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Saturday, September 20, 2025

The Avenue | Music

Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Q&A: Sitting down with local punk band Southpaw

Southpaw is a band relatively new to Gainesville’s music scene, releasing its first demo record this month. The emo/punk band, with Joshua Galarneau on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, Jason Hubner on lead guitar, Bo Coker on bass/backing vocals and Kenneth Noble on drums, will play the Hardback Cafe on July 16 to debut the demo. I sat down with Galarneau to talk about the band’s start and its increasing success.


THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Q&A: Danny Pynes

Danny Pynes, born and raised in Gainesville, has been a fixture on the local hip-hop scene for many years. After years of working and cultivating his sound, Pynes hit it big, touring around the country and gaining fans around the world. I sat down with him to talk about his Gainesville roots and making it to the big stage.


THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Q&A: Boyfriend Material

Boyfriend Material, a Gainesville band signed to Community Records, just released its first self-titled extended play and has become quite popular on the local music scene. Frontwoman Shauna Marie Healey, who sings, plays guitar and ukulele, was a solo artist for several years before recently adding Chris Chaires, Rob Paradise and Robert Carter to the group. I sat down with her to talk about the band’s start and expansion into their EP.


Gainesville band Duppies has been a staple on the local music scene for more than a decade. The band has toured up and down the East Coast, but the group still regularly plays shows around town.
THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Q&A: Duppies

Over the last decade, Duppies has become a staple band on the Gainesville music scene. The band has long played at venues all over town and has even taken their show on the road up and down the East Coast. I sat down with lead vocalist and percussionist Brian Hiebel to talk the band’s start and success.


THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Q&A: Sitting down with Jason Small of Former Planets

Former Planets, a Gainesville-based rock band made up of Jason Small (lead vocals), Evan Johnson (guitar and vocals), Korkut Genc (bass) and Brook Stermer (drums), have been making music around town for the last two years. I sat down with Small before the band’s Friday night show at the Hardback Cafe, located at 211 W. University Ave.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Off the Record: New hip-hop releases from this year

We’re almost halfway through 2016, and this year has already been a better year for music than the last. Some of today’s biggest artists, including Kanye West, Beyonce and Drake, have released albums this year, but some of the best projects released have been from artists with less star power. It’s time to catch you up on some of the latest and hottest releases.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Drake delivers with ‘Views,’ a potential Album of the Year

When Drake released “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” in February 2015, it felt like something was missing. To me, it sounded like Drake wasn’t trying at times, and the project really did feel like more of a mixtape than an album-quality project. To be clear, I still think that “IYRTITL” was very good; after all, Drake is one of the few artists that can’t miss. The scary part is, while “IYRTITL” was good, we all knew Drake could do better.



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