Trapper Schoepp, Bear in the Forest

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Lucian McAfee

Trapper Schoepp and a guitar in the water.

Trapper Schoepp

Trapper Schoepp, among the Midwest’s most enigmatic rock songwriters, recorded his last album, Siren Songs, at Johnny Cash’s family cabin and recording studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee. For Osborne, his new collection out Sept. 19, Schoepp cuts the muscle to the bone with 11 songs about his recovery from a pill addiction that started as a teen after a painful neck injury from a BMX racing accident. In fact, Osborne gets its name from the newly departed Ozzy Osbourne, who attended the same Minnesota rehab facility as Schoepp. Schoepp has toured with everyone from Old 97’s to Three Dog Night and his live shows are a take-no-prisoners affair. With Bear in the Forest (aka Madison singer-songwriter Alberto Kanost).

$16 ($14 adv.).

media release: Trapper Schoepp turns up the heat with his latest single “Wildfire,” out July 29 and taken from his upcoming album Osborne, due this fall. A searing, synth-fueled anthem that evokes the cinematic pulse of 80s-era Springsteen, “Wildfire” showcases Schoepp’s new sonic direction and his sharp lyrical honesty.

“I’m a wildfire and I’m burning out of control / I’m a high-speed driver and I got nowhere to go,” he sings, channeling the chaos, urgency, and transformation that came in the wake of his decade-long struggle with prescription pill dependency.

After checking into Hazelden Betty Ford’s Osborne unit—appropriated in tribute to Ozzy Osbourne—Schoepp emerged with a renewed sense of purpose. He wrote and recorded Osborne just weeks later in a church basement in California, teaming up with producer Mike Viola (Andrew Bird, Dawes) and co-producer Tyler Chester (Jackson Browne, Madison Cunningham). The result is his most raw and genre-defying work to date—equal parts reckoning and reinvention.

“Recording this album was an exorcism of my demons,” says Schoepp. “‘Wildfire’ sets the tone. It’s the sound of hitting bottom—and finding some joy in the climb back up.”

With influences ranging from Black Sabbath and Suicide to reggae and old-school hip-hop, Osborne marks a bold new chapter for the Milwaukee singer-songwriter. And with “Wildfire,” Schoepp leans into vulnerability and velocity—blazing a trail forward.