Savage Mountain Punk Arts

The history of punk mirrors the history of traditional Appalachian music: rebel music with a focus on working class concerns. Horror punk songs are just contemporary Murder Ballads with 50s monster movie seasonings. Old time music’s focus on community over proficiency mirrors much of punk’s focus on scene and simplicity.

Unfortunately, this history is slowly disappearing: people have moved out of the area, and others from the first generation of punk bands in Cumberland and Frostburg have passed away. We are working to build and maintain a timeline and archive of these bands, the zines, and music of the last forty-five years of regional punk rock. And in so doing, helping revive the scene with a new generation of punk venues and punk bands.

More, Savage Mountain Punk Arts is dedicated to the underground arts beyond music—from literature to visual arts, from fashion to film and video , we’re celebrating and cultivating a community of outsider artists from across Western Maryland and across the broader Appalachian region. By teaming up with the annual Appalachian Festival at Frostburg State University and regional Arts Walk programming, SMPA is committed to doing educational outreach on these topics.