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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In a recent report, Charlotte ranked 111th out of 200 top cities for music fans. But if you ask Charlotte creative leader Tim Scott Jr., who’s been the artist-in-residence at Charlotte Center City Partners and toured the world with Grammy Award-winning North Carolina group The Foreign Exchange, you’ll hear how the Queen City deserves to sit higher up on the list of music cities. He talks about it in the latest Amplifier. -
Charlotte is known for banking and football. But what can be said of the Charlotte music scene? Join award-winning host Joni Deutsch every other Thursday for Amplifier, the music podcast from WFAE, where we shine a light on the artists who call Charlotte home. You just might find a new favorite song along the way.In 2019, Amplifier was named Charlotte Magazine’s “Best Podcast,” received a local Edward R. Murrow Award for “Excellence in Innovation” and was honored for innovation in music/arts podcasting by The Webby Awards (named “The Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times). In 2021, it was Charlotte Magazine's "Best Podcast" again.Are you a musician or music professional from the Charlotte-area? Submit your information for future podcast consideration! Click here (or go to wfae.report/amplifier/submit-your-cltmusic-to-amplifier). -
How Charlotte-based band Moa crafted dark, dreamy music for Netflix documentary series "Night Stalker." -
For the past five years, singer-songwriter Jim Sharkey has taken the 200-year-old lilt of traditional Irish folk music and placed it in a 21st-century context (with contemporary references to Facebook, Whitney Houston and even the 2019 Women’s World Cup). On his 2019 full-length release "A Lovely Day," Sharkey sings to the theme of home: of finding home, of feeling at home with loved ones, of the nostalgia of remembering his home in Ireland and of making a new one here in North Carolina. -
A collection of some of the Charlotte-area music-makers featured on WFAE’s Amplifier podcast this year who made 2020 better and shined a light toward a brighter 2021. -
As NPR Music shared, “2020 was a year defined by the sounds of rage, resolve, mourning and solidarity.” That includes the sound of Grammy-nominated North Carolina trio The HamilTones (Tony Lelo, J. Vito and 2E), who released the incredibly profound record “1964” and shared joyful splendor through “A HamilTones Christmas.” After gracing the world’s stages (both physical and virtual), the acoustic R&B group sits down to share some harmonious memories and hopes for Charlotte in the new year. -
For the past 20 years, Boris “Bluz” Rogers has expanded the boundaries of poetry, spoken word and musical storytelling. As an Emmy Award-winning performer, he has shared the stage with legends like Outkast, Pink Floyd and Gil Scott-Heron. As a poetry slam master and coach, he's risen through the ranks of spoken word and inspired the next generation to use their voice. And with his recent collaborative album “The Duologue Part 1: Conversations in a Vibe Room” and his organizing of the We Are Hip Hop festival, Rogers is the Shakespeare of Charlotte music and spoken word. -
The past few years have shown that nerd culture is the new cool, with "Black Panther" becoming the first comic book film to score a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, "Game of Thrones" becoming a cultural phenomenon and even Walt Disney World opening up its first official Star Wars-themed hotel in Florida. Which makes it the perfect time to be GameBreax, a North Carolina “nerdcore” duo who stand proudly at the intersection of geek culture and hip-hop. -
Alfred Sergel IV has three decades of experience as a professional jazz musician — not as a jazz singer or jazz pianist, but as a jazz drummer. Between performing with Grammy honorees and recording with Billboard-charting artists, Alfred (or, as his friends called him, Al) still finds time to create original music that merges new-age pop sensibilities with old-school jazz melodies. -
In September 2019, hip-hop publication XXL posed a question: “Is North Carolina next up?” What they're referring to, in part, is the A+ rap and hip-hop talent coming out of North Carolina including prominent names like J. Cole, DaBaby and Lute. When it comes to Southern-fried rap and hip-hop in the Queen City, Elevator Jay is the name to know as the king of country rap in Charlotte.
