Here’s how a booking agency for private parties and events describes Cooper Trent, a local artist from Birmingham:
Cooper Trent is a great piano player from Birmingham, Alabama. Having played in college bands at the University of Alabama while obtaining his degree, Cooper can perform hundreds of songs of all varieties. Cooper Trent Piano can be booked as a solo piano act, a dueling piano act, a piano and drums duo, or he can add a sax to any of those set ups. If you are looking for a great Alabama piano player, Alabama dueling piano act, or just a great Birmingham, Alabama piano act, Cooper Trent Piano is the way to go. Sets include Motown songs, piano songs, country songs, rock songs, 70s piano songs, 80s pianos songs, R&B songs, and all types of great piano songs!
In case you weren’t tipped off by the number of times “Alabama” is mentioned in his bio, or by the casual reference to his UA alumni status, Trent is a Tide fan. (full disclosure: I’m an Alabama grad, too.)
So when he ventured down to Auburn to play for a Christmas party earlier this month, there was at least a decent chance he’d have “too much Bama” in him to hold it all inside.
And indeed, it appears that he couldn’t help himself as the evening came to a close.
As the complaint form below, which surfaced online Monday evening, indicates, folks in Auburn apparently really enjoyed Trent’s set — that is, until he suddenly burst into the Alabama fight song and yelled “Roll Tide!”
“They did a nice job. Everyone enjoyed their music,” one of the partygoers, Janet, wrote. Then Janet said things went south unexpectedly. “At the close of the party they yelled “Roll Tide” and played the Univ. of Alabama fight song. This was EXTREMELY inappropriate and unprofessional, especially since the venue was located in Auburn. Very distasteful!!”
Then in a perhaps less surprising turn of events, Janet offered her best guess as to why the band felt the need to Gump so hard.
“Some people felt they had too much to drink,” she wrote.
After famed/infamous Alabama fan Hunter Johnson tweeted the complaint out to his over 9,000 Twitter followers, support for Trent’s started to roll in.
This is awesome pic.twitter.com/ACyxIL6Um9
— Hunter Johnson (@HunterLJohnson) December 23, 2014
@Parmezsan proud sister ✊
— Marie Trent (@MarieTrent) December 23, 2014
Proud to know you coop. “@HunterLJohnson: This is awesome pic.twitter.com/bdVgt0fdqF”
— Byron Strickland (@Stric006) December 23, 2014
And since Janet’s contact information was not redacted in the original image, some Alabama fans suggested everyone call to wish her a Merry Christmas.
Everyone please call & leave her a Merry Crimson msg “@HunterLJohnson: This is awesome pic.twitter.com/U1yGI6Cgr9”
— Phil McChristmasTree (@kickbackattack) December 23, 2014
@HunterLJohnson Hey America, call her phone number and say Roll Tide
— Shawn the Dad (@ShawntheDad) December 23, 2014
A call to Janet was not immediately returned.
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014