I always thought the best radio stations in the world would be in New York, LA, or maybe Seattle. Turns out it’s in… CincinnatI Ohio? How could such a thing happen? The long answer is in a book and a podcast. Just google WOXY. The short answer is a little station at a college campus started going independent with the new ‘alternative’ format in 1983. Over the next 2 decades they stayed true to their formal while Clear Channel homogenized radio across the nation. They built a dedicated fan base and thrived. When the original owners retired the station went internet only and lasted another decade, but eventually had to shut down. From the ashes comes INHAILER. Created by fans of the original station and dedicated to bringing the best new indie music to the most dedicated fans. Listen. Enjoy. Repeat.

I’m sad it took me so long to find Inhailer, but I finally did! My car doesn’t have HD Radio, so I’ve been listening on the app and it’s very well-designed, bug-free, and provides good information about what’s recently played. No matter where you live, I’d recommend checking out this great, ad-free public music station.

Our local station sadly went off the air earlier this year. This brilliant app shares the best of all the worlds that our local station used to: upcoming artists, local finds, and solid alternative. Plus the app is super simple and beautiful; love that it can be an alarm clock, too. Good work!

And thanks for doing real alternative radio right again! 97x was my station from 83 until it stopped streaming in 2010. I never understood why they let such a successful brand fade into obscurity. Thank you for bringing it back in some form!!!