I want to believe that every town has one of these bands. They are the best band around, nobody outside of their tight circle knows about them, all it takes is somebody putting the music in front of your ears, and you will want to hear everything they ever wrote. When this album (finally) came out, It was hard explaining them to people that never saw them perform. How do you explain a ten year old inside joke via a music website? Here’s Mike Collins on Gainesville, Florida’s Hello Shitty People: One of the best bands around, from 2000. Continue reading
Interview with Travis Fristoe, co-author of Radon
Earlier this year, Travis Fristoe and Aaron Cometbus released Radon – a book that offers a local take on the popular 33 1/3 book series about popular albums, with two extended essays on what else – Radon. The authors delve into their first experiences hearing the influential Gainesville band’s music and what it means to them today. It’s a fun read that pulls apart some of Radon’s lyrics and adds context to their active days of playing shows in Gainesville. I sat down with Travis a while back to chat about the book and about Radon. We talked about everything else as well, so this interview has been edited down a bit for length and staying-on-topicness. You can pick up a copy of Radon at No Idea Records or look for it in independent book stores.
Radon is playing at Boca Fiesta this Saturday. It’s a benefit to help cover costs associated with heart surgery for drummer Bill Clower’s daughter. Not to be missed! You can read more and donate here. Continue reading
Posted in Featured, Interviews, News, Uncategorized
Tagged Gainesville music, Radon, Travis Fristoe
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The Top Shelf Presents: One Reason – All Rivers Run South, All Roads Lead Home
Carved from the raw substance of central Mississippi, One Reason was a sound like no other. One Reason was a perfect example of “punk-minded” youngsters living in a vacuum, open to any and everything that lead them away from the norm. Their desire to escape the confines of a small town channelled into the hospitality they gave to traveling bands.
This record is proof of the viability of the DIY ethic. CREATE + Be Nice To Strangers = Lasting Legacy.
It helps when the songs are really, really good. Continue reading
RIP Jeff Hanneman
IT JUST GOT LOUDER IN HELL
JEFF HANNEMAN 1964-2013
Dear Jeff,
Not sure why I’m writing you. Your death is a shock. I knew you were too sick to shred up to the high standards you set for Slayer. A rotten spider got a hold of your arm a couple years ago. That could happen to me, or anyone else that can hold a musical instrument. You didn’t perform the last time I saw Slayer. There was a fill-in to cover up for you while you healed. I was stoked to hear your band play, your songs sounded great. I was excited to see this novelty of “Slayer without Jeff .” Turns out the novelty became reality earlier today. Slayer without Jeff. Planet Earth without Jeff. Damn. Continue reading
Band Roulette sign up tonight at Boca Fiesta
The drawing for Boca Fiesta‘s third Band Roulette is tonight. Get in there! The show will be on May 25.
From Boca’s Facebook event page:
“Duh, we’ve done this before. You come to the bar, put your name in a hat, and we pull names out and put you in a band together. With your new band you write two original songs and pick one cover, and then we all play a show together. It’s fun and very low pressure, but we do pick a winner. Drawing is at Midnight, so come early to put your name in and stay to meet your new band mates.”
Dick Dale playing High Dive Wednesday 4/17 with Waylon Thornton, Young Hookers
Tomorrow night, guitar legend and surf-rock pioneer Dick Dale returns to High Dive. Even at 75 years old he still puts on quite a show. And he’ll be in good company as Waylon Thornton and the Heavy Hands – one of Gainesville’s most consistently awesome groups – opens the show along with Young Hookers.
Tickets available at Hear Again Music, High Dive or purchase online. Continue reading
Posted in Featured, News, Slideshow
Tagged Dick Dale, High Dive, Waylon Thornton, Young Hookers
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Floor returns to Gainesville (4/14)
This Sunday, the amazing and beautifully brutal Floor will bomb your guts out and make your ears ring for days at The Atlantic for only $10. The reunited/long-running Florida doominators (who will be releasing their first new album in more than 10 years in the near future) are playing with Thrones (ex-Melvins, Earth, Sunn0)), High On Fire), Rose Cross and Radiation.
Tickets available at the door, or buy them online. Continue reading
The Top Shelf Presents: 7 Seconds – The Crew
On my 18th birthday I was a freshman at the University of Florida. That morning I walked from Simpson Hall to some intro class at Turlington Hall. My walkman was blaring a 90 minute cassette that included The Crew. With poetic timing, the tape died, as cassettes with years of use will do. I spent the remainder of that walk to class pondering youth and adulthood. This interview was conducted 18 years and 6 weeks after that cassette died. Continue reading Read a poem from Ale Gasso’s book, Long Night Out, available now
Ale Gasso has been a frequent contributor of prose to Lead Us Down over the past couple of years, but she is first and foremost a poet. Her latest book, Long Night Out, is available now at Amazon. You should go buy it. Like the title suggests, her poems capture the essence of those long Gainesville nights spent downtown in smoky bars, listening to music and hanging with friends, or relaxing on a front porch in the damp night air.
I like to think reading these poems are kind of like going out in Gainesville without leaving the house. And added bonus – no hangover.
Below is “Phantom Beers,” the first poem in the collection and one of my favorites. Continue reading
America’s Funnyman Neil Hamburger coming to High Dive
This Saturday, America’s Funnyman Neil Hamburger will bring his depressing, poorly timed and wildly unfunny comedy to High Dive. Hamburger is quite possibly the worst comedian ever…which actually makes him one of the best. Although it’s all just an act, there are always some folks in the crowd who don’t quite get it, which is where Hamburger thrives. The awkward silences, the looong set-ups and cheesy, sometimes acrid, punchlines are something to behold. In reality, it’s some of the best scathing, satirical anti-comedy out there. Continue reading