Amber Hoback joined The Current as music director in June of 2025. She spends her days immersed in music: listening, curating, discovering, and sharing standout new tunes with the team. If you’ve ever voted for The Chart Show, Amber’s the one tallying picks and keeping tabs on audience favorites.
Originally from Virginia, Amber moved to the Twin Cities for this role. Previously, she served as music director and midday host at a listener-supported independent station in Virginia. She got the radio bug in 2010 while in graduate school, working on a street team for a radio cluster in Northern California. After several years on the promotions side of the radio industry, she switched to programming and has now spent over 15 years joyfully sharing music with listeners.
Amber’s love of music goes back to car rides with her dad, when they would sing along to Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time on cassette. That album’s tour was her first concert, and she recently returned to the same venue to see Raitt again, bringing it all full circle. Today, she’s drawn to new artists like Jasmine.4.t and rising Virginia-based band Palmyra. She counts the Roots, Billy Strings, and Fiona Apple among her longtime favorites.
Her time at The Current has been packed with highlights: meeting Justin Vernon, watching an in-studio performance from Beach Weather, walking in the Pride Parade with MPR, and diving into the local music scene. For Amber, The Current is special because of its range of music genres and focus on new music discovery. She’s excited to help bring that musical magic to listeners every day.