In a dour turn of events, independent radio stalwarts WOXY bewildered music fans by closing up shop today around 10 a.m. due to financial problems.  The digital-only station was a beacon of fresh, new music since it began rocking the FM airwaves in 1983.  WOXY was kind to a number of D.C. bands, often playing tracks by These United States, Aloha, and Jukebox The Ghost; and the station hosted a fantastic radio show by D.C.’s own John Davis (Q and not U, Georgie James, Title Tracks) called “1-2-3-4 More More More.”  For countless young indie rock bands, playing an in-studio lounge act at “The Future of Rock & Roll” was a coveted badge of honor, and it brought a lot of talent to a lot of new fans.  It’s closure doesn’t bode well for digital radio at large, and as one of the few still-relevant radio stations, WOXY will be sorely missed by its many listeners.

Earlier today, music director Matt Shiverdecker released the following statement:

Dear friends —

It is absolutely mindboggling to me that I have to sit down and write these words: WOXY.com is being shut down today by our owners at Future Sounds.

Mike, Joe, Brian, and I uprooted our lives to Austin under the belief that we were finally under ownership that would take things at the station to the next level. We also brought on Paige Maguire from here in Austin to help us do things on a promotional and marketing level that hadn’t really been in place for years. Yes, we have been dubbed “zombie radio” in the past after ownership shutdowns and resurrections, but it will take a pretty incredible company/plan coming around now to make me want to stick around at this point (although I guess we have to wait to see if anything shakes out in the days ahead). This time around, we no longer own WOXY and the entire situation is completely out of our hands.

The WOXY staff continued working last week during SXSW under good faith because a deal was “in motion” to continue funding for our operation. We were informed yesterday that that the deal fell through and now it is time for us all to walk away. There will be no farewell shows or weepy goodbyes. Our listeners deserve more than this, but I don’t think any of us on staff have it to give right now. It is, to be perfectly honest, quite a kick in the dick to have this occur again right on the heels of our most successful SXSW ever. But, I guess it would pretty much be a kick in the dick no matter what since we’ve only been living in Austin for *6 MONTHS* and have already had the rug pulled out from underneath us.

I am told that this address will continue to work, but if it ends up failing in the future, you can also hit me up at: mattshiv@att.net and my cell (hit me up if you need the #). I will probably take a few days off to let this all digest and figure out what happens next. I am VERY happy living in Austin, but will have to entertain any and all opportunities that may present themselves now. If you have any leads, please reach out.

Thanks to everybody who has been SO amazing to me and this station over the years. I’ve been on this wild ride now for 12 years. I am thrilled that I have had a part in helping to program this station since 1998 and am incredibly proud of WOXY’s legacy.

Cheers,

Shiv