The only thing more fun than talking to Shannon Powell is listening to him play. Powell is one of the most charismatic drummers to ever grace a stage. His secret? “I’m happy,” Powell tells Music Inside Out. “I was a happy child. I’m a happy spirit.”
From his early years playing with jazz greats Danny and Blue Lu Barker, Powell has been spreading the joy. He’s recorded with scores of artists. And he’s traveled the world with Ellis Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall. On tour, Powell has been known to cook up New Orleans fare in his hotel rooms. But everybody knows that the real cooking happens on stage.