Milwaukee singer-songwriter Trapper Schoepp returns this fall with Osborne, his most raw, revealing, and radically different album to date — a blazing 11-track journey through addiction, recovery, and rebirth. The album’s lead single, “Loaded,” is set for release on May 29, marking the first chapter in a deeply personal new era for the 34-year-old artist.

“Loaded,” cuts deep with Trapper’s searing commentary on the reckless over-prescription of opioids: “It’s long and orange with a child-proof lid / It jingles like a tambourine where I once hid / It oughta be a crime the whole world should know / Your face on a true crime reality show / You ain’t gave me nothing but a loaded gun.”

“A pain management doctor said to my face that he helped patients get on these drugs but not off of them,“ Trapper says. “They wrote me advance prescriptions that I could fill at my leisure. I thought they were like loaded guns just sitting in my desk, which is where that title comes from.”

Set in a rage room, the “Loaded” music video is a cathartic commentary on the American opioid epidemic. It stars indie film legend Mark Borchardt as an evil, overprescribing doctor. WATCH HERE. 
 
Osborne was born from Schoepp’s experience last year at Hazelden Betty Ford, one of the country’s leading addiction treatment centers. After a decade of dependency on prescription painkillers stemming from a spinal surgery, Trapper checked himself into the Minnesota-based facility — and was assigned to the Osborne unit, a subtle nod to Ozzy Osbourne, who famously underwent treatment there. “There was heavy metal-themed artwork, a guitar Clapton left behind, and DVDs of The Osbournes laying around,” Trapper recalls. “It felt like home.”

“Recording this album was an exorcism of my demons,” Schoepp says. “I kept asking myself if this was a test or torture. I realized that if cleaning myself up was the torture, putting it all down on paper honestly was the test. I needed both.”

The album delivers blistering lyrics atop a chugging rhythm section, channeling the spirits of Black Sabbath, Suicide, and Springsteen. Songs were written shortly after Schoepp left Hazelden, recorded in a church basement in California with producers Mike Viola (Andrew Bird, Dawes) and Tyler Chester (Jackson Browne, Madison Cunningham), and tracked live to tape for maximum emotional punch.

From the reggae-tinged “Suicide Summer” to the Sackler family indictment “Satan is Real (Satan is a Sackler),” Osborne balances ferocity with humor, devastation with celebration. “I wanted this album to feel celebratory and not maudlin,” Trapper explains. “Nothing about recovery has to be gloom and doom.”

The album also marks a sonic and visual shift. Osborne is the first record to omit his last name on the cover, a subtle tribute to the anonymity of recovery communities — and features artwork of Trapper with a burning guitar in his mouth. “I want to set fire to the stigma around addiction,” he says.

While Osborne is a major artistic leap, Trapper’s songwriting roots remain grounded in craft. In 2019, he made headlines for completing an unfinished 1961 song by Bob Dylan called “On, Wisconsin,” earning himself a co-writing credit with the legend. “Imagine telling that to a 14-year-old kid standing in the baseball field that one day you’re going to have a co-writing credit with Bob Dylan about your home state,” Schoepp told Rolling Stone. “You just can’t make that sh*t up.”

With Osborne, Trapper offers an unflinching look at pain, addiction, and healing — but also a triumphant reminder: survival isn’t sad. It’s a story worth shouting from the stage.

To celebrate the release of his new single “Loaded” and the forthcoming album Osborne, Trapper is launching his earthy startup Schoepp Seeds—a line of organic, heirloom seed packets inspired by rock n’ roll and art-pop imagery,

Trapper Schoepp on the Road:
6/ 5 – Monterey, CA @ Golden State Theatre (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
6/6 – Visalia, CA @ Visalia Fox Theatre  (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
6/7 – Napa, CA @ Uptown Theatre Napa  (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
6/13 – Milwaukee, WI @ Anodyne (Solo Opening for Peter Mulvey)
6/14 – Burlington, WI @ WBSD 50th Anniversary
6/19 – Green Bay, WI @ Truck Yard
6/20 – Ripon, WI @ Siebkens
6/21 – Chicago, IL @ FitzGerald’s (Supporting Old 97’s)
6/24-25 – West Bend, WI @ Bend Theater (Solo Opening for Hotel California)
6/26 – Lake Geneva, WI @ Flat Iron Park
6/28 – Hartland, wI @ Lake Country House Concerts
6/30 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
7/15 – Green Bay, WI @ Bay Beach Amusement Park
7/17 – Hopkins, MN @ The Sunset Series
7/24 – Nekoosa, WI @ Lake Arrowhead: Tunes on the Turn
7/25 – Selbyville, DE @ Freeman Arts Pavilion (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
7/26 – Williamsport, PA @ Community Arts Center (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
7/27 – Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theater (Solo Opening for Three Dog Night)
 
Supporting Laura Jane Grace:
8/01 – Peoria, IL @  Scottish Rite Theatre
8/02 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
8/03 – Fargo, ND @ Sanctuary Events Center
8/05 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre
8/06 – Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub
8/08 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
8/09 – Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth Bar & Stage
8/10 – Kelowna, BC @ Revelry
8/12 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl
8/13 – Victoria, BC @ Sticky Wicket
8/15 – Missoula, MT @ Monk’s Bar
8/16 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
8/17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
8/19 – Casper, WY @ Oil City Beer Company
8/24 – Dallas, TX @ Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ
8/25 – Austin, TX @ Antone’s Nightclub
8/26 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues Houston
8/27 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Chelsea’s Live
 
Album release shows:
9/26 – Madison, WI @ Bur Oak
9/27 – Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium
 
EUROPE:
16 Oct – Malmo, SE @Medley
17 Oct – Trelleborg, SE @ Kulturhuset
18 Oct – Kristianstad,SE @Biljardkompaniet
22 Oct – Trondheim, NO @ Moskus
24 Oct – Kristiansand, NO @ Vaktbua
25 Oct – Bergen, NO @ Statsraaden
30 Oct – Nieuw-en Sint Joosland, NL @ Theater de Wewijzer
31 Oct – De Speelplaats, NL @ Baars
1 Nov – Groningen, NL @ Take Root Festival
2 Nov – Nijmegen, NL @ Thiemeloods
4 Nov – Leiden, NL @ Q-bus
5 Nov – Ebersberg, GE @ Altes Kino
7 Nov – Lauchhammer, GE @ Real Music Club.