Annie Parnell Interview
Annie Parnell is the host of Jazz Weeknights at VPM, Virginia's home for public media. She only started freelancing in 2020, but her writing has already appeared in Paste Magazine, The Boot, and elsewhere.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
While I was at UVA, I ran a student alt-weekly with a pop culture focus and co-lead a college radio station. Initially, I actually started with more film and TV coverage, but I realized I had a knack for music features and a really interesting scene in front of me, so I started chatting with artists and indie bands for interview pieces and reviewing local shows. I eventually started freelancing in 2020 after internship opportunities dried up in lockdown, and kept it going while I worked at WTJU in Charlottesville for a bit after graduation.
I do a lot of hopping around genre and form—I've done science fiction and horror criticism, covered music from folk to jazz to experimental metal, and I produced environmental and disability pieces for WTJU's news podcasts.