A Special Announcement From WOW

Dear Listeners, Supporters, and Friends,

We’re very sad to tell you that the Women On Women Music Program will be retiring from the WLUW airwaves later this month. Our last broadcast will be on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. There is a silver lining, however, as we will carry on the good name and spirit of WOW through our blog, http://wowmusichicago.com/, where we will continue to write about music and women’s issues. (And hopefully soon, we will be able to bring you playlists and podcasts as well!) We hope you’ll bookmark this website, add it to your RSS readers, and keep returning for the spirited discussion, music reviews, and intelligent humor you’ve come to expect from the beautiful ladies of WOW. (And who knows? You may not have seen the end of the show format yet...)

The decision to retire our show from WLUW is one we’ve undertaken with much contemplation and more than a few tears. Producing the Women On Women Music Program, and being volunteers with WLUW, has been a large part of our lives for nearly a decade – from the time that we each walked into the station as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students, through the many years of learning, growth, and development, through studio moves and management changes, through pledge drives and fundraisers and more…. WLUW has been a part of our lives, careers and friendships, and we will miss it greatly. We appreciate all the encouragement and support from all of our listeners and friends over the years, and it's our weekly live connection with you that we'll miss the most.

Part of the impetus behind our decision is the simple fact that individually, we are all in very different places than we were when we took over the show over six years ago, and certainly, from when we started at WLUW as student volunteers. Our current commitments, as well as the fact that the station itself is moving in a different direction, have made it unrealistic for us to continue on at WLUW. We’ve grown up with our listeners over the years, and we feel that we’ve come a long way, baby. We don’t often share our personal lives on the air, but we're all extremely proud of each other, and the fantastic projects we're working on outside of WOW: Elizabeth is graduating law school and will sit for the bar this summer, and recently completed an internship for LAMBDA on LGBT civil rights lawsuits. Emily has been busy drumming for a hot new local band, The Maybenauts, as well as performing with a prestigious percussion ensemble within Redmoon Theater. Jenny, in addition to her “day job” at Metro, is currently juggling an increasingly successful freelance writing career, and a position as Vice President of the Chicago Independent Radio Project. (All three of us, incidentally, are volunteering for CHIRP, a group that will launch an online community radio station this summer and is seeking a low power FM license. We urge you to visit the website and throw your support behind this great organization.) As you can see, we are three very busy ladies!

While we recognize that the blog format may not be exactly the same as a live radio show, we hope to keep things rockin', and we hope that you will continue your unflagging support of WOW. We've kept the show going for as long as we have because of you, our listeners, and the simple joy we get from hanging out and playing our favorite records for you. We plan on continuing this tradition, just in a slightly different format - more details will be coming in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to this blog. Please, come along with us as we start this new phase in the life of WOW!

buckets of love,
Jenny, Emily, and Elizabeth