Born and raised in the City with Soul, Jackson, Miss., Meredith Hairston is the Program Director and Content Manager for “cool and current” WJSU-FM and its sister station, The Sipp FM. Affectionately known as Meredith Michele both on air and on stage, the Evening Jazz host attended Murrah High School and went on to study at Tougaloo College before leaving to become a full-time caregiver to her mother. In 2019, she received her Associate of Arts Degree from Hinds Community College and will complete her Bachelor of Science Degree in Speech Communication from THEE Jackson State University in the spring of 2024.
In May 2010, WJSU recruited Meredith Michele to fill in for the Evening Jazz host for the summer. She graciously accepted the call to volunteer for the station, and as cliche as it sounds, the rest is history! In 2012, Evening Jazz was syndicated after it was picked up by Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB). In addition to on-air shifts, Meredith helped with station pledge drives and emceed local music events. In June 2015, she officially joined the JSU family when she was hired as WJSU’s Music Manager. During that time, she increased the station’s library by over 7,000 songs and trained dozens of students matriculating through the university’s Journalism and Media Studies Department. Additionally, she has interviewed countless jazz artists, such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Lorraine Feather, Mark Whitfield, Lisa Hilton, Cory Weeds and Ramsey Lewis. In April 2022, she was awarded second place in the Radio Personality of the Year category by the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters (MAB). In 2023, she was awarded two second place MAB awards for the production of a three-part blues series, MS Storytellers, as well as a feature piece on the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
In February 2022, Meredith was named Program Director of WJSU-FM and its sister station, The Sipp FM, an urban alternative station seeking to serve and awaken a new generation of public radio listeners.
Her most important position, however, is “Mommy” to her son, Keiston, and daughter, Brinyn. In her limited spare time, she takes the stage as Meredith Michele performing around the state and surrounding areas as a lead singer with blues/soul/funk band, Chris Gill and the Sole Shakers.