"This weekend, thousands of frat bros will leave the sleepy college town of Gainesville, Florida, while a comparable number of street punks, deep-pocketed music fans, and various riff-raff flood its streets. It's a bizarre Halloween switcheroo that happens because the University of Florida Gators happen to take on their rivals in a recurring out-of-town football game that takes place at the same time as a giant punk rock festival known as the Fest kicks off. The few hours when the jocks and their Southern belle counterparts collide with the influx of train-hoppers is always glorious. Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music , [released this week,] explores how the place that produced people like Tom Petty, Stephen Stills, and John Vanderslice went on to incubate talents like Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! and Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music." Vice Magazine "A little more punk history will be coming to FEST during its "Flea Market" that pops up during registration time on Friday. Matt Walker will be set up to debut his book "Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music." The Arcadia Publishing website previews the book by saying that "Gainesville became a creative hub in the 1980s and '90s for many of punk rock's greats."" Gainesville Sun "On Saturday, The Atlantic will host a book release party for "Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands & Music," a book by Matt Walker, a Gainesville resident and communications specialist with UF Human Resource Services.
His book follows the history of several classic Gainesville bands. Notable mentions include Roach Motel and Spoke. In "Gainesville Punk," Walker interviews members from a lot of big acts that got their start in Gainesville. "I got to interview some people from Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me!" Walker said. "But I also got to talk to a lot of bands who are smaller and currently living in Gainesville. The primary source material for the book was talking directly to musicians."" The Independent Florida Alligator "Matthew Walker doesn't miss a thing with Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music. The book is an all-killer-no-filler telling of how Gainesville, Florida's thriving punk scene grew up and evolved to national prominence over the course of three decades from the early 1980s to the present.
" theonlyfredsmith.com.