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Reggie Scanlan: Bass Lion

Music Inside Out
Reggie Scanlan: Bass Lion

There’s a reason why lions prefer the company of other lions. Just ask Reggie Scanlan. As a bass player, Scanlan worked with James Booker and Professor Longhair before starting a 33-year run with the Radiators. He’s now in a band of all-stars called the New Orleans Suspects.

Scanlan tells Music Inside Out some of the lessons he’s learned from playing, touring and recording with the best in New Orleans music. For instance: band tours last longer with separate hotel rooms. And if you can’t sing… don’t. To Scanlan, music is like any other business — except people applaud when he comes to work.

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Gwen Thompkins is a New Orleans native, NPR veteran and host of WWNO's Music Inside Out, where she brings to bear the knowledge and experience she amassed as senior editor of Weekend Edition, an East Africa correspondent, the holder of Nieman and Watson Fellowships, and as a longtime student of music from around the world.