Artist: Trapper Schoepp
Album: Rangers & Valentines
Bitrate: 260kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Xtra Mile
Genre: Rock
Size: 67.48 megs
PlayTime: 0h 34min 22sec total
Rip Date: 2016-05-07
Store Date: 2016-04-29
Track List:
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01. Mono Pt. II 3:41
02. Tornado Alley 3:27
03. Ogallala 2:52
04. Ballad Of Olof Johnson 4:23
05. Talking Girlfriend Blues 3:22
06. Settlin' Or Sleepin' Around 3:07
07. Lost Cowboy 2:28
08. For Jonny 3:26
09. Don't Go 3:50
10. Dream 3:46
Release Notes:
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As a professional musician and proud student of the American songbook, Trapper
Schoepp is acutely aware of clichΘs. ThatÆs not to say he shuns them completely,
of course, just that when he uses them he does so knowingly, and so he readily
admits that his latest album, Rangers & Valentines, out April 1 on Xtra Mile
Recordings, is founded on a big one. ôThey always say that songwriters who come
off their first few years of touring are going to make their road album,ö
Schoepp says, ôand yeah, this is a road album.ö
Not that the songs are all literally about SchoeppÆs experiences. Recorded after
years on the road behind Run Engine Run, his 2012 album for the Los Angeles
indie label SideOneDummy, Rangers & Valentines compiles stories about men and
women ôwho are on the road and on the move,ö Schoepp says. Along the way they
endure chaos, war, natural disasters and other travails.
On the albumÆs first single, ôBallad Of Olof Johnson,ö Schoepp sings of an
ancestor who, according to family legend, was sidetracked on a wagon ride to the
American West by a violent blizzard. To survive, the tale goes, he and his bride
burrowed into a hole and lived underground for days. Other tales are less
fantastical. On ôFor Jonny,ö Schoepp sings of his drummer Jon PhillipÆs very
real experiences with addiction, painting a portrait of him on the road,
trembling from withdrawal, longing to be back home in Milwaukee.
ôItÆs a varied listening experience but to me it feels cohesive, because the
whole album is about how these different characters deal with their situations,ö
Schoepp says. ôThereÆs a lot of interconnection between the stories and a lot of
the same themes about people trying to preserver.ö
Rangers & Valentines was recorded in Nashville with SchoeppÆs band The Shades
and producer Brendan Benson of The Raconteurs, who carries over some of the same
vibrant pop sensibilities of his solo records. At just 10 songs long, the record
is brisk and crisp, with many of its songs brightened by punchy horn injections
α la the E Street Band. Schoepp cites Bruce SpringsteenÆs 1980 opus The River as
an inspiration for the albumÆs varied sound, along with WilcoÆs artistic
breakthrough Being There.
ôObviously those are longer double albums, but I thought about those records a
lot because of all their ups and down and all the extremes,ö Schoepp says. ôEach
song is fun and different on those albums, but they all tie together à I know
this might sound kind of abstract or goofy, but we wanted this album to be like
the California of rock records, where the terrain and the climate is varied, but
itÆs all nonetheless part of something that stands on its own.ö
As is often the case with Nashville, many guest musicians dropped by for the
recordings, including The Hold SteadyÆs Steve Selvidge, SuperdragÆs John Davis
and, most notably perhaps, Marc Maron. The comedian podcaster had bumped into
some of SchoeppÆs bandmates at a Jewish deli, and when he learned they were
recording, he offered to swing by and play some blues guitar.
ôSo he just showed up the next day,ö Schoepp says. ôHe actually talked about it
on his æWTFÆ podcastùI think itÆs the Ru Paul episodeùand itÆs pretty hilarious
to hear his account of it. He ends by saying, æSo Trapper Schoepp and the
Shades, if youÆre out there listening, I just want to tell you IÆll be really
hurt if I donÆt make the cut.Æ And he did make the cut. He plays on the last
song, æDreams,Æ which we made as kind of a Last Waltz-style musical go-around,
with everybody playing. ItÆs kind of a nice, fun way to end the record.ö