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A resolution honoring the life of Peter Cooper.
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WHEREAS, Peter Cooper was an outstanding musician, singer, songwriter, producer, educator, and country music journalist; who had the skill and passion for all things musical; and
WHEREAS, he was once described as a "modern day renaissance man" by Bob Edwards; and
WHEREAS, Peter Cooper was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and attended high school in the Washington D.C. area; and
WHEREAS, his music journalism career kicked off during his senior year at Wofford College when asked to write a review of Guy Clark as his first assignment for a newspaper; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from college, he continued writing about music for small weekly papers while teaching middle school in Spartanburg, South Carolina and wrote a book, "Hub City Music Makers: One Southern Town's Popular Music History," about music from upstate South Carolina; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, he moved to Nashville and worked as a writer focusing on country music for The Tennessean and quickly became one of the most respected country music journalists in the nation. He wrote about music and musicians, profiled individuals such as Johnny Cash and Taylor Swift, and won countless awards throughout his career; and
WHEREAS, he became a senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, where he taught a course on the History of Country Music; and
WHEREAS, he used his talents and unparalleled knowledge of music to pursue a music career of his own; and
WHEREAS, he played acoustic guitar, sang, and self-produced and recorded albums of his own like Opening Day, The Comeback Album, The Lloyd Green Album, and Master Sessions, and even ran an indie label called Red Beet Records; and
WHEREAS, he was a Grammy-nominated producer and a singer-songwriter, with accolades in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and many other outlets; and
WHEREAS, as a musician, he a...
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