Bassist Reggie Scanlan is a fixture on the rock and funk scene in New Orleans, best known for his 45+years as a founding member of the New Orleans Radiators. Raised in New Orleans’ Irish Channel, Scanlan cut his teeth with local bands and R&B stars, including legendary pianists James Booker and Professor Longhair, and a stint in California with Eddie Money. In 1978, he was playing in a New Orleans band called Road Apple with guitarist Dave Malone when the two spent a Sunday afternoon jamming in keyboardist and songwriter Ed Volker’s garage, along with guitarist Camile Baudoin and drummer Frank Bua. The quintet knew they had a special chemistry and, as Scanlan says, “we all quit our other bands the next day.” The Radiators toured heavily for many years, retiring from the road in 2011. The band still plays a few shows each year, including headlining the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but Scanlan is born to play music, and he soon started The New Orleans Suspects and began guesting in a number of other groups.

Scanlan is a very rare survivor of pancreatic cancer, but required medical regimens meant that he had to retire from touring several years ago. Nonetheless, he is still an in-demand bassist, historian, and raconteur, and can be found jamming with Dr. Lo, Billy Iuso, and with Radiators offshoots Raw Oyster Cult, the Cosmic Fishheads, and the Gatorators, among others. He is an integral contributor to the award-winning Lily Keber documentary of James Booker, “Bayou Maharajah,” and the winner of many awards, including Lifetime Achievement Awards from Offbeat’s Best of the Beat and from Gambit magazine’s Big Easy Awards, and is an inductee into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.