Popdose Song Premiere: Trapper Schoepp, “Freight Train”

Much has been made of Trapper Schoepp’s new album Primetime Illusion because it features a song co-written by Bob Dylan. Schoepp took an unrecorded song Dylan wrote in 1961, added some lyrics and a melody to make it his own.

However, it’s not the only song on the new LP with roots from years gone by.

”Freight Train” was originally written in the late 1980’s by San Francisco band Sister Double Happiness, a song that chronicles the bleak realities faced by those suffering with AIDS/HIV.

”There’s an urgency in the lyrics that speaks to the pain of the epidemic,” Schoepp said. ”It’s a powerful perspective to sing from, someone in the throes of the illness.”

The song didn’t do much for Sister Double Happiness, but label mate Kraig Johnson and his band at the time, Run Westy Run, picked it up and began to regularly add it to their set list. Fast forward nearly 30 years later, Johnson is in the Jayhawks and Schoepp is touring with them as the opening act.

”It was passed along like a folk song while I was out on tour with the Jayhawks,” Schoepp says. ”Guitarist Kraig Johnson showed me the two chords backstage and I took to it instantly.”

Led by Wilco’s Patrick Sansone on piano, Schoepp and his band become another link in this song’s chain. Sansone also produced Primetime Illusion, which is set to be released on January 25th on XtraMile Recordings.

Check out the video below for “Freight Train” and pre-order the new album (and coffee!)  https://trapperschoepp.lnk.to/primetimeillusion

Tour? Of course he’s going to tour.

DECEMBER
20 — Evanston, IL — Evanston Space *
27 — Madison, WI — The Barrymore Theatre *
29 — St. Charles, IL — Arcada Theatre *

JANUARY
25 — Chicago, IL — The Hideout *
26 — Minneapolis, MN — 7th St. Entry *

FEBRUARY
1 — Fond Du Lac, WI — Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts *
2 — Milwaukee, WI — The Back Room @ Colectivo Coffee *
8 — Davenport, IA — Raccoon Motel *
28 — Brighton, UK — Concorde 2

MARCH
1 — Norwich, UK — Norwich Arts Centre
2 — Southampton, UK — 1865
6 — Bristol, UK — The Fleece
7 — Glasgow, UK — King Tut’s
8 — Leeds, UK — The Key Club
9 — Leicester, UK — 02 Academy
13 — Berlin, DE — SO 36
14 — Kiel, DE — Orange Club
15 — Erfurt, DE — Kalif Storch
16 — Prague, CZ — Futurum
17 — Nurnberg, DE — Der Hirsch
19 — Frankfurt, DE — Batschkapp
20 — Wien, AU — Arena Wien
21 — Munich, DE — Strom
22 — Bern, SUI — Bierhubeli
23 — Zurich, SUI — Dynamo
26 — Paris, FR — La Maroquinerie
27 — Rouen, FR — Le 106
28 — Amsterdam, NL — Paradiso Noord
29 — Cologne, DE — Stollwerk
30 — Antwerp, BE — Kavka

APRIL
3 — Edinburgh, UK — The Mash House
4 — Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK — Riverside
5 — Nottingham, UK — Rescue Rooms
6 — Manchester, UK — Club Academy
10 — Cambridge, UK — Cambridge Junction
11 — London, UK — Electric Ballroom

ALL DATES w/SKINNY LISTER EXCEPT *