Scott Stapp. You know the name. He’s a songwriter, world renowned vocalist for Creed, successful solo
artist and he can now add actor to his resume. As a fan of Scott in both Creed & his solo ventures, I was
really excited about this release.
Just shy of 10 minutes, Stapp’s 3rd single Deadman’s Trigger, from his latest solo venture Higher Power
on Napalm Records, takes on a new life in Deadman’s Trigger: A Short Film, directed by Tyler Dunning
Evans and starring Scott alongside his son Anthony Stapp.
If you’re familiar with Stapp’s Christian upbringing and the struggles that came with it, the tone is not so
surprisingly set with an opening verse from the Book of Ezekiel splayed across the screen. “The son shall
not bear the guilt of the father” is immediately followed by images of Stapp struggling with flashbacks as
he kneels and prays in a dark room. The story takes off with a bang from there, no pun intended.
What follows is flashes of images of some unsavory characters, linking past and present together, and by
the beginning of Chapter 3, Stapp is in full badass mode, ditching his priest’s collar for his gunfighting
gear. Think a western John Wick, if you will, but apparently this isn’t the first time he’s had to bust out
his rifles. Stapp’s powerful lyrics and heavy guitars narrate the rest of the story, tying in the verse we
see at the beginning to the verse that appears at the end from the Book of Deuteronomy: “Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”.
The story runs through pretty quickly and doesn’t feel like you spent almost 10 minutes watching
everything unravel. I think I would have liked a little more back story on the bad guys to really hit it out
of the ballpark, but this was definitely a good start toward a new path in Stapp’s career.
Photo Credit: Photos Courtesy Napalm Records- For Promotional Purposes Only- All Rights Reserved