Andi Coulter publishes book on the band AFI The assistant professor of business administration recounts the history and impact of the band’s career.

By Lily Caldwell
January 21, 2025

Andi Coulter, assistant professor of business administration at Washington and Lee University, recently published a book covering the story of the San Francisco-based post-punk band AFI. The book is published by J-Card Press, an independent publishing company focused on producing biographies of the best alternative, indie rock and hip-hop groups of the past 20 to 30 years.

Coulter’s biography, “AFI,” covers the entire arc of the group’s 30-year career through a pop culture lens, including how they formed, why they are important and how their work fits into a larger historical context. The book explores AFI’s role in shaping online fan culture and its success in shifting to new genres while maintaining its fan base: a testament to their DIY roots.

“I sold my book to an independent publisher that was just starting their business,” said Coulter. “As a former music marketer, I wanted to market myself for an upstart rather than going with the institutionally large publishing company. At W&L, I teach a class on rogue marketing in the arts, and I felt it was time to put my money where my mouth was, testing out my own tactics.”

The book received praise from Pop Matters, an international magazine of cultural criticism and analysis, and became a No. 1 bestseller in music books on Amazon. Coulter starts her East Coast book tour in March in Washington, D.C.

Coulter is in her fourth year as a member of the faculty at W&L. She previously taught business and technical communications at Georgia Institute of Technology and Grand Valley State University. Before teaching, Coulter worked for 15 years in the music marketing industry and wrote a book for the 33 1/3 music book series on the New York underground band Suicide. Coulter earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Virginia, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. in English and musicology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

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