KGSR, you’re still my one true love when it comes to radio stations, but I must say, you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

Since I was a little girl who lived in Austin through now as a young adult, KGSR has always been my radio station of choice. My groovy parents probably influenced this when I was younger, and their love and exceptional taste in music has greatly influenced what I look for in a stellar song. Even when we moved away to the hill country, I remember the excitement as we drove into Austin when that 107.1 FM station fuzzed into good ol’ reliable KGSR.

KGSR has always been a station that plays an eclectic range of music styles. A usual day consists of a Bob Schneider song smooshed between an old Willie Nelson classic and then the latest Wilco and Feist duo. My mom has always loved the station because they play her favorites: Delbert McClinton, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, etc. I love it for its support of local artists as well as its talent at finding amazing oddball songs out of nowhere, and introducing them to us open-for-anything Austinites. Not to mention they pick out the best folk, Texas country, and rock classics and sprinkle them through the day’s play. I’d say, the Austin music community puts a lot of faith into KGSR, as it is known to represent what we like as the music capital of the world.

Recently, 107.1 FM KGSR switched to 93.3 FM KGSR. Their station change was rather dramatic and took some adjusting. It’s amazing how attached one can actually be to a set of numbers. I’d grown up to 107.1, so switching to 93.3, which, by the way, used to be this bubblegum/rap/dance/pop station, just seemed weird. But the radio did tons of advertising and tried to walk Austinites through the change, assuring us that the only actual difference would be the station number, not the radio personality.

Yet, as a couple months have gone by, I’ve started to notice some slight differences in more than just the station number. I still absolutely love my KGSR, and they continue to play a ton of my favorite tunes. It’s just… not quite the same.

For one thing, they upped the commercial time and advertisements, even on their website. I used to never bring CDs in my car because I had so much faith in this station, but now I never leave home without a back up mixed CD in case KGSR is taking one of their many and forever-lasting commercial breaks. I know all radio stations are notoriously known for this and it’s how they pay the bills, so to speak, but it just seems a little flashier and more commercialized than it used to be.

I asked a couple of my friends if they’d noticed any changes since the 107.1 to 93.3 shift, and they all agreed the type of music has changed. One my friends said he likes the new music better, as 107.1 used to be the “dad” station and 93.3 is playing way more contemporary stuff like Vampire Weekend, Broken Bells, etc. My other friends said they missed the mixture and the unknown.

93.3 KGSR still plays a little bit of everything, but it’s definitely starting to lean heavier on mainstream indie pop, which I usually enjoy, but I long for the balance. And another complaint I have is that they have gotten into this bad habit of playing the same “it” songs over and over until they might as well have stabbed them in the heart because they are dead to me. For instance, I loved the Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zero’s “Home” song, but I really loathe hearing it every twenty minutes.

KGSR, I still love you, and as of right now, you remain my favorite radio station. But please don’t lose yourself in your recent surge of popularity. Although it’s tempting, don’t sell out. Stay true to the fans who have loved you for who you really are.  You’re still awesome – just watch it. I see you walking a fine line lately, and it’s tempting me to stick to mixed CDs and NPR.