CONTACT: Jim Trainer: 512-203-6288, jamesmichaeltrainer@gmail.com
Austin Poet and Singer/Songwriter Jim Trainer Releases His First Full Length Poetry Collection
January 20, 2013, Austin, TX:
I don’t know why
but
between trouble&the Blues
we’re expected to function this way
some small window
this
some real gamble
this.
we may have
our
day in the sun
and
we may ride high
atop
some fearless Nights
but
we will have to come back down
and
we will have to hash it out
here
between trouble&the Blues.
-from “between trouble&the Blues” by Jim Trainer
January 20, 2013, Austin, TX:
Jim Trainer will read from his debut poetry collection, Farewell to Armor, on February 1. The book release party will also feature Julie Gillis.
Jim Trainer is a communicator. Growing up in the hardcore punk scene of the early ’90s taught him everything he needed to know about real work. Trainer put in the work, playing a vivid mix of blues, folk and roots rock up and down the east coast in venues, bars, house concerts, and coffee shops.
It garnered him a following and Trainer quickly became known for an intense style that rode the artistic fine balance of romantic longing and unexpected social commentary. Trainer also read his poetry out extensively across the country. One of the readings led to his first full-length collection of poetry, Farewell to Armor, being published by Philadelphia press WragsInk.
For Farewell to Armor, Trainer took inspiration from a Bukowski biography, learning that the great poet didn’t start writing poetry until he was 35. That’s when he really got serious about getting the words down, on a President XII manual typewriter he bought for $17.
“I devoted myself to the simple line,” says Trainer, who now resides in Austin, Texas, and plays a regular rotation of music and poetry here.
“I remember mornings coming off a graveyard shift, just beat-to-hell tired, pulling into the Shell, getting a quart of beer and heading home where I’d type and drink into the 8-9-10 a.m. hours. Looking back, I think I was forging a new language for myself. I had to get those lines down simple, and quick, because I was working three jobs. It was my only release. Writing has always been a means of survival for me.”
He’s carried the torch for independent media, broadcasting as one of the early voices of Radio Volta 88.1FM while writing for the Philadelphia IMC’s wire in the early ’00s. He currently serves as contributor, editor and curator of Going For The Throat, a semi-daily publication of cynicism, outrage, correspondence and romance.
Julie Gillis: Producer, Performer and Activist Julie Gillis is perhaps better known as ¼ of the hostess/curators of Bedpost Confessions, a monthly performance of “Salacious Stories and Enticing Entertainment” about the steamy side of life. Julie is also a contributing writer to The Good Men Project, Good Vibes Blog, The Austin Chronicle, Gay Place Blog, elephant journal and Persephone Magazine. She is an active proponent of Sex Positive Activism and believes in the power of community.
For more information about the book release party, or Farewell to Armor, please contact Jim Trainer: jamesmichaeltrainer@gmail.com, 512-203-6288.
Farewell to Armor Book Release&Reading
with Jim Trainer
and featuring Julie Gillis of Bedpost Confessions
Friday February 1
at the Fox Den
709 Rio Grande Street
Austin, TX 78701
8pm
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Going for the Throat 