Trevor Beld Jimenez

In addition to his like-minded solo material, California's Trevor Beld Jimenez is known for the warm, summery folk-rock and alternative country-rock of bands including Franklin for Short, Tall Tales & the Silver Lining, and Parting Lines. After releasing five albums as bassist and co-vocalist of Franklin for Short, culminating in 2010's Dark Cloud, he concentrated on Tall Tales & the Silver Lining, who issued their second album, Fall In, that same year. Tall Tales' seventh studio LP, Tightropes, saw release in 2015 before Beld Jimenez teamed up with bandmate Tim Ramsey to deliver 2018's See You on the Other Side under the moniker Parting Lines. His solo debut, I Like It Here, followed in 2020 and included contributions from Ramsey, Fruit Bats' Eric D. Johnson, and singer Kacey Johansing, among others. Trevor Beld Jimenez (bass/vocals) co-founded Franklin for Short with Seth Pettersen (vocals/guitar) in Ventura in 2001, playing their first show at a café open mike. They recorded their first songs, which were penned by Pettersen, in early 2002, releasing the EP Wildcat on Stereo Tyke later in the year. Two albums followed in 2004: In the Dark (Stereo Tyke) and Lovesick Mistress (Blackbird Music). A fourth long-player, The Gift Curse, appeared on Blackbird in 2005. By the arrival of 2008's Swell, the lineup included Pettersen, Beld Jimenez, lead guitarist Bryan Russell, and drummer Brian Granillo. That year, the Beld Jimenez-fronted project Tall Tales & the Silver Lining released their full-length debut, The Understanding, on Beehouse Records. In 2010, they followed up with Fall In, also on Beehouse, and Franklin for Short issued the self-released Dark Cloud before going on hiatus. Featuring a rotating lineup of musicians (including his wife, Tania), Tall Tales & the Silver Lining released Nice to Meet You Again in June 2011. Beld Jimenez then conducted a distribution experiment, releasing four seasonal EPs beginning in mid-2011, each with a single, and each recorded at a different studio in the Los Angeles area. 2012 saw the songwriter release Unknown Futures, Pt. 1, which consisted of self-recorded demos written over the prior year-and-a-half, as well as fifth full-length Short Songs and, finally, in December, a 12-track Tall Tales eponymous album that collected the seasonal releases from 2011 and 2012. The latter was his first release on Rocketship Records. In the meantime, the band compiled a concert résumé that included West Coast shows in support of the likes of Langhorne Slim, Blitzen Trapper, Dawes, and Kurt Vile. An EP titled Besides came out in early 2014, and later that year, Tall Tales & the Silver Lining made their New York City debut at the CMJ Showcase. A seventh full-length, Tightropes, arrived in early 2015 on the Other Music Recording Company label. Beld Jimenez secured regular work as a sideman during this time, joining GospelbeacH and backing acts like Vetiver and Little Wings alongside Tall Tales bandmate Tim Ramsey. Calling themselves Parting Lines, the two released an album, See You on the Other Side, in 2018. That year, Franklin for Short reconvened for the Tree EP. When Beld Jimenez returned with an album's worth of material in late 2020, it would mark his debut under his own name. Issued on Curation Records, I Like It Here featured over a dozen guests, including members of GospelbeacH, Mapache, and Fruit Bats. ~ Marcy Donelson