Ann delisi biography
- Ann Delisi is a beloved radio personality, deejay, podcaster, and business owner who is involved in multiple aspects of Detroit culture and can be heard on Detroit's WDET-FM public radio station.
- Ann Delisi has been a part of the Detroit media landscape for more than 35 years.
- “Ann is a creative, talented and dynamic individual who enhances any video or audio production.
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Ann Delisi has been an influential part of Detroit media for more than 20 years. From radio to television to voiceovers, Ann Delisi is a familiar voice to metro Detroiters. A Wayne State grad and former WDET staffer (1983-1995), Ann now hosts a show on WDET that is a fun, contemporary and thoroughly hand-picked approach to music that moves Detroit. Ann will guide us through the “essential music,” both new and familiar, that’s shaping our culture and feature music made in Detroit every hour. Ann’s show also brings you live performances, interviews and special features.
Follow her on Twitter: @anndelisimusic
Most of my creativity is channeled through the free-form radio program I produce called Essential Music on WDET. The program’s themes and ideas, and the production I create to support those shows, is driven by how I hope the listeners will react when they hear it. I do it for them and they are my inspiration. I think about them every day, with the goal of presenting programs in which they learn something new and are excited by what they
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Ann Delisi
Ann Delisi has been a part of the Detroit media landscape for more than 35 years. A Wayne State Music School grad and former WDET Music Host and Music Director (1983-1995), Ann returned to WDET in 2009 to host Essential Music, a program dedicated to exploring the history of music, creating a platform for Detroit musicians, discovering new music and listening to what is next on the musical horizon. As a broadcaster, music host and storyteller, Ann creates features that highlight iconic artists, landmark albums and has curated hundreds of shows. As an interviewer, she's talked with everyone from David Bowie to White House Photographer Pete Souza to Iggy Pop and her curiosity about the creative spirit led to the podcast series, Essential Conversations. Her passion for food and those who make it led to another podcast/broadcast, Essential Cooking, with her co-host, award-winning chef, James Rigato.
She is an accomplished voiceover talent and for 5 years, Ann hosted the Detroit Public Television program, Backstage Pass, a weekly arts and culture
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Ann Delisi has worked in Detroit radio since 1983, primarily with WDET-FM 101.9, where she hosts the weekend show Essential Music. But in the early ’80s, while studying music at Wayne State University and working at WDET, she also had a job at the original Sam’s Jams store in Ferndale, which was a magnet for record collectors.
“Sam’s bought and sold records, and we would keep a card file in which record collectors would let us know what their holy grail records were, and we would try and locate these out-of-print gems for our customers,” Delisi says. “It was actually more satisfying to see people come in to pick up the records they had been searching for — sometimes for years — than to buy something for myself.”
Conversely, Delisi’s own holy grail record wasn’t something she had been searching for; it came into her possession through a pal’s providence.
“Marvin Gaye is my favorite singer,” Delisi says. “In 2016, his masterpiece What’s Going On was remastered at Abbey Road Studios and released as a four-album deluxe reissue. It was a gift from a dear friend who bought i
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