The History Of Agent Cooper

Doug Busbee

(guitars & voice)

Talk Music, Talk Fishing, Talk Yardwork

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It feels like I started singing in church choirs before I could breathe. I was singing before I was in pre-school. Both of my parents play piano, so it was only natural for me to play piano along with them. Noticing a passion for music, my parents asked a talented friend of theirs to teach me guitar, but all he wanted to play was folk music. Deciding that i'd had enough, I made myself annoying, and was sent home after two lessons.

Enter the teen years. I picked up the guitar (again) at 14. Discovering Heavy Metal, I had a new lease on life! I tried to learn as much as I could. If I couldn't play it, i'd sing it, and if I couldn't sing it, i'd play it. I started writing and recording with some high school friends, and eventually played in my first band at 17.

I moved to Atlanta and joined, as lead vocals, Krossfire. I didn't enjoy playing covers, so I joined Icebreaker that same year, and stayed with them for three years. Icebreaker was a cross between Van Halen, Giant, and TNT. Great band, but I was really getting into Kate Bush, and I wanted to push the limits a little more.

Enter Salem Ash. I joined Salem Ash as lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist. We were compared to Dream Theater, Styx, and Kansas, with a hint of King Crimson. The labels weren't exactly beating our door down. We recorded one CD on Isabella records, toured the southeast, and spent two weeks in London (which ended up just being a vacation).

When we were in town, I sang on a children's Christmas tape, narration on industrial tapes for Seimens, sang on spots for Rich's, Goldsmith's, R.S. Andrews, and two "900" commercials, "Hot Babe" and "Love Line". After six years with Salem Ash, the infamous "creative differences" line surfaced. That brings us to Agent Cooper.

Sean B. Delson

(bass guitar)

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Sean B. Delson

It all started for me in 1981, when my older brother brought home Rush's album "Moving Pictures". I listened to the entire album over and over again, almost wearing out the needle on his turntable. Finally I saved enough money to buy a used Fender P-bass and learned that entire album. From that moment on, I was hooked.

I come from a very musical family. My father is a singer and dancer and very active in the theater. [Then there's] my older brother, who at a very young age had already become a technically proficient drummer as well as guitarist with a great ear. He helped me develop my abilities through the first formative years of study.

In the late 80's, my brother and I packed up our belongings, kissed the parents good-bye and drove cross-country to California where I attended MIT under the Bass program. I studied under phenomonal musicians like Jeff Berlin and Stu Hamm who helped me fine tune my technical and creative skills and how to focus them. After graduating with honors from BIT I came back to the South and began pursuing a career in music.

I have recorded and performed with several projects throughout the southeast and still enjoy being a session player when I'm not performing with Agent Cooper. My influences run the gammut from rock to jazz...Geddy Lee, Jeff Berlin, Andy West, and my good friend Dave Benner.

Eric Frampton

(keyboards)

I'm originally from South Georgia. I've been playing piano since age 6, and I've been into electronics since about that same time. It was soon discovered that I had both absolute ("perfect") pitch and a knack for making electrons do neat things, so I've been relegated to Crazy Mutant Wire Head status pretty much ever since. My mom and dad are both musical (she sings in local choirs, he plays piano professionally), so it would appear that I was going be in this business from the get-go.

I attended school like all the kids do, and somewhere in there I discovered electronic keyboards. I got my first one when I was 14, a Yamaha DX7. I quickly learned how to program it, and started hanging around the studio when my dad was in there recording. About this time I was dipping a toe in the water of my first band experiences, which were disastrous.

I finally discovered the friends that would go on to form RAIN. Later, when we were all in college, this same group of friends would introduce me to Glenn Longmuir. I finished college and, not having any better plan, went on tour with my dad for a year. Except for a couple of years building church organs and working music retail, I've been a free-lance musician ever since. But I've been fortunate to do some neat things, most recently a tour of Europe with Mother's Finest during Summer 2000.

Currently, besides working with Agent Cooper and some other local bands, I'm still a hired-gun touring keyboardist, and I also keep busy in the studio playing keyboards, programming, and doing production, and engineering. I also play comedy improv and score commercial music.

Frank Fontsere’

(drums)

Frank Fontsere’ Info Coming Soon

Agent Cooper

Alumni

Forrest Robinson

(drums/percussion)

I've toured with Silk (Elektra-R&B), TLC (LaFace-R&B/pop), Kim Waters (Shanachie-Jazz/ Smooth Jazz-instrumental), George Howard (BMG-Jazz/Smooth Jazz-instrumental), Aquarium Rescue Unit (Capricorn-Rock/Alternative), Diane Durrett (Glass House-Rock/Soul), and Victor Wooten (Jazz/Fusion).

I've performed with Goodie Mob (LaFace-hip hop), Speech/Arrested Development (hip hop), Bobby Brown, Chico DeBarge, Pamela Anderson of Incognito, and also a concert sponsored by STRICTLY JAZZ magazine which featured David Samuels (Spyro Gyra), Steve Laury, Bob Baldwin, and Eric Essix, who are all nationally and internationally known jazz solo artists.

Glenn Longmuir

(bass guitar)

Originally from Ft. Lauderdale FL, I was essentially a self taught bass player with minimal informal training when I started, mostly for mechanics and technique. Earliest influences range from Chris Squire and John Paul Jones to Jaco Pastorius and Sting. Obligatory bad high school bands led to a premature abandon of the instrument until my second year of college.

With rekindled aspirations to play bass, I played in cover bands ranging from 80's pop to progressive rock to new wave dance music. I moved to Atlanta after graduating college and helped form a 5 piece progressive rock band called RAIN. After a year and a half the band fell apart in the face of the "Nirvana Revolution" and the remaining members formed HIP HEAVY LIP.

Based in more mainstream rock, but with left over progressive tendencies, Hip Heavy Lip released two self produced CD's (Entitled and Butcher's Daughter). Our biggest claim to fame was with the regional/seasonal radio hit, Mr. Grinch (Dr. Seuss), which was sold to benefit the Empty Stocking Fund for 3 years in a row. Hip Heavy Lip built a solid reputation and flirted with major label interest until the 6 years of hard work simply took it's toll. The group disbanded in the summer of 1997.

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