Joni Deutsch
On-Demand Content & Audience Engagement Manager, Host of the Amplifier Podcast
Joni Deutsch was WFAE's manager for on-demand content and audience engagement, where she's led the first Charlotte Podcast Festival (named one of the “best podcast conferences” by Buzzsprout) and helped produce such podcasts as FAQ City, SouthBound, Inside Politics, Work It and the Apple Podcast chart-topping series She Says. In addition to being an NPR Music contributor, Joni also was the host of WFAE’s Charlotte music podcast Amplifier, named “Best Podcast” by Charlotte Magazine and honored for excellence in arts and music podcasting by the local Edward R. Murrow Awards and The Webby Awards (called “The Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times).
Joni has been working in public radio and podcasting for a decade, starting with her work as music director and assistant general manager of WLUR 91.5FM in Lexington, Virginia, and continuing at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (West Virginia’s NPR station) as the creator and host of the weekly music program A Change of Tune and the critically-acclaimed 30 Days of #WVmusic interview series. While in West Virginia, Joni became assistant producer for NPR Music’s legacy public radio music program Mountain Stage, as well as the program’s youngest (and first female) guest host in the show’s 32 years, making her the youngest host of a nationally-syndicated public radio program (heard on more than 270 radio stations) at the age of 24.
Joni’s strong communication skills and creative marketing style have led to national features by NPR, Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Poynter, as well as local spotlights from CharlotteFive, the Charlotte Agenda, Creative Mornings/Charlotte, The Gantt Center, The Blumenthal Performing Arts, Discovery Museum and the Carolina School of Broadcasting.
A supporter of innovative media and a mentor to digital women leaders, Joni has been recognized as an Emerging Voice Scholar by the Alliance for Women in Media, the West Virginia State Journal’s “40 under 40,” the Online News Association's Women's Leadership Accelerator, the Charlotte Agenda's "30 under 30,” The United Way of Central Carolina’s Young Leader Awards, Duke University TiP’s Early Achievement Award and Gracie Awards.
Joni earned her Bachelor's from West Virginia University and Master of Arts in Strategic Communication from American University.She can be found on social media @achangeoftune on Twitter and Instagram.
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Charlotte has a rich history of funk music. Back in 1965, the "Grandmaster of Funk" himself Mr. James Brown recorded his single “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” right here in the Queen City. As one of Charlotte’s longest-running jazz-funk collectives, Groove 8 has its own Charlotte soul story to share.
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Amplifier is a biweekly podcast, not a full-length documentary. If it were the latter, we could easily dedicate a few hours to the work of Jim Brock, the Charlotte Native American music veteran who has been heralded by various publications as one of the best drummers alive.
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Local music veteran David "DK" Kim notes the lack of Asian representation among Charlotte's rock, pop and folk scenes, sharing his thoughts on incremental music progress and his introspection as an artist, a Korean American and a North Carolinian.
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The musical road has been a winding one for Charlotte's Fred Lee IV. From cutting hair in his father's salon and slinging hot dogs to Scott Avett, to now leading the Southern roots rock band Late Night Special and hosting the annual Shakedown Music Festival featuring regional musicians.
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Tony Arreaza had every intention of becoming the Freddie Mercury of North Carolina. But after emigrating from Venezuela to Charlotte in 1994, his plans changed. Nearly 30 years later, Arreaza has helped create a flourishing Latin music community organizing concerts through Carlotan Talents, performing guitar with his long-standing Latin band UltimaNota and even having the opportunity to channel his '80s rock icon on MTV Latino.
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Some may recognize jazz as being the lifeblood of New Orleans, but what of Charlotte? President and CEO of JazzArts Charlotte Lonnie Davis shares what it takes to sustain (and evolve) "America's Classical Music" in the Queen City. Celebrate the joyful noise of Jazz Appreciation Month with this 2018 encore edition of Amplifier.
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This has been a historic year for women in rap and hip-hop, all the way to the 2021 Grammy Awards when Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé broke records as the first pair of women to win in the best rap performance category. As NPR Music put it, “To know what tomorrow sounds like, one need only listen to the women in rap today.” And to know what the future of Charlotte hip-hop is, one need only turn to rhythmic lyricist ReeCee Raps.
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Girls Rock Charlotte music director Krystle Baller on finding her voice through rock and inspiring the next generation of women and gender diverse artists.
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Grammy Award-winning Charlottean Anthony Hamilton shares new music and what we can all learn from being raised in the South and pivoting through the pandemic.
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Charlotte-by-way-of-Jamaica songwriter Sanya N'Kanta shares his experience navigating race, religion and reggae music in America.