'Long-Haired Redneck' David Allan Coe headlines at the MontBleu

David Allan Coe has pursued his muse across the nation, onto the stage, screen and under water. And now it brings the outlaw roots-rocker to Tahoe.

Coe performs country and rock shows, as well as Vegas-type shows in casinos. He takes the stage at the MontBleu Casino Resort and Spa at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, with Tahoe blues rockers the Josh Martin Band opening.

In addition to being a singer-songwriter and guitarist, Coe has also been a magician, movie star, author and deep-sea treasure hunter. The “Long-Haired Redneck” has toured not only with Willie Nelson but also Neil Young and Kid Rock (and joined three members of Pantera in the country-metal band Rebel Meets Rebel, according to Wikipedia). He also been a prisoner, an outlaw biker and a lightning rod for controversy.

“Over the years people have gotten the impression that I am prejudiced,” Coe said in a news release from concert promoter Renegade Productions. “I’m not prejudiced. Sure, I have this thing about controversy. But I don’t dislike anybody because of their color or sexual beliefs or whatever.”

Coe signed with Sun Records in 1968 to record his first album, “Penitentiary Blues,” all songs he wrote in prison. Five years later, Columbia bought his contract, and he recorded “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy” a year later — shortly before Glen Campbell scored a hit song with “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

Since then, Coe has landed 63 singles on Billboard’s charts including “Willie, Waylon and Me,” and “You Never Even Call Me By Name.” He’s also written songs for Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, the Oak Ridge Boys and more, most notably “Take This Job and Shove It,” which Johnny Paycheck covered and sold 2 million copies — and also led to roles for himself and Paycheck in the 1981 movie of the same name.

While Coe has penned some notable drinking songs, including “Jack Daniels, If You Please” and “Drink Canada Dry,” he claims that he’s never been much of a drinking man.

“I only started drinking whiskey a couple of years ago, when I was 58 years old,” he said. “I will take a couple of shots of whiskey when I am onstage at night, but that’s the only time I drink.

“I’ve written songs about having babies, but I’ve never had one,” he said. “I think as a songwriter you can tune into other people’s emotions and whatever, and you can write about that experience.”

Coe’s greatest hits album is platinum, his “First Ten Years” gold, and he released “Songwriter of the Tear,” a compilation of songs he wrote, on Cleveland International Records in 2001.

Coe, who turned 69 on Sept. 6, is a single father who travels with his homeschooled oldest son and has a singer-songwriter daughter living in Austin, Texas. He performs three or four nights a week, from biker bars like the Iron Horse Saloon and honky-tonks, to state fairs and blues clubs, to college campuses and music halls.

Tickets to see Coe at the MontBlue are $30 in advance at the casino, Ticketmaster outlets, Mad About Music, the Tahoe Hemp Co. and online at www.renegadeshows.com or ticketsus.at/tribune. For more information, call (888) 829-7630 or (7750) 588-3515.

Guitarist stationed at Tahoe both an officer and a bluesman

Josh Martin put down his assault rifle in favor of a Stratocaster guitar.

Martin, 36, a guitar player and maker, hadn’t played guitar for nearly 16 years until he became inspired during a tour of duty in Iraq.

The executive petty officer for the Lake Tahoe station of the U.S. Coast Guard wrote a song as he waited for the flight deploying him to the war zone. He kept his mind occupied with music while on duty for a year months.

“I was one of only 200 ‘Coasties’ patrolling the rivers in Iraq,” said Martin, who served there from May 2005 to June 2006. “It was a rough year for us, and it was rough on our families.”

Wearing 40 pounds of gear in 144-degree temperatures with 90 percent humidity can make a 175-pound man change his perspective about everything, Martin said.

“I don’t take anything for granted anymore after that place taking a year and three days of my life,” he said. “Life is too short to put anything on hold.”

When he came to Tahoe, Martin decided to rededicate himself to music.

“I went from hell to high water,” said Martin, who added that he learned to play harmonica on patrol boats in Iraq, where he said he “drove my shipmates crazy.”

Martin began strumming guitars when he was just 2 years old. His father was a bluegrass player, and friends would come to their Indiana farm to jam. His father gave him his first guitar and amp when he was 9.

A self-taught player, Martin said he wore out records by Jimi Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and B.B. King. When he was 13, a luthier — guitar maker — took him under his wing and taught him the trade. And at 16, he jammed backstage with B.B. King.

“When I got my driver’s license I went to the Chicago Blues Festival, which was five hours away,” Martin said. “I knew my mom would say I couldn’t go, so I waited until I was halfway there to call and tell her I was going. Everybody was playing — Taj Mahal, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Albert King. I was so impressed with the vibe and the feeling, I really never looked back. I knew this was me, and this is what I wanted to do.”

In 1990, Martin met one of the blues’ all-time greats, Stevie Ray Vaughan, backstage after a show in Louisville, Ky. Seven days later, Vaughan died in a helicopter crash.

“That’s one of the reasons I put down my guitar,” Martin said. “After all the crappy music that came out in the ’80s, Stevie Ray comes along. When he died, I was crushed.”

Martin became a career Coast Guard officer and is second in command at the Lake Tahoe station.

While Lake Tahoe is a Shangri-La compared to Iraq, its beauty comes at a price: Martin worked during two fatalities in his three years at Chesapeake Bay. Since June 2006, he has seen 26 deaths at Tahoe.

Music is Martin’s release, and retirement from the Coast Guard could be on the horizon. Martin’s wife and three children all are musicians.

Martin, who lives in Incline Village, has a growing reputation at the lake. He’s playing multiple shows every week and will open for David Allan Coe at MontBleu Casino Resort and Spa on Saturday, Sept. 13. Martin’s rhythm section will be drummer Bill Heise and bassist Jeffrey Shook, both from Truckee.

“To play in a big venue like this is just totally breathtaking,” Martin said. “It’s a very humbling experience, and I’m just ecstatic.”

Martin has an unusual style, holding a pick with his thumb and index finger while picking with his other three fingers. While he does Hendrix and traditional blues covers, he also has about 25 original songs.

“I like to get my Strat, turn the amp all the way up, then bend the strings until my fingers are bleeding,” he said.