The Group

The conspiracy began in June of 1999 with the release of Agent 22’s self titled debut. Centered on the Chapman Stick, an instrument most people have never heard of, Agent 22 has been nothing but unique since they began. Their music has been called alternative, jazz, rock, pop, world music, progressive, funk, neo-classical... the aliases are many, and yet they have demonstrated an almost universal appeal having built up a grass roots following that includes everything from high school and college students to middle aged people and retirees.

The original version of the group mixed Tom Griesgraber's Stick playing with Ryan Moran on drums and percussion and Jimmy Patton who uses a Stick like technique to play two guitars at once. After releasing the "Agent 22" album, the trio focused themselves on the live arena and by the beginning of 2000 had won notoriety by winning Best of the Year honors in the Spotlight San Diego competition at San Diego's legendary Belly Up Tavern. The competition also resulted in the group's next release; "First Witness", a live recording from the final night of the competition.

2000 and 2001 saw an ever increasing notoriety as the group won Best Alternative Band in the San Diego Reader's Best of 2000 poll and each of their CDs recieved nominations for Best Jazz Album at the San Diego Music Awards. As their notoriety increased however, so did the number of shows, which eventually caused the group to go through some lineup changes. Drummer Ryan Moran left to work full time with the B-Side Players, and Jimmy Patton's involvement lessened as he concentrated on a career in teaching. Undaunted, Tom brought in drummer Darren DeBree and continued by playing most shows as a duo.

Whether performing as a duo or trio, Agent 22’s sound is surprisingly full since the Chapman Stick played by Griesgraber allows him to do multiple parts simultaneously. At times, even in duo format, it can sound as if there were two guitars, keyboards and bass playing as well as acoustic and electronic drums.

To date the group has opened for some of the biggest names in instrumental music including Tony Levin, The California Guitar Trio, Steve Morse and The Dixie Dregs,Tower of Power, Jazz Mandolin Project, Blue Floyd, Planet X and grammy winners Al Dimeola, Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather.

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Born in 1973 in La Jolla, California (San Diego county), Thos studied piano as a child, then picked up guitar in 1989. While still in high school, he began music studies at MiraCosta College, and after one semester there was employed by the college as it's music tutor, and as an assistant to the music department. After graduating from high school in 1991, Tom studied music full time at MiraCosta until transferring to Berklee College of Music in 1993. He attended Berklee with a scholarship, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1995 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He then attended San Diego State University's Master of Music in Jazz program for one year and started playing Stick in July of 1997. for more, see Tom Griesgraber

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D-Ride

aka: Darren DeBree - acoustic and electronic drums and percussion Darren DeBree began his performing career playing drums with a variety of funk and progressive alternative rock bands in San Diego. In 1997 he moved to L.A. where he studied with composer/drummer Richard Wilson and attended Musician’s Institute. Graduating from the school with their professional music and journeyman certificates, he worked for a time in L.A. where he and his partner “The Cuban” wrote music for the Reyes Brothers; a group featuring rap star Sen Dog of Cypress Hill and his brother Mellow Man Ace. Darren’s involvement with hip hop and electronic music began his exploration of electronic drums and percussion. In 1999 he moved to Nashville where he played acoustic drums with Function, a blues rock/jam band and Eddie Okri and the legacy, a nationally touring reggae band. Returning to San Diego in 2000 brought him full circle geographically and musically as his involvement with Agent 22 has allowed him to combine the acoustic and electronic drum worlds into his own unique voice. Darren also currently performs with flamenco guitarist Oscar Aragon and the Mitch Bud Band.

Born in 1973 in Taipei, Taiwan, Jimmy moved to the US at age 3. With his father in the navy, he lived in many places throughout the United States. He began saxophone lessons at age 13, and began playing guitar at age 15. After high school, he attended Grossmont College in San Diego, CA where he studied classical guitar with Fred Benedetti. During his time there, he began experimenting with two hand tapping on guitar and by age 19 was playing on two guitars in local coffee shops for tips. At age 22, he continued his education at MiraCosta College, and at age 24 he transferred to San Diego State University. Jimmy has opened for Stanley Jordan, Adrian Legg, Laurence Juber (of Paul McCartney and Wings), Larry Mitchell and Preston Reed and in 2001 won Guitar Center's national Guitarmageddon competition, beating out thousands of guitarists across the US.