picking out dough. Or perhaps it was just the crackling of a fire on the mountain that had the local boys running.  Either way, the Devil was, metaphorically speaking, in the House of the Rising Sun.

At fiddle playin’, Maddy was the best there’d ever been. There was no doubt about that.  But together? With the Devil?  They could be bigger than Jesus, she imagined.

“Deal, you Sonofabitch,” Maddy said as she stuck out her paw. Hell had just broken loose in Georgia, but it was Maddy who dealt the cards. And deal them well she did.

And so began the origins of the 1980’s rockabilly group The Stray Cats. Maddy, the Devil and the demons strutted across the stage for decades, not bothering to chase mice around while earning several shiny records made of gold.

And a couple of double-platinum ones, as well.”