The Devil Went Down To Georgia

This is a story about the Devil’s failed attempt to “steal” a young man’s soul through a fiddle-playing contest that involved enticing the young man’s participation using a worldly prize. The song begins with a disappointed Devil arriving in Georgia, having stolen far fewer souls than expected, when he comes upon a fiddle-playing young man named Johnny. At that moment, Johnny happens to be playing his fiddle impressively “hot.” Out of desperation, the Devil, who as it turns out also plays the fiddle, offers Johnny the wager which involves challenging the young man to a fiddle-playing contest. The Devil offers to give Johnny a golden fiddle if the young man plays better than he does; otherwise, the Devil will gain Johnny’s soul. Although Johnny believes taking the Devil’s bet might be a sin, he wagers his soul without fear, confidently boasting he is “the best that’s ever been.”

The Devil plays his fiddle first, to a contemporary, harsh rock music theme with the backing of demon musicians. When the Devil’s performance ends, Johnny compliments him and responds by playing four songs.
Two are traditional songs of Appalachia
“Fire on the Mountain” and “Granny Does Your Dog Bite?” .
The third is an unnamed square dance melody that includes the patter, “Chicken in the bread pan pickin’ out dough.”
The last is a traditional American southern folk song “The House of the Rising Sun.”
The four songs are not performed but are only mentioned by reference.
The Devil is impressed, admits defeat, and lays a golden fiddle at Johnny’s feet. Johnny repeats his claim to be the best player ever and dares the Devil to a rematch in the future.

Johnny’s final boast was “I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been”

Piece created using a Nikon D90 and a Sigma 10-20 mm wide angle

Also used

1 x Fiddle
1 x Bow
1 x half mask
1 x black cloak
gold spray paint (to create the golden fiddle)
pinch of imagination
drop of crazy
splash of wibble

The song “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band May 21, 1979

How This Piece Was Created

This was a tricky one which I was finally happy with after a few attempts to get it right, a fiddle was spray painted gold but it was too smooth I didn't like it this fiddle belongs to the devil and resides in a very inhospitable place the fiddle would have seen harsh and destructive treatment so I decided to re paint the instrument making it a rougher and harsher finish. When all this was done and the shoot was ready I set up the camera slightly lower than head height donned my black cloak and a half mask placed my chin upon the fiddle and placed the bow upon the strings , I angled the fiddle towards the camera with one of the LED lights sitting directly atop the camera pointing onto the golden fiddle.
It was very important to get my eye in the shoot looking directly at the camera as this was to make the piece more dramatic and this was one of the hardest bits to get just right as it was important to me for the viewer of this piece to look directly on the eye of this character and make their own conclusions of what is behind , what is inside.

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