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James Gillen "Catfish Jim" is the founder of Tales from a Small Planet.
As a professional storyteller for over 30 years, Jim has been delighting audiences with his tales of Native America, the Old
West, the animal kingdom, Africa and the Celtic peoples. He has traveled all over North America and Europe, appearing on numerous
television programs including the Today Show, Good Day New York, and the BBC. In delivering his program, Jim uses flutes,
drums, sax, percussion and tin whistles. His programs are custom designed for all ages and all occasions.
The Catfish
Cafe was created to further continue Jim's passion for audience participation entertainment. This collaboration of musical
talents, storytellers, poets, drummers, and other characters get together to perform at various venues. Jim also uses his
storytelling abilities to give presentations on substance abuse and tobacco prevention in schools and other facilities. Additionally,
an experiment using musical therapy to help people recovering from addictions tap into the creative energy within has blossomed
into an ever-expanding group of musicians, singers and drummers. They are known as the Recovery All-Stars. This group has
appeared as part of the Catfish Café, which has included performances at First Night, State and Regional Recovery Festivals,
Schools, Community Events and is the "House Band" on WJAR-NBC 10 Comedy "Rhode Bytes"
The state of
Rhode Island's Division of Substance Abuse presented Jim with the 2003 Counselor of the Year Award. He is also a Licensed
Chemical Dependency Professional (LCDP) & Certified Criminal Justice Professional (ccjp) in the State of Rhode Island.
In March of 2006 Jim was named recipient of the prestigious JEFFERSON AWARD for RI for outstanding service to the community
as well as in the December 2006 Yankee Magazine "Angels Among Us". September 2008, Jim was awarded a Congressional
Citation for his service to the community. 2009 Jim was chosen RI Recovery Advocate of the year.In September Jim was invited
to speak at the SAMHSA National Recovery Month Press Conference. He was also profiled on WPRI-TV "Street Stories"
and is profiled in the November 2009 SAMHSA Online Newsletter. Jim is also a member of The League for the Advancement of New
England Storytelling
For booking information for “Tales From a Small Planet” e-mail: planetcatfish@cox.net
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