INTERVIEW
And I was standing there looking at Keith
Richards and thinking, “Yeah, you know…
he probably is.” At that point, I realized I
was onto something because I had the ear
of these guys. And then I started to get
around making these cool, high-end cases
for people, and no one else was doing that.
The niche started there.
It’s interesting how you two are so dialed
in to what you do.
Kay: As far as Jonny and me carrying a
kind of torch for the genres we’re a part
of, it really came naturally for both of us.
I wouldn’t say that we looked at these
genres and decided we wanted to take
them on. They were already a part of us.
The funny thing is, even though Jonny and
I appear to be at opposite ends of the
spectrum, we’re really not far from each
other at all. For example, when you consider the old-school country that we both
really gravitate toward, the reason that we
do is that we both really appreciate the
dark edge that it has.
It’s interesting. Jonny’s company really appeals
to a lot of horror, metal, and rock guys. He also
has a lot of folks from the old-school country
world that gravitate toward his company. Not
to mention psychobilly, rockabilly…
Coffin: Garage, punk... we’re very careful
about keeping our fan base broad with Coffin
Case. We love all styles. We could easily
become just a heavy metal case company if I
allowed it. With our love of music, we really try
to make it for everybody.
Kay: Every time I play a show, I am pleasantly
surprised at the varying age groups, and the
different hair-dos. People in mohawks, people with studs and everything—from the gray
hairs to the ones who are barely old enough
to make it into the club. You never know
who’s going to show up.
I bet your audiences are just a trip to look
at from the stage
Kay: It’s unbelievable—not just in different demographics, but the random friends
who show up to my shows. They’re really
appreciative of the fact that I’m still doing
the old-school country. I’ve had Lemmy
from Motörhead show up at my shows.
Lucinda Williams has shown up. The guy
from Slayer…
Lynda Kay with her Gretsch 6130 Knotty Pine Roundup. The guitar has a one-piece, chambered mahogany
body, a bookmatched knotty pine top, DynaSonic pickups, and a Synchro-Sonic floating bridge.
Coffin: Dave Lombardo, the drummer. The
beauty of it is that everyone can relate to
the message there. It’s a universal message. It’s in all genres of music, really.
There’s always a dark side to everything.
You look at old bluegrass records…
Kay: Now that’s dark!
Coffin: Some of the darkest stuff…
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