Artist Biography Available in: Long time friends Koley O'Brien and Joe Spargur founded A B & The Sea January 1st, 2009--not only marking the start of a new year, but a new journey. They packed up their van, waved goodbye to Wisconsin and started making their way to California. After going through a few line-up changes, A B & The Sea was made complete again with the addition of drummer Troy Lawton, bass player Ben Laatsch and David Hunt on keys.