David Allan Coe

David Allan Coe's youth was spent in trouble and in jail, wherein he presumably taught himself the guitar. Upon release, he moved to the parking lot of the Ryman Theatre (home of the Grande Ole Opry) in a hearse (seriously) and gained a spot on tour with Grand Funk Railroad within the year. Soon enough, David Allan Coe had injected rock 'n' roll, blues, Sixties sentiment and his own outlaw swagger into the otherwise conservative country-western scene.

Naturally, he was tirelessly snubbed by said scene throughout the 1970's until his counterculture following of rednecks, hippies, bikers and the lot brought down the wall keeping David Allan Coe out of the limelight. And while the 1980's saw the peak of his career, struggle often caught up with him. IRS repossessions, living in a cave (seriously), divorce, and accusations of alcoholism and prejudice all came a-calling on Coe, but like a true outlaw, the man's plans never slowed him down