Lynne Kiesling
WOXY and I started up in Oxford, Ohio at the same time, 1983. Without WOXY my college life would have been miserable (OK, a little hyperbole, but just go with it); with WOXY, it was independent, fun, challenging, intense, at least in terms of the music I listened to. WOXY was the glue for several friendships (and was a good first-date evaluation question), and has continued to be my music mainstay to this day.
When I was in graduate school and would drive between Evanston, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio, I would intentionally take long gasoline and bathroom breaks on the part of the drive where I could get WOXY on the radio. I rejoiced when they started broadcasting over the Internet, and started getting fans from all over the world. When the money got tight and they went to a subscriber model, I signed up and paid dutifully every month. This station and this music has been a part of my life for 23 years, almost to the day.
Today is WOXY’s last day. And it’s an incredibly sad one for me. The tag line is “the future of rock ‘n roll”, which it will still be for me, even once it’s silent.
Apart from the sentimental history I have, where am I going to find good music?
UPDATE: Barb, one of the DJs, will start a show 9AM-noon on Minnesota Public Radio. I think it will be called The Current.