NASHVILLE — At 1:37 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, Tyler Mahan Coe, son of the outlaw country singer David Allan Coe and creator of what is easily the best country music history podcast ever made, put on his headphones and launched into a lengthy segment about ice cream. Ice cream?
Season 2 of “Cocaine & Rhinestones” is supposed to center on legendary singer George Jones. But with blankets hanging over the sides of a small sound booth he bought online, Coe leaned into a microphone in his apartment and delivered an opening sequence that referenced 16th-century Italian noblewoman Catherine de’ Medici, the true meaning of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” — hint, it’s not about something served at Baskin Robbins — and the waffle cones sold at the 1904 World’s Fair.
Finally, after 11 minutes and 32 seconds, he circled back to Owen Bradley, the late producer he believes was unfairly overshadowed by Chet Atkins as the creator of the famed “Nashville Sound.” The “C & R” theme came next, a slowed-down version of the fingerpicking intro to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” and then Coe’s catchphrase: “I’ve heard these stories my whole life. As far as I can tell, here’s the truth about this one.”
It’s an odd tag considering how exacting Coe, 36, is when he talks about truth. In the crowded music podcast market, “Cocaine & Rhinestones,” which launches its long-awaited second season today, stands out for its host’s devotion to setting the record straight through a show that could be filed…
