It seems so long ago, but I was there for the very first Wharf Rat. A special festival for a special station. Local radio is growing to be more important than ever before. And it’s good to know WQSV will be there with programming that truly represents Staunton & the region. I’m proud to be a member, and I hope more will discover this truly special station.

I was always the guy who when friends would get in my car and hit the radio buttons to find some music would say “None if these is programmed to a station.” I would honk the horn and turn the windshield wipes on and say “There ain’t nothing on the radio worth listening to.” Little did I know that due to circumstances just barely in my control I would end up smack dab in the middle of Staunton, VA with my dials all glued to one life affirming station WQSV 106.3 LP (low power as one of the DJs explained to me). I feel a surge of civic pride each and every time I listen to the music emitting out of the transistor radio as I walk from room to room with a smile on my face. Washing dishes weekday mornings in love with the DJ, holding on for dear life Wednesday nights as DRL shakes the bars of any cage still standing, slipping into the strobe lights and glitter eyelashes of Steve the Painter on Fridays and ending my week with the latest word on Modern Lovers. It all makes me happy. Oh oh oh and the French show which always makes me want to wear schoolboy shorts and take notes in a lines tablet with a number 2 pencil as the show is so informative and interesting and musically alluring. WQSV I love you in your birthday and every other day. Long may you rule the airwaves.

Congratulations WQSV on your 5th anniversary, which in March, is how long it is since my wife and I moved from NYC to Staunton. Our first day here I kept turning the radio dial looking for a station I would like and came to rest on 106.3. The quality and variety of music was surprising and that has expanded even more in the past 5 years. Within a short time we locked onto a program that took everyone’s least favorite day of the week and turned it into something we look forward to on a regular basis; Wine Light Jazz hosted by Don Hawks on Monday evenings.

The professionalism of the program using current themes and clever segues plus introducing new light jazz while honoring the tried and true is apparent in everything Don does. He gives histories of featured performers or recordings making his music more alive and on top of that he provides new and different wine reviews which work well within his program. Thank you Don for all your knowledge, love of music and effort in making Monday evening a time to look forward to.

Heard a song by a group called The Mavericks on WQSV about 18 months ago and instantly liked them. I sought out their playlists and researched the band and discovered they have been around for a long time! The lead singer, Raul Malo, has one of the smoothest voices I’ve ever heard. Their eclectic music genre and melodic tunes are refreshing and easy to sing along with. I would not have heard this song aired on any other radio station but WQSV. Since then, I’ve seen both The Mavericks in concert in Durham, NC, and Raul Malo solo show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. Both fantastic shows!

Thank you WQSV, and Happy 5th!

Just a kid in 1981, I called my favorite radio station in Little Rock desperate to hear the new Earth Wind & Fire song, “Let’s Groove.” My request was met with silence, then they said dismissively, “Um, we’re a rock & roll station,” and hung up. I was stunned. My thoughts ran from, “but this rocks!” to “maybe I’m just not like the other children?” All my life I carried that disappointment and confusion… until I shared it with DJ Steve the Painter on WQSV, who understood perfectly; it was even the first record he ever bought! That Friday night on his show, out of my speakers, 40 years later, my request made it onto the radio, and all became right with the world. Thanks to Steve the Painter and WQSV, I’m home at last.

Happy Birthday! 🙂

Your late night/early morning and Sunday jazz shows are just amazing.

I love QSV so much! Y’all were brand new around the time we moved to town. I was, and still am, so proud that Staunton has its own independent radio station. I love all the DJs and have stretched my musical taste thanks to shows like Steve the Painters and Wine light jazz. Love the mornings with Chuck and the Sat. Dead with Q. Miss Tom! Wharf Rat was such a great time and I definitely look forward to that happening again. I’m not much of a late night person so don’t get to check out all that’s happening then, but it looks cool. I really can’t say it enough how much the station means to me! Keep on rolling for many more years!!