The Record Company Kicked off their tour with a new album in Milwaukee!

The Record Company kicked off their post-pandemic tour in Milwaukee on 10/10/21, just two days after the release of their new album, Play Loud. Milwaukee’s Trapper Schoepp opened the show, making it an official night for Wisconsin musicians rocking fans at the historic Turner Hall Ballroom.

It was just a few days earlier when I read an interview by The Record Company’s Chris Vos, where he talked about how difficult the pandemic was on his not being able to perform live music, which is why the band would be “giving everything they got to each show,” and from what I experienced, that wasn’t fake news!

Their address is L.A. although Home is WI to Chris Vos and his fans

Chris grew up on his family’s dairy farm, located outside of New Munster, in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. His appreciation and support for American farming are most often noticed by the brand promoted on the hats he wears, which often feature farming equipment by companies that may or may not remain in business. New Munster is just short of an hour south of Milwaukee, or close enough to where we like to say he’s from the Milwaukee area or Milwaukee!

He played around Milwaukee for years including his time at UW Milwaukee, primarily playing blues and rock, and several musicians performing in the Milwaukee area have played with him, even if they just remember him from when they first let him sit in with them. Chris is also seriously knowledgeable about the history of blues, and can easily hold his own when it comes to talking about Chicago’s rich blues history, including Chess Records, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Play Loud
I am not sure exactly why this album wasn’t available in vinyl on their website or at the show like it had sold out before it went on sale, or something like I should have pre-ordered. Their merchandise person told me they were working on it and hoped vinyl would be available within a few more weeks. Loyal fans are patient, and really after waiting about two years to see them live, what was a few more weeks of waiting to spin Play Loud in my living room? Fortunately, the full album was released on YouTube, and the first song from this album, “How High” was released 07/07/21. In another interview I noted Chris explained they filmed the “How High” video during that short timeframe we had earlier in 2021, when we thought Covid was behind us after the vaccinations had been administered and restrictions for social gatherings had vanished.

“Out of My Head” premiered on 08/19/21, and this was really the point where I was pretty confident I would end up adding Play Loud on vinyl to my library (but failed to pre-order).

Back to the show!

Chris took to the stage with a level of explosive energy, the kind where you just knew this was going to be lit. Shortly after his electrifying start, he let us know we were their first show since 2019 and I really don’t remember ever seeing such appreciation in his eyes before. Was that his tear I caught or was it mine? All I knew is we love this band and they love us, which is why nobody in the room wants to go practically two years before seeing each other again! Concert goers must have felt similar as they were packed pretty tight to the stage while groovin’ with the band.

Marc Cazorla’s drum kit featured the pink cactus from the Play Loud album cover, and instead of playing bass, Alex Siff played guitar. Johnny Elkins played bass and Wesley Flowers played keys. The only song they did not perform from Play Loud was “Awake” and the rest of the setlist featured their classics, from their initial EP Feels So Good, their first album Give It Back To You, and their sophomore album, All of This Life. The only chatter in the audience was people singing along with The Record Company. It is also the first show in 2021 where I did not see anyone using their cellphones beyond taking photos of the band, which I took as everyone was having at least as good of a time as me!

Set List
Out of My Head from Play Loud
Gotta Be Movin’ from Play Loud
Hard Day Coming Down from Feels So Good
Rita Mae Young from Give It Back To You
Never Leave You from Play Loud
Baby I’m Broken from Feels So Good
Live As One from Play Loud
On The Move from Give It Back To You
Get Up And Dance! from Play Loud
Paradise from Play Loud
Today Forever from Play Loud
In The Mood For You from Give It Back To You
Midnight Moon from Play Loud
Lady Lila from Play Loud
How High from Play Loud
Off The Ground from Give It Back To You
Life to Fix from All Of This Life
I’m Gettin’ Better from All Of This Life

Encore: Ain’t Going Home from Play Loud

What else can I say other than do not hesitate to catch them live!

Tour Dates – includes Madison, WI @ The Sylvee on 11/08/21

https://therecordcompany.net/#tour

https://therecordcompany.net/

Trapper Schoepp and his brother Tanner opened

If you have not seen a Trapper Schoepp show, including him performing solo, and you dig really good songwriting and storytelling in the Americana way, then please be sure to add him to your concert list. My favorite two stories he shared are “This Isn’t Fun Anymore” and what happened when he finished a Bob Dylan song. Trapper has a way of sharing a story with an audience while making each person feel like he is having an intimate conversation directly with them, and one forgets you are part of a crowd at a concert, as he takes you on a journey of emotions, including laughter as he has a great ability to make people laugh at his humanness. Of course, he made sure to give a shoutout to “Bucks in Six!” as they play directly across the street from Turner Hall Ballroom, and naturally, the audience approved!

“This Isn’t Fun Anymore”

I think I love this so much because there is only one amusement park ride I have ever been on that I hated, and I mean hated to the point I refuse to ever go on it again because I am pretty sure I will die on the ride, and it just so happens to be the ride which inspired Trapper’s song. The ride is The Scat at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, WI. It’s the ride, from hell, where it spins and everyone sticks to the wall like velcro but there’s no velcro, and some people slide down just enough to terrorize them, me, into catastrophic thought of falling to the bottom then bouncing off people until you perish. Maybe that’s not exactly what the young boy thought when he cried out to stop the ride, as Trapper heard him repeatedly say: “This Isn’t Fun Anymore.” It is also pretty much what everyone thought during the pandemic shutdown, which is why the crowd cheered as Trapper shared he saw the Ma Fischer statue, in front of Milwaukee’s famous East Side 24 hour Diner, wearing a mask and his “This Isn’t Fun Anymore” t-shirt during the pandemic.

Trapper Schoepp - This Isn't Fun Anymore

Bob Dylan and “On Wisconsin”

It seems like we hear more about this famous musician or that famous band refused to meet with or sued the other less famous musician/band over a song or lyrics or even sampling, or the worst when the wildly popular artist refused to share credit with the lesser-known artist. It’s much less common to learn how Bob Dylan and Trapper Schoepp share songwriting credit for “On Wisconsin” and even wilder when we learned last winter how Bob Dylan sold his amazing catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group for over $300 Million dollars. All of this was rolling around in my head while Trapper shared how, in 2017, he found an obscure unfinished Bob Dylan song was going to be available for auction, and while he knew he did not have the money to make a bid, he decided to finish the song anyway. This alone takes some pretty amazing self-belief, given what a prolific songwriter Bob Dylan is. Trapper went on to share how he finished the lyrics, set the song to music and the rest was up to see what would come of it. Bob Dylan’s lawyers took notice, and instead of feeling like we were going to have our guts punched as Trapper continued the story, he shared how an agreement was reached and he is credited with Bob Dylan for the song. Trapper learned a deal was reached while he was grocery shopping in Whole Foods, and was so excited he ran around the store, threw his grocery budget to the wind, and bought everything he had ever wanted, a total of nearly $300.00. This song is the final track on Trapper’s Primetime Illusion album, which was released 1/25/2019.