Today, Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners made history by receiving 16 Oscar nominations, the most ever for a single film. This comes after it earned five GRAMMY nominations back in November, truly highlighting the movie’s significant impact on both music and cinema!
The film is set in 1930s Mississippi, following twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) as they return home to open a juke joint and confront supernatural horrors, racial tensions, and personal legacies in the Jim Crow South. At the heart of the film is music—especially Delta blues—which functions as both narrative engine and symbolic force, with the character Sammie’s soulful performances resonating so powerfully that they bridge time, summon spirits, and even attract otherworldly danger, while composer Ludwig Göransson’s score intricately weaves blues, gospel, folk, and roots sounds to reflect the emotional and cultural depth of the story. The immersive musical world of Sinners underscores themes of heritage, resistance, and community, contributing to its acclaim and historic recognition across awards seasons.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the music hall meets vampires film, but I absolutely loved it—it’s a smart, creative, and thoughtful celebration of Black music, AND the way music connects generations.
Back in July, we at the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music hosted a program that looked at some real-life Garden State history adjacent to the film. Because long before the film’s release, the Pine Barrens of NJ had its own tale of supernatural music.
In the program, Pine Barrens historian Paulie Wenger explored the life and lore of Sammy Giberson, the legendary fiddler whose talent was said to rival (and perhaps even outmatch) the Devil himself. As Professor Wenger notes, Sinners is:
“…filled with a ton of references to real folklore and history. While [the film] focuses more on original characters such as the vampire Remmick, it draws on a number of folklore concerning musicians who have either battled or gained their powers through malevolent supernatural forces… Of course, America has a long tradition of…musicians who supposedly had met the devil or gained their powers through that…
Let’s roll through a couple of these. One example: Jimi Hendrix. Widely regarded as the most innovative and influential electric guitarist in rock history. Once said that he felt possessed while playing. His tour manager, Alan Douglas, later recalled about the legendary musician, stating, ‘one of the biggest things about Jimi was what he believed… that he was possessed by some spirit and I came to believe it, too.’
Then there’s Ferdinand Jelly Roll Morton, famous for publishing the first jazz composition. His musical prowess, one legend claimed, originated from his French speaking Creole grandmother, who practiced voodoo…
How about more recently? This week we lost a music icon in Ozzy Osbourne, who has long had rumors connecting him to the devil during, you know, he was a target for the satanic panic of the 1980s. And it didn’t matter to many people that Osbourne was raised in the Church of England or stated that he used to pray before every show. Once these stories take hold, it’s very hard to dispel.
…if we’re talking about musicians who supposedly met, you know, the devil or some supernatural force, the most famous example comes in the name of Robert Leroy Johnson. This is the Mississippi bluesman who supposedly met the devil at the crossroads, traded his soul for…his talent, and died mysteriously at the age of 27. His short life, early recordings, and legendary deal are all baked into American music mythology. And of course, he is the most direct inspiration, in my opinion, and also what Ryan Coogler has said for the movie Sinners.
And of course, who could forget that fateful moment when the devil went down to Georgia? Charlie Daniels’ 1979 song, written only when the band realized they were missing a song featuring a fiddle, has probably done the most work to perpetuate stories of musicians meeting the old one. (Sidenote: Charlie Daniels’ fiddle has been in our “Music America” traveling exhibit since 2024.)
But here in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey… we don’t need to look all that far. We don’t need to look too far south to find a musician who is tangled with the devil. I think it’s fair to say that for those of us that were raised in the Pine Barrens, we aren’t scared of any devils. Okay, maybe one devil. Maybe we’re scared of one devil [the Jersey Devil]. But we in the pines at least have one musician who could stand up to the old one. A fiddler who’s playing could charm bears out dual city folk and maybe, just maybe, stare down the devil himself. I am speaking, of course, of Sammy Giberson.”
Want to learn more? Catch the full replay for a journey through backwoods ballads, ghostly gigs, and the enduring power of music to stir both the soul and the shadows:
Stories like Sinners—and legends like Sammy Giberson—remind us that American music has always carried something mystical with it: a belief that sound can summon memory, power, danger, and transcendence all at once. Whether whispered through Delta blues, shouted from a rock stage, or fiddled deep in the Pine Barrens, these musical myths endure because they speak to something timeless about creativity, struggle, and identity. At the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, we’re always excited to explore how these stories echo across generations.
Melissa Ziobro
Director of Curatorial Affairs
Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music
Monmouth University
January 22, 2026