Her fast-growing solar installation company just made the Inc. 500 list. In her secret double life, she’s a flute-playing Lady Gaga.

by Jess McCuan . photo by Matt Rose

Comparing Joanna Baker to Lady Gaga may be a bit of a stretch. After all, Baker, who’s 30, leads a relatively normal life, going to work and band practice, whereas the pop singer is known for outrageous stunts like ziplining into TV interviews and wearing dresses made of red meat. But Lady Gaga songs are certainly in Baker’s range. And to be sure, Baker’s co-workers and acquaintances are frequently shocked to find that the sweet, smiling marketing manager of First Light Solar Energy in West Asheville leads a secret double life in rock and roll.

By day, Baker helps get the word out about FLS, which installs solar panels and hot water heating systems at institutions and companies around the country. Since its founding in 2006, the company has seen explosive growth. The three founders—Dale Freudenberger, Hardy LeGwin and Michael Shore—and their team of 80 employees are set to ring up around $30 million in revenues this year, which just put them at #46 on Inc. Magazine’s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country.

Managing PR for such a company—which recently made national news with its installation of 2,200 solar hot water systems at the Camp Lejeune military base in Jacksonville, North Carolina—requires long hours. But every weekend from April to December, Baker picks up her microphone to sing lead in a much-sought-after party and wedding band, Orange Krush. The six-member crew charges a base rate of $2,350 for a four-hour gig and can roll out just about any popular tune, from cocktail jazz to Motown to ‘80s dance hits.

Turns out Baker has always had a double life on stage. Singing since age 3, she belted out tunes from the back of her hometown church choir in Johnsonville, South Carolina. She played flute in marching band and got a vocal scholarship to University of South Carolina at Columbia, where she sang lead in a punk band called the Sinators. “I got to dress up in fun clothes and growl,” she says.

After moving to Asheville in 2004 and working brief stints at Greenlife Grocery and a staffing firm, EventPro Strategies, she took an administrative job with FLS. Now, she’s gearing up for an FLS event on September 8 at Highland Brewing Company, announcing partnerships with local companies that will generate more clean energy jobs in the area.

In the meantime, she and Orange Krush will be doing their best renditions of “My Funky Valentine” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” “When you’re on stage, it’s not like you’re someone else, but you are free and open,” she says. “You have to bring the party and bring the energy.” Fitting, for someone who spends her day trying to bring energy—the solar kind—to the rest of the world.