In the final episode of the Fitchburg Your Story series, Daniel Somers explores Persistence of Underground Music in Fitchburg through the city's and Fitchburg State's storied history as a punk rock and underground music way station.
Underground music of all genres has been present throughout the past several decades -- with Fitchburg State hosting storied acts from the indie/punk scene like Fugazi, The Breeders, Melvins, and Quick Sand. Fitchburg State's radio station, WXPL (93.3 FM) has also played a role in hosting underground music acts like Horsejumper of Love, Debt of Love, Prince Daddy and the Hyena, Origami Angel, and Pile.
Daniel explores some contextual history of the underground music in Fitchburg, along with some other connections that go beyond the Burg's borders -- as well as the state of music in Fitchburg presently and the evolution of WXPL on campus.
Daniel is a junior English Studies major with a concentration in Literature and a minor in History.
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Episodes in this series were produced and edited by the students in Professor Kisha Tracy's Storytelling and the Oral Tradition course (ENGL 2890) in the Spring 2025 semester.
"Saxifrage" is the Fitchburg Your Story theme music. Music by Prof. Robin Dinda, Text by Prof. DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld. Performed by Fitchburg State University Choirs with Alanna Rantala (piano) and Prof. Jonathan Harvey (conductor).
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Episode transcript here.
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Additional mixing and mastering by members of the Perseverantia staff.
Click here to learn more about Perseverantia. Join us for programming updates on Instagram. Or reach out with ideas or suggestions at podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu.
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