Trapper Schoepp at The Sunset Series, Hopkins (July 17, 2025)

There was a festive spirit in downtown Hopkins as an inordinate amount of teenage girls dressed in evening gowns, some wearing tiaras, walked up and down Main Street. They were there to help kick off the 91st Raspberry Festival, a community event that started in the depths of the Great Depression as a way to bring in visitors to support the local businesses as well as the local farmers and their raspberry fields.

The raspberry fields are now gone, but the Festival’s spirit was alive on Thursday night as downtown was packed with people there to see the Coronation & Royal Ball at the Hopkins Center for the Arts as well as catch Trapper Schoepp at Downtown Park.

First, Downtown Park, tucked in behind Main Streets’ shops and restaurants. It is so small that you may pass it without seeing it. Still, a great place to see an outdoor show with seven Honey Locus trees providing a natural canopy and three grassy knolls for those who want to lie on a blanket instead of a chair.

We arrived early and caught the band at sound check, Trapper saying the names of Minnesota Viking’s football players into the microphone: “Chris Carter…. Randy Moss… Lambeau Field…” Then bringing up the infamous mooning incident involving Randy and the Green Bay Packers fans.

Even though Trapper is currently living in Milwaukee, WI he shares an affinity to Minnesota. We have seen him perform in the Twin Cities multiple times, last seeing him at 7th Street Entry in April, 2023.

Trapper was joined on stage by Mike from Chicago, Shotgun Dan on the upright bass and Nick Lang on Drums. They started off the set in an Americana vein with “Tracks,” “Cliffs of Dover” and a song that he actually co-wrote with Bob Dylan “On, Wisconsin”.

Actually it was an uncompleted song of Bob’s that Trapper took upon himself to complete. It grabbed so much national attention, as well as approval from Nobel Laureate, that Trapper can lay claim as being the youngest person to share a song credit with his hero.

After playing “Ogallala,” a song about being stranded in the Nebraska town during a blizzard, Trapper pulled out the electric guitar and picked up the pace and volume with a Sister Double Happiness cover “Freight Train” with a guitar solo that involved Trapper moving into the crowd and playing among the Locus trees. Then a new song “Wild Fire” followed by “Devil’s Kettle” with Matt providing some sauce with a Delta Blues slide guitar riff.

A personal favorite was “The Scat,” a song inspired by being next to a young boy on an amusement ride and the kid definitely wanted off. Trapper said some of the lyrics are lifted right from the kid’s moment of fright. He even added a screeching guitar solo for added effect.

Even though he lives in Wisconsin, Trapper said he has much love for Minnesota. He said that the Mayo Clinic in Rochester fixed his back in 2007 and the Hazelton Clinic in Center City fixed the rest of him a few years back.

Trapper then gave a shoutout to Ozzy Osbourne who just gave his last performance on July 5th in Birmingham. Trapper said that Ozzy too had spent time at Hazelton and Trapper actually stayed in the Osbourne Wing at the facility. The time there must have made an impression for Trapper will be releasing his new album Osborne this fall, a release party will be at The Hook and Ladder in October. We got a sneak peak before he closed the evening with The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man.”