American singer, songwriter, touring artist, sideman, Grammy-nominated producer, historian, author, college professor and award-winning journalist. Born in 1970 in South Carolina. Died December 6, 2022 in Tennessee.
High school in Washington, DC area. Moved to Nashville in 2000.
Cooper worked in the studio as a performer, producer or session musician with Tom T. Hall, Todd Snider, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Bobby Bare, Duane Eddy, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Kim Carnes, Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, Kenny Chesney, Jim Lauderdale and many more.
Cooper was a music writer for The Tennessean newspaper from 2000 to 2014.
As an author, Cooper wrote, “Johnny’s Cash & Charley’s Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music,” and co-wrote “Whisperin’ Bill Anderson: An Unprecedented Life in Country Music”.
Cooper's liner notes appeared on albums by Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Cowboy Jack Clement and Ronnie Milsap, among others.
As a historian and teacher, Cooper worked as a senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and taught a country music history class.
In 2014, Cooper was hired by the Country Music Hall of Fame as a senior director, producer and writer.
Cooper died from a serious head injury sustained in a fall.