The Trapps

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/entertainment/toptenpicks.shtml - Poughkeepsie Journal

Hudson Valley bands often fall into the jam-trap, indulging in long extended solos in lieu of originality or clever songwriting. Avoiding this pitfall are The Trapps, a tight quartet of schooled players with a rock edge. On their eponymous debut EP, The Trapps present well-crafted, four-minute songs that break the cycle of jam-adelica. Lead singer/guitarist Sean Schenker, formerly of Athens, GA band Mishap, strolls a back country road on "It's Alright Now" while the band's vocal harmonies soar like the Eagles. "Lose Your Head" is a straight-ahead rocker that displays the band's north-south rock union. Bassist Jason Sarubbi shines on "Seize the Day", a jazzy kicker with blazing guitar leads by Warren Gold, and a tasteful soprano sax solo. Take a "Moment to Prepare" and be soothed by Schenker's laid-back vocals and Gold's finger-picking perfection. Their songs may sway like summer hay, but these boys can still rock you like a sunburn. Let your rebel yell when The Trapps headline the post-fireworks concert at Ulster County fairgrounds on July 4 at 8:30PM. CDs will soon be available at www.thetrappsband.com. - Chronogram

Hometown appeal
by Anne Pyburn

Sean Schenker's first music teacher was a gentleman friend of his grandmother's. "He was a serious jazz man, and I was in seventh grade," Schenker recalls. "I don't know if I was his ideal student -- he was teaching me all this intricate stuff, and all I wanted to know was how to sound like Jimi Hendrix." Be that as it may, it was the beginning of a journey that's led Schenker full circle -- from his hometown of New Paltz to Georgia, where he and another New Paltzian toured their band, Mishap, and attained some success. "We had those hard-scrabble, living on crusts of nothing times, and eventually we sold out thousand-seat venues," Schenker recalls with pride. "I learned a lot about promotion, a lot about organizing."
When Mishap disbanded, so to speak, Schenker and his bride -- high school sweetheart Meghan, nee Schneider -- relocated to New York City. It wasn't long past 9/11; the mood in the Big Apple was strained, but at least they were closer to their Ulster County roots.
"The city scene is flooded with mercenary musicians," Schenker observes. "Up here, things are much more organic."
And it was indeed in the fertile Hudson Valley soil that Schenker's music began subtly to grow again. Brother-in-law Warren Gold played some guitar, so the two began teaming up for acoustic gigs. One night, a drummer asked if he could get together with them and jam. The drummer turned out to be Paul Carroll, holder of a Ph.D. in classical music and alumni of the Carnegie Hall orchestra pit, himself seeking musical rejuvenation.
"Sometimes you reach a point when you feel like the best is behind you," observes Carroll, who drummed in the orchestra for The Lion King. "Then you turn a corner and there's open space ahead.Playing with these guys makes me feel like I'm 18 again."
Needing a bassist to deepen their sound, Schenker put an online ad on a music website. Within half an hour, he received a response from Colorado -- from, of all people, childhood buddy Jason Sarubbi, himself a polished musician whose resume‚ includes teaching jazz at the New School in Manhattan. Thus began The Trapps -- and several months later, they're ready to take it out of Schenker's parents' basement and straight to your heart.
Basement rehearsals might not be every parent's dream, but Mom -- Stacy Schenker -- couldn't be happier. "Coming up through the sixties, music was so central," she says. "And then to see your own child up there, moving people, with that passion in his eyes -- when something puts that kind of look in your eye, that's what you're supposed to be doing," she says. "I went on tour with Mishap a couple of times and had a blast. This is developing into something even more exciting, right under my feet."
"They have to take all the pictures off the walls downstairs, so they don't rattle right off," notes Meghan. As the band tunes up, assorted people -- Sarrubi's parents, Schenker's brother and sister-in-law, Carroll's wife -- gather in the basement to enjoy.
This is no hard-living, decadent bunch of rock-n-roll outlaws; all are in their thirties, and between them they have six children. But when they give each other the nod and break into the opening chords of one of Schenker's original rock tunes, when the bass and drum kick in behind the guitars, the rich, smooth sound goes straight to the heart and regions south in the immortal manner of the best.
Schenker names Tom Petty and Neil Young as influences. The band holds true to those classic roots, all melody and power, never slipping into the whiny, minor key dragginess that gets so exasperating in what has passed as rock for much of the past 15 years.
Gathered in this basement, we are watching the beginning of something exquisite and adventuresome. "I never had this chance before, to work with people of this caliber," says Schenker. "Mishap was great while it lasted, I learned a lot -- but these guys have the technical skills to translate my vision and emotion into music."
"You guys just look like you're having fun," observes someone, along about the third tune. That's because they are. "We're rollin,' man," remarks Sarubbi almost under his breath. Sean and his mom exchange a proud grin. Stacy is singing along, bouncing like a teenybopper. "You know all the words," somebody teases her. "That's nothing, so do all the neighbors by now," she laughs, as her son introduces the next tune: This is called Therapy, he says. I'll let you all decide for yourselves what that means. We catch a flash of the practiced showman that this unassuming soul with the red-blonde ponytail will present to the crowd in a week. Performing with Mishap, Schenker rarely had the chance to sing; hearing his passionate delivery, one is inclined to agree with Stacy and Meghan: It's high time he started.
The band rollicks through a faithful but hardly slavish cover of Tom Petty's You're So Bad, then segues into another original. "This," remarks Carroll's wife, "is the one he's gonna be famous for." "No," says Meghan, "he's gonna be famous for all of them."
Although their common love of New Paltz and environs will probably always bring them back -- just as Orleans has never deserted its Woodstock roots -- why wait around? Come out to the New Paltz Public House, a mile or two out on Huguenot Street at the golf course, and you'll be able to say you were there when The Trapps were newborn, bearers of a proud legacy of creativity. "This town is so arts-driven, I always felt like I had enormous support," Schenker says. "I'm psyched to give it back, make people smile and maybe dance in the Hudson Valley. People need it."
Amen to that. See you at the Public House at 10 p.m, Saturday, June 7. - New Paltz Times

BLOOD ON OUR HANDS
has been officially selected as one of the top protest songs of the times on Neil Young's "Living With War site".

Check it out at: www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html - www.neilyoung.com

The Trapps "Good Luck or Goodbye" Chosen as #6 of the Top Ten Albums of 2006 by John Barry of the Poughkeepsie Journal

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200761229033 - The Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)

THE TRAPPS "GOOD LUCK OR GOODBYE" CHOSEN IN BEST ALBUMS OF 2006
*Chosen as #13 of the Top 25 Albums of 2006 by 100.1 WDST*

http://www.wdst.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.wdst.com/playlist.asp - www.wdst.com 100.1FM- WDST

Elmore Magazine – “Saving American Music”
March/April Issue 2007

The Trapps – Good luck or Goodbye? (Self-released)

On their first full CD release, Good Luck or Goodbye?, The Trapps show a diversity of styles held together by Sean Schenker’s writing and vocals. Primarily a rock band, their first cut, “History,” begins with a soothing Native American flute sounds and evolves into a guitar-based jam. Lyrically, there’s both hope and despair as they retell an American history saga. Their sound derives from the southern bluesy tradition of bands like the Black Crowes. Sean’s vocals remind me somewhat of Roger Daltry’s singing, but is no copy.
“Alright Now,” the first radio single (“resonate your radiance and capture that somehow”), has a 90’s Gin Blossoms appeal. “Blood on our Hands” expresses their political bent and has been listed among the top protest songs of all time. A folk ballad with words like “Give me a sign/Send me an SOS/There’s blood on our hands and we can’t go on like this” and “Isolation’s deadly if you can’t see you’re alone”, along with stunning guitar work, help prove the power of music to convey their thoughts.
Good Luck or Goodbye? Is a thoughtful album that combines music and words consistently. While most of the songs from this New Paltz, NY, group are well-crafted, “Count Your Blessings” opens up their louder side and shows that they can rock hard. Think “Synchronicity.” “Disappear,” tells a story of searching (“I asked the kitchen/Tell me the truth/They kept on mixing/They kept on mixing the stew”) with a definite Beatles feel emanating throughout. And don’t miss the great power ballad “Dream.”
The Trapps have recorded a debut CD that shouldn’t be overlooked.
- Gene Knapp - Elmore Magazine

THE TRAPPS "GOOD LUCK OR GOODBYE" CHOSEN IN BEST ALBUMS OF 2006
*Chosen as #13 of the Top 25 Albums of 2006 by 100.1 WDST*

http://www.wdst.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.wdst.com/playlist.asp - www.wdst.com 100.1FM- WDST

The Trapps "Good Luck or Goodbye" Chosen as #6 of the Top Ten Albums of 2006 by John Barry of the Poughkeepsie Journal

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200761229033 - The Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)

BLOOD ON OUR HANDS
has been officially selected as one of the top protest songs of the times on Neil Young's "Living With War site".

Check it out at: www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html - www.neilyoung.com

Hometown appeal
by Anne Pyburn

Sean Schenker's first music teacher was a gentleman friend of his grandmother's. "He was a serious jazz man, and I was in seventh grade," Schenker recalls. "I don't know if I was his ideal student -- he was teaching me all this intricate stuff, and all I wanted to know was how to sound like Jimi Hendrix." Be that as it may, it was the beginning of a journey that's led Schenker full circle -- from his hometown of New Paltz to Georgia, where he and another New Paltzian toured their band, Mishap, and attained some success. "We had those hard-scrabble, living on crusts of nothing times, and eventually we sold out thousand-seat venues," Schenker recalls with pride. "I learned a lot about promotion, a lot about organizing."
When Mishap disbanded, so to speak, Schenker and his bride -- high school sweetheart Meghan, nee Schneider -- relocated to New York City. It wasn't long past 9/11; the mood in the Big Apple was strained, but at least they were closer to their Ulster County roots.
"The city scene is flooded with mercenary musicians," Schenker observes. "Up here, things are much more organic."
And it was indeed in the fertile Hudson Valley soil that Schenker's music began subtly to grow again. Brother-in-law Warren Gold played some guitar, so the two began teaming up for acoustic gigs. One night, a drummer asked if he could get together with them and jam. The drummer turned out to be Paul Carroll, holder of a Ph.D. in classical music and alumni of the Carnegie Hall orchestra pit, himself seeking musical rejuvenation.
"Sometimes you reach a point when you feel like the best is behind you," observes Carroll, who drummed in the orchestra for The Lion King. "Then you turn a corner and there's open space ahead.Playing with these guys makes me feel like I'm 18 again."
Needing a bassist to deepen their sound, Schenker put an online ad on a music website. Within half an hour, he received a response from Colorado -- from, of all people, childhood buddy Jason Sarubbi, himself a polished musician whose resume‚ includes teaching jazz at the New School in Manhattan. Thus began The Trapps -- and several months later, they're ready to take it out of Schenker's parents' basement and straight to your heart.
Basement rehearsals might not be every parent's dream, but Mom -- Stacy Schenker -- couldn't be happier. "Coming up through the sixties, music was so central," she says. "And then to see your own child up there, moving people, with that passion in his eyes -- when something puts that kind of look in your eye, that's what you're supposed to be doing," she says. "I went on tour with Mishap a couple of times and had a blast. This is developing into something even more exciting, right under my feet."
"They have to take all the pictures off the walls downstairs, so they don't rattle right off," notes Meghan. As the band tunes up, assorted people -- Sarrubi's parents, Schenker's brother and sister-in-law, Carroll's wife -- gather in the basement to enjoy.
This is no hard-living, decadent bunch of rock-n-roll outlaws; all are in their thirties, and between them they have six children. But when they give each other the nod and break into the opening chords of one of Schenker's original rock tunes, when the bass and drum kick in behind the guitars, the rich, smooth sound goes straight to the heart and regions south in the immortal manner of the best.
Schenker names Tom Petty and Neil Young as influences. The band holds true to those classic roots, all melody and power, never slipping into the whiny, minor key dragginess that gets so exasperating in what has passed as rock for much of the past 15 years.
Gathered in this basement, we are watching the beginning of something exquisite and adventuresome. "I never had this chance before, to work with people of this caliber," says Schenker. "Mishap was great while it lasted, I learned a lot -- but these guys have the technical skills to translate my vision and emotion into music."
"You guys just look like you're having fun," observes someone, along about the third tune. That's because they are. "We're rollin,' man," remarks Sarubbi almost under his breath. Sean and his mom exchange a proud grin. Stacy is singing along, bouncing like a teenybopper. "You know all the words," somebody teases her. "That's nothing, so do all the neighbors by now," she laughs, as her son introduces the next tune: This is called Therapy, he says. I'll let you all decide for yourselves what that means. We catch a flash of the practiced showman that this unassuming soul with the red-blonde ponytail will present to the crowd in a week. Performing with Mishap, Schenker rarely had the chance to sing; hearing his passionate delivery, one is inclined to agree with Stacy and Meghan: It's high time he started.
The band rollicks through a faithful but hardly slavish cover of Tom Petty's You're So Bad, then segues into another original. "This," remarks Carroll's wife, "is the one he's gonna be famous for." "No," says Meghan, "he's gonna be famous for all of them."
Although their common love of New Paltz and environs will probably always bring them back -- just as Orleans has never deserted its Woodstock roots -- why wait around? Come out to the New Paltz Public House, a mile or two out on Huguenot Street at the golf course, and you'll be able to say you were there when The Trapps were newborn, bearers of a proud legacy of creativity. "This town is so arts-driven, I always felt like I had enormous support," Schenker says. "I'm psyched to give it back, make people smile and maybe dance in the Hudson Valley. People need it."
Amen to that. See you at the Public House at 10 p.m, Saturday, June 7.
- New Paltz Times

Hudson Valley bands often fall into the jam-trap, indulging in long extended solos in lieu of originality or clever songwriting. Avoiding this pitfall are The Trapps, a tight quartet of schooled players with a rock edge. On their eponymous debut EP, The Trapps present well-crafted, four-minute songs that break the cycle of jam-adelica. Lead singer/guitarist Sean Schenker, formerly of Athens, GA band Mishap, strolls a back country road on "It's Alright Now" while the band's vocal harmonies soar like the Eagles. "Lose Your Head" is a straight-ahead rocker that displays the band's north-south rock union. Bassist Jason Sarubbi shines on "Seize the Day", a jazzy kicker with blazing guitar leads by Warren Gold, and a tasteful soprano sax solo. Take a "Moment to Prepare" and be soothed by Schenker's laid-back vocals and Gold's finger-picking perfection. Their songs may sway like summer hay, but these boys can still rock you like a sunburn. Let your rebel yell when The Trapps headline the post-fireworks concert at Ulster County fairgrounds on July 4 at 8:30PM. CDs will soon be available at www.thetrappsband.com. - Chronogram

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/entertainment/toptenpicks.shtml - Poughkeepsie Journal

Elmore Magazine – “Saving American Music”
March/April Issue 2007

The Trapps – Good luck or Goodbye? (Self-released)

On their first full CD release, Good Luck or Goodbye?, The Trapps show a diversity of styles held together by Sean Schenker’s writing and vocals. Primarily a rock band, their first cut, “History,” begins with a soothing Native American flute sounds and evolves into a guitar-based jam. Lyrically, there’s both hope and despair as they retell an American history saga. Their sound derives from the southern bluesy tradition of bands like the Black Crowes. Sean’s vocals remind me somewhat of Roger Daltry’s singing, but is no copy.
“Alright Now,” the first radio single (“resonate your radiance and capture that somehow”), has a 90’s Gin Blossoms appeal. “Blood on our Hands” expresses their political bent and has been listed among the top protest songs of all time. A folk ballad with words like “Give me a sign/Send me an SOS/There’s blood on our hands and we can’t go on like this” and “Isolation’s deadly if you can’t see you’re alone”, along with stunning guitar work, help prove the power of music to convey their thoughts.
Good Luck or Goodbye? Is a thoughtful album that combines music and words consistently. While most of the songs from this New Paltz, NY, group are well-crafted, “Count Your Blessings” opens up their louder side and shows that they can rock hard. Think “Synchronicity.” “Disappear,” tells a story of searching (“I asked the kitchen/Tell me the truth/They kept on mixing/They kept on mixing the stew”) with a definite Beatles feel emanating throughout. And don’t miss the great power ballad “Dream.”
The Trapps have recorded a debut CD that shouldn’t be overlooked.
- Gene Knapp
- Elmore Magazine