Every once in awhile you see a show that just evokes blithesome emotion within you. Chris Trapper’s performances accomplish just this for his audiences. Embarking on his fall tour, Chris Trapper made a stop to Jazz Central, located at 441 East Washington Street in Syracuse, to share his talents with the Central New York region before heading out to numerous major cities such as NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, and Duluth.
Opening for Chris was multi-talented newcomer Ariel Strasser. Ariel, a singer and songwriter hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota had the opportunity to grow up in a musical family. Her love of music extended to become her focus at Boston Conservatory where she concentrated on musical songwriting. Her talent in songwriting was apparent immediately as she began to belt out songs soon to be released on her new album Crooked Line. This petite young lady with such a strong voice and melodic sound, blew the audience away. She is one artist to keep tabs as on, as her career unfolds. Give a listen to her debut CD.
Chris Trapper, a member of the band The Push Stars, has quite the resume of musical talent. As a teenager, Chris, like many of us do, used music as a creative outlet. Chris picked up a guitar at the age of 13 and taught himself how to play. In addition to being self taught, he also began his career at this time as a talented songwriter. Chris is humble and doesn’t like to pat himself on the back for his talent in songwriting, but he deserves these accolades as many of us have heard his songs throughout the years in a number of films and television. In 2008 his song “This Time” was featured in the film August Rush and was nominated for a Grammy. His songwriting ability has been featured in other movies such The Devil Wears Prada, There’s Something About Mary, Say It Isn’t So, and Gun Shy. In the event you don’t catch films very often, you can always catch his music on television shows such as All My Children, Malcolm In the Middle, ER, Rescue Me, or television movies such as The Elevator Girl, to just name a few. His songs have been performed by the likes of such acts as The Great Big Sea, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, and Antigone Rising.
His live show is, however, much more than just a performance. He develops a relationship with the audience and he shares his songs not only by performing them, but also by narrating the message behind the music. This ability of storytelling and humor he shares gives you an ownership in the song you may never have had by just listening to it on your own. Examples that come to mind are the comical story of the frat house party he arrived late to in which he was the only sober being in the house at the time was the basis of the song “Drunk Is Better Than Dead”, or the song “Skin”, which tells how easy it is to write songs about falling in love, but a real accomplishment of staying in love is what it’s all about . Yes, we all adapt music to fit whatever situation it may pertain to us, but by sharing his innermost thoughts on the songs allowed the audience to embrace his songwriting skills on an entirely different level by getting to know him better.
By the end of the night, the audience joined in the final number “Keg On My Coffin” as though they were all celebrating his life till the end. For a peak into what you are in store for at a Chris Trapper performance please check out his site and see Chris in action with his audience performing “Keg On My Coffin”.
As Chris narrates throughout the show, one story he told resonated within. He claimed to wonder and envy what it feels like to achieve “Bliss”. Bliss being defined as complete happiness within one self and ones life. I believe the audience achieved this “Bliss” throughout the night. Chris’s achievement is sharing his love of songwriting and music with each and everyone he comes in contact with demonstrates this perfectly. This my friend is a gift, and in this is Bliss.
As technology has developed and new methods of music listening have emerged, traditional radio has taken a hit in both popularity and listenership. For 26 years on the Syracuse University campus, however, WERW has consistently provided students with an outlet for music discovery. To celebrate another year of college radio on The Hill, 
