The Current's music director and host Jade is moving on to "next dream"
October 23, 2023
The Current’s music director and midday host Jade has announced plans to leave the station. Over more than 15 years at Minnesota Public Radio, Jade has been a champion for music discovery and a signature voice.
After starting as an overnight host, she grew into a role producing The Current Morning Show, began hosting middays in 2015, and became music director in 2021. Along the way, she brought her journalistic background into the work, and helped amplify The Current’s music news presence. Notably, The Current’s deepened commitment to carefully maintaining and tracking on-air diversity is something that has defined Jade’s work as music director in recent years. She has also developed and maintained several featured streams for The Current, including The Siren for Women’s History Month.
An adept writer, curator, and critic, Jade has penned thousands of thoughtful words about celebrated and emerging musicians that appear on The Current’s website in the form of Album of the Week, Music You Should Know, Song of the Day, and much more.
Jade has also built a rep for broadening The Current’s reach beyond the Twin Cities as a panelist at national conferences, and the voice of broadcasts from Tennessee during Bonnaroo, from Texas during South by Southwest, and several trips to the North Shore to host in Duluth. Whether in these settings or in St. Paul, she has proven herself a versatile and compelling interviewer, and a presenter who can bring wisdom and humor to her host shifts – of late, these have included weekly Tonal Recall and The Chart Show segments.
“Thanks for your generosity and kindness over the last 15 years of hanging out together,” Jade says. “It was my childhood dream to be able to just talk about music with people all day and get paid to do it. It has surpassed my expectations in what a joy it is to be part of this community. As someone who constantly craves creative growth, The Current has been a wonderful place to challenge myself on-air, producing, trying out podcasts and videos and streams, traveling to bring the best music and experiences to listeners, and creating a playlist that values diversity, parity, and storytelling. The thing about dreams is that they change as you grow and I’m ready to move on to my next dream. Thank you for your conversations, time, and trust over the years. I’ll miss you.”
Jade will host her midday shift from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays until late October, and will continue working on music programming until her last day on Friday, Nov. 10.
