Books for the Musician & Music History Buff in Your Life

Known for The Fest, Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music, Gainesville became a creative hub in the 1980s and '90s for many of punk rock's greats.

Whether playing at the Hardback or wild house parties, earnest acts like Against Me!, Spoke and Roach Motel all emerged and thrived in the small northern Florida city. Radon burst onto the scene with chaotic energy while Mutley Chix helped inspire local torchbearers No Idea Records. Through this succinct history, author Matt Walker traces each successive generation's contributions and amplifies the fidelity of the Gainesville scene.

When the Peerless Quartet wrote “Way Down On Tampa Bay” in 1914, Tampa Bay’s musical roots started growing.

Tampa Bay is where Ray Charles created his first song, Hank Ballard wrote and recorded “The Twist,” and the Rolling Stones cranked out their hit “Satisfaction.” Stephen Stills attended both Plant High School and Admiral Farragut Academy, and Jim Morrison studied at St.Petersburg Junior College. Ella Fitzgerald kicked off her career on the storied Central Avenue in Ybor City. Savatage, Stranger, Diamond Grey, the Outlaws, Bleeding Hearts, Blackkout, the Arena Twins, Tampa Red, and Cheeky Monkey are all artists who have made a huge impact both locally and nationally. From its rock ‘n’ roll boom in the 1960s to the birth of death metal in the 1980s ...Tampa Bay has had a rich musical history!

In this book, national recording artist Charlie Souza (the Tropics, Tom Petty’s Mudcrutch, and the New Rascals) and Keith Wilkins (longtime bay-area music columnist, concert promoter, and founder of the Tampa Bay Music Scene Historical Society) have compiled over 150 photographs and accompanying details in order to help preserve and honor Tampa Bay’s rich musical history and give the talented artists who comprise it the respect they rightfully deserve.