Goodbye woxy.com...I'll Miss You.

Recently, woxy.com announced that it would be going off the air after two years. I found this station about six months ago, and it has been a joy listening to music that would otherwise not be heard. I'd spread the word to all my friends and they became loyal listeners and/or supporters. But now, we must find other places to turn to for great, eclectic music. I am saddened by this turn of events, but completely understand why such a decision must be made.

Goodbye woxy.com. You will be sorely missed.

Below is a letter printed on their website to all their listeners and supporters.

Listeners, fans, and friends:

This sucks.

This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, it’s become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet "radio station" is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isn’t close to supporting what we’re doing. Even membership revenue wasn’t enough to get us there. When your business doesn’t make money, you eventually go out of business.

With this in mind, we’ve been looking for either a significant partner – someone with a larger plan into which woxy.com could be plugged – or an outright buyer. That search hasn’t been fruitful. We’re still willing to entertain offers and explore possibilities (email bryan@woxy.com), but our time is short. We thought it was time to share our situation with you ... to give you a heads-up.

You might be saying, "What can I do to help?" Unfortunately, unless you have significant investment capital and a way to profit from the wonderful programming we create, you can’t. As of today, we will no longer be selling or renewing memberships or accepting contributions. Please don’t send us money ... it will just mean we have to send it back to you.

Now is a good time to say THANK YOU to our incredibly patient, generous and kind angel investors. Without them ... well, we wouldn’t have had the chance to even be in the game. They’ve enabled everything we’ve accomplished over the past two years, and for that, they are saints to indie rock lovers everywhere.

We did investigate an alternative: stripping our operations to the absolute bare minimum by cutting back to one staffer, no more DJs, no more Lounge Acts, etc. We decided it wasn’t worth it. It wouldn’t have been true to what woxy.com is, and it wouldn’t have honored the legacy of 97X.

While woxy.com may have failed in a business sense, we’re pretty proud that we managed to put out some of the most passionate, unique and interesting programming on the Internet and elsewhere. We showered love and airplay on countless bands who otherwise would have received none, garnered national press attention and hosted nearly 200 live Lounge Act performances. Not too bad for a little, four-person Internet radio station from Cincinnati.

A radio station is only as big as its listeners make it. We’re not BS-ing when we say that you guys, our supporters, are the most amazing people on the planet. THANK YOU. The dedication and enthusiasm you’ve shown for what we do is staggering and inspiring. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to become a member, generously made a contribution, emailed (spammed) your friends, spread the gospel of woxy.com and – most of all – listened.

Barring something exceptional happening in the next two weeks, we will silence our broadcasts on Friday, September 15th.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try and how special the thing you do, it simply isn’t enough to beat the odds. It’s the cold reality of business that not even we could escape. When September 15th comes, we’ll meet it proudly with heads held high and celebrate the past two years of woxy.com and the spirit of 97X. For those lucky enough to have been part of it, The Future of Rock and Roll will forever be in our minds and hearts.

So enjoy these last two weeks with us. Shall we rock?

Eternally yours,

News From The Great Beyond: Marshall Watson, Mandelbrot Set, Los Straitjackets, This Providence contest, The Kooks

Marshall Watson is not only moving music, but he is moving all of his possessions. Watson will be releasing Math and Other Word Problems on the Highpoint Lowlife label. According to his website, Watson find himself "carelessly weaving strands of cologne style dub techno, minimal house, avant-pop and shoegaze sensibilities. The end result is a refined and rich development in the maturation of Marshall Watson's style and sound." Watson also recently packed up and moved back to the northwest (Seattle, specifically) from Brooklyn, NY, and is DJ'ing at various clubs.

Also from Highpoint Lowlife comes the Mandelbrot Set's All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated. Frans De Waard of vital Weekly wrote, "Mandelbrot Set is a drone rock band, playing walls of sound, employing all the pedals required (mainly live sampling and overdubbing the guitars) and furious drums banging beneath. Whatever Melisa adds is around this: her sounds become the pictures on this wall of sound. Stoner rock? Shoegazing? It's all there, but Mandelbrot Set gets away with it. Of course because they do something entirely different than 90% of the acts usually to be found on this label, but also because they play a dam fine tune, not caring about any hype or trend, they do their own thing, and at such perhaps not so new under the sun, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, just because it was so different. Great, furious one."

Being an educator, I had to write about this one. Los Straitjackets are releasing Twist Party! on the Yep Roc imprint. The album is accompanied by a DVD which instructs viewers on the fine art of the twist. Chubby Checker is loving this!! The album was recorded with The World Famous Pontani Sisters and Kaiser George. Los Straitjackets will be playing shows in various cities and kids are welcome.

Congratulations to Touch and Go Records on their 25th Anniversary.

Ever felt your artowkr might be good enough to grace an album cover? Fueled By Ramen is holding a contest to design the cover for the forthcoming This Providence release. The grand prize is two VIP passes to the 2007 Coachella Valley Music Festival. Other prizes include a personal phone call from the band, autographed CDs, t-shirts, and posters. For more information or to enter the contest, log on to www.brickfish.com.

Finally, I first caught The Kooks on woxy.com. This band already has several top 40 hits in the UK and now they are aiming for America. Their debut release, Inside in/Inside Out, will hit stores on October 3, 2006, on the Astralwerks imprint. "Eddie's Gun" is a song that woxy.com has bestowed major airplay upon, and the video looks to be a winner as well.