Book Signing with That Metal Show's Eddie Trunk

Me and Eddie Trunk

This past Saturday, I had the chance to meet Eddie Trunk for the second time. Who’s Eddie Trunk? Eddie’s been waving the flag for hard rock music for over 30 years! He’s currently the host of That Metal Show on VH1 Classic (with Jim Florentine and Don Jamison) and two weekly radio shows. While a fan and supporter of countless bands and the rock music industry, he’s not shy about criticizing things he disagrees with…namely the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sharon Osbourne and KISS’s decision to use the face paint likenesses of Peter Criss and Ace Frehley instead of creating new personas for Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.

Me and Eddie at Ripper's Taphouse in 2011

Trunk is currently on a book signing tour for his second book, Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Volume II. (Order the book here) He came out to Loganberry Books in Shaker Hts. For Volume I of his book, he came to what was then Ripper Owen’s Taphouse in Akron for a night of comedy (with Don Jamison and others) and music (with Ripper Owen’s and others). This time around, it was just him and much more laid back. He spoke for about 40 minutes giving us the background on writing his first book and the subsequent Volume II. He left open the possibility of a Volume III and his desire to eventually write his autobiography (when he no longer needs to work so he can tell the stories he wants to tell!). His first two books are listings of some of his favorite bands. But, instead of a straight biography of the band, he tells his personal stories and includes his own photos.

He took questions from us that ran the gamut of the Rock Hall bias against KISS to Jon Bon Jovi’s ability to transition the band from  their success in the ‘80’s to their continued mega-success (with the caveat of what happens now that Richie Sambora isn’t with the band). Of course, I had to ask him a question. I didn’t want to ask a “Stump the Trunk” question or just a “what happened to ‘insert name of band’”. But, what better to ask him about than one of my other passions – content marketing and social media. I asked him how he and bands are using social media and digital tools to help promote their projects and the benefits. Below is the video of his answer.

After the Q&A, he began the actual signing. He continued answering questions and telling stories as we made our way through the line. Overall, he was genuinely happy that we would come out to buy his book and support him. He’s an incredibly nice guy that has so many stories, that it only makes sense that he begin to release books. I can’t wait to read it!

Thanks for reading, and as always, if you like it, please share it. If you’ve got any stories or experiences with your favorite bands, authors, artists, etc., please share below! I’d love to hear about them.