About the Artist
Chris Trapper is a Boston-based singer-songwriter originally from Buffalo, New York, with twelve studio albums and a career built entirely without a safety net. His songs have appeared in films like The Devil Wears Prada and There's Something About Mary, and his latest album, Watching Sparks Fly By, features a duet with Pat Benatar. Known for emotionally direct writing and a loyal following he has held across folk, pop, and acoustic records, Trapper is one of the most consistent independent voices in American songwriting.
Chris Trapper
About the Episode (Episode 138)
Chris Trapper: Twelve Albums, No Backup Plan
Jason English sat down with Chris Trapper at the 30A Songwriters Festival in January — Trapper's first time playing the event after years of trying to get in. The conversation covers the phone call his father made to a hotel storeroom that changed the direction of his life, the brother he tried to help through addiction for years and lost two summers ago, and the album opener he wrote months before he knew what it was about.
Key Conversation Points
The Call That Started It: Trapper was working the food storeroom of a Boston hotel when his father called. "Why don't you quit your job and try and make a living off songwriting?" His immediate response: "Dad, you've been drinking or what, what's happening?" He quit. Weeks later he played an open mic, made $50 in tips, and never looked back.
A Song He Wrote Before He Knew What It Was About: "Campfire Symphony," the opener of Watching Sparks Fly By, came out in half an hour and sat there without a clear subject — until his brother died. "I realized I was already grieving him before he died." His brother had spent his last three years homeless, deep in addiction, and was just beginning to find his footing when his body gave out.
The Stutter and the Stage: In fifth grade, Trapper was asked to read for a part in the school musical. He couldn't get through it — stuttered so badly he thought he might pass out. A teacher redirected him: why don't you sing instead? "I sang and I crushed it." Music gave him more than a career. It gave him an identity at a moment when he had none.
Twelve albums in, Chris Trapper is still letting the path show up on its own terms. This conversation moves from Buffalo kitchen tables to a Pat Benatar backstage and lands somewhere quieter — worth every minute of it.