Mississippi is home of the blues and key to civil rights past. Locals tell the story

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/13/ [login to see] /mississippi-delta-home-blues-civil-rights
Bluesman Robert Johnson played the guitar with such genius that legend has it his talent was a gift from the devil in exchange for the musician's soul. That deal was done, according to lore, at "the crossroads" in Clarksdale, Miss.

That exact crossroads, of U.S. Highways 61 and 49, is about an hour's drive south of Memphis in the huge, pancake-flat Mississippi Delta. It's the largely rural region in the northwest corner of the state that runs along the Mississippi River.

Walk down John Lee Hooker Lane in Clarksdale and visitors can admire the markers honoring the famous musicians who got their start here — from Johnson to Muddy Waters to Howlin' Wolf.

Now new local artists like Christone "Kingfish" Ingram are carrying on the tradition. And you can catch live music just about any night of the week at authentic juke joints such as Red's and the Ground Zero Blues Club.