29. "The Ballad of 'ol Lemonhead"

A stranger, an artist and ex-fundamentalist preacher from Alabama, is interested in Cody's Signs-following songs. He reaches out.

"These have never been documented before," the stranger says. "Would you and Cassy mind singing a few into my handheld recorder?"

A relationship begins. It leads to a Nashville-produced album of Cody and Cassy, called the "Coots Duo."

(For more, the Alabama Astronaut Podcast features Abe Partridge, Ferrill Gibbs, and characters from Marked for Life in a music-related setting.)

What is Marked for Life?

Cody Coots is a fourth-generation serpent handler. By age 6, he handles mock serpents with his sister, Trina, in the church, using leather belts for props. Cody secretly yearns for a normal childhood.

He likes to ride his bike, play drums, and watch WWE wrestling with his father, Jamie. (Jamie is the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher.) A terrible act of violence befalls 8-year-old Cody, shocking the serpent handling community. A preacher pleads guilty to charges of deviant sexual abuse, but it's too late: Cody's innocence is shattered. Anger boils inside him, so he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, and even his God.

As he cruises the backstreets of Middlesboro, Ky, looking for nothing but trouble, Cody's sins begin piling up. But the consequences do, too.

Is Cody beyond salvation? Or, is he as the community describes him: "Marked for life?"