Jazz Fest is over and The Shadow People are back—tired, reflective, and ready to speak on it. In this episode, hosts Derrick Freeman and Nigel Hall share raw, funny, and emotional stories from this year’s Jazz Fest, including a show-stopping set with Nikki Glaspie and their crew at the Maple Leaf. They get personal about sobriety, creative evolution, and what it means to perform with your real-life friends.

But it’s not all love and light—we also get real about the chaotic behavior of out-of-towners, including the now-infamous plaque theft incident at Tipitina’s. Plus: your comments on the Shedeur Sanders Short stirred up some heat, so we read them live and respond in classic Shadow People fashion.

This one goes deep—from musical brotherhood to American arrogance to why playing with your day-one people hits harder than any stadium tour ever could.

🎥 Filmed at Brown Hound Sounds Studio in New Orleans
🎧 Thanks to Crescent Canna
✉️ Contact: shadowpeoplepodcast@gmail.com

👇 Chapters / Timestamps:

0:00 – Opening disclaimer & sleepy introductions
1:22 – Jazz Fest reflections & gratitude
2:41 – Derrick praises Nigel’s unforgettable performance
4:50 – Singing with Nikki Glaspie & band chemistry
8:15 – Musical roots and deep bonds with longtime friends
11:45 – Why music with friends hits harder
13:50 – Why some musicians won’t be on this podcast
15:00 – Mental health, sobriety, and the podcast’s real mission
17:13 – Derrick’s Jazz Fest misadventures
20:00 – Losing your wife at a gig and finding yourself on Frenchmen
23:40 – Sobriety, gigs, and setting boundaries with promoters
25:40 – Derrick reflects on aging, exhaustion, and grace
27:04 – “Festing in Place” and missing the real Jazz Fest
28:06 – Shoutouts to Jameson Ross & singing drummers
30:00 – A live sip of Crescent Canna’s THC water ("Sexy Zexi")
31:40 – The New Yorker invasion & American behavior breakdown
34:00 – Respecting New Orleans vs. disrespecting the culture
36:00 – The Tipitina’s plaque theft scandal
39:00 – “Be Nice or Leave” and why it matters
40:50 – Tourists vs. humility: how to earn a place in NOLA
42:00 – Rage Fest or Jazz Fest? The cultural identity problem
44:00 – Playing Quincy Jones badly at 4 a.m.
46:00 – America’s image abroad & why we must do better
48:00 – Cultural preservation isn’t optional
50:00 – Closing the episode & looking toward future guests
51:30 – Reading the Shedeur Sanders backlash comments
57:00 – Final thoughts on Shedeur, Deion, and football media bias
1:03:00 – Wrapping up & gratitude for Jazz Fest performers (and slackers)

#JazzFest2024 #NewOrleansCulture #TheShadowPeoplePodcast #NigelHall #DerrickFreeman #NikkiGlaspie #CrescentCanna #ShedeurSanders #DeionSanders #MusicianLife #SoberMusician #NewOrleansMusic #PostJazzFest #JazzFestFails #AmericanTourists #RespectNewOrleans #MapleLeafBar #BehindTheScenesMusic #PodcastRealTalk #THCWater #ShadowPeople

Drummer, bandleader, and all-around powerhouse Nikki Glaspie (Dumpstaphunk, Beyoncé, The Nth Power) joins Derrick and Nigel for a raw, hilarious, and revealing episode of The Shadow People.

From playing stadiums with Beyoncé to mushroom-fueled tours through Colorado, Nikki shares the road-tested wisdom and wild memories that shaped her career. She and Nigel revisit their time in The Nth Power—including the moment he unceremoniously quit the band on Twitter mid-cocaine spiral—and reflect on the healing, awkward, and often ridiculous aftermath. There’s Jazz Fest hot takes, ghost stories, blown tires, cheese factory stops, and enough band drama to fill a Netflix docuseries.

If you’ve ever toured, been in a band, or just wondered what happens behind the curtain, this one’s for you.

🎥 Filmed at Brown Hound Sounds Studio in New Orleans

👇 Jump to your favorite moments:

⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro & Who is Nikki Glaspie?
4:27 – Touring with Beyoncé & jumping into the deep end
9:12 – Nth Power days: cocaine, Twitter exits & awkward reunions
15:46 – Colorado tour stories: mushrooms, Cabot cheese & blown tires
21:05 – Band dynamics, trust, and the burden of leadership
25:10 – Jazz Fest chaos & why New Orleans is a different animal
29:02 – Do artists ever really get a day off?
32:59 – Tour ghost stories & classic Shadow People tangents

🔗 Links:
📸 Follow Nikki Glaspie @nikkidrums – Instagram
🎶 Produced by Brown Hound Sounds – @brownhoundsounds

📢 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE.
New episodes every week(ish).

#NikkiGlaspie #TheShadowPeoplePodcast #Dumpstaphunk #TheNthPower #TourLife #JazzFest2025 #NewOrleansMusic #PodcastLife #BehindTheScenesMusic #DrummerLife #BandStories #MushroomTrips #TourChaos #BeyonceBand #ShadowPeople

It’s Jazz Fest season in New Orleans, and The Shadow People are back with a heavy-hitting episode featuring trombonist, arranger, and all-around musical badass Alex Wasily—best known for his work with Dumpstaphunk, Earth Wind & Power, and the Very Good Mondays series.Alex joins Nigel Hall, Derrick Freeman, and Danny Abel for a full-on hang in the Brown Hound Sounds studio, talking everything from the importance of rehearsal, the legacy of horn sections, and learning to lead from within, and the deeper meaning of “no covers.”

🔥 Key Topics in this Episode:

How Wasily got called up to join Dumpstaphunk

The origins of Very Good Mondays, an original jam night with no covers allowed

The jazz school mindf*ck and finding your way back to music

Shoutouts to Earth Wind & Power, Natalie Cressman, Brad Walker, and Stevie Wonder

What it means to truly listen on a gig

How music can still be spiritual in an industry that often isn’t

Why Alex considers a “monetary loss a spiritual win”

Recorded deep in Jazz Fest madness, this episode is a love letter to New Orleans music, community, tradition, and transformation.

🎷 Produced at Brown Hound Sounds

📢 Like, share, and hit that subscribe button to support real musicians having real conversations.

📸 Follow us @ShadowPeoplePodcast for new episodes, behind-the-scenes, and Shorts.

❤️ Much love to Crescent Canna for the delicious seltzers and waters

📩 Email shadowpeoplepodcast@gmail.com for any concerns, comments, questions, or confrontations.

👇 Drop a comment below—especially if you’ve caught a Very Good Monday, a Dumpstaphunk set, or for whatever

⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro & guest reveal: Alex Wasily joins the show
1:36 – Jazz Fest rehearsal stories & the importance of preparation
4:00 – Alex breaks down what a horn section leader really does
6:14 – Alex’s origin story: Egypt → Savannah → Dumpsterfunk
7:43 – First gig with Dumpsterfunk and getting invited to Jazz Fest
9:31 – Horn sections, arrangements, and the New Orleans tradition
13:10 – Cover bands vs. precision musicianship
14:42 – Earth, Wind & Power tribute: origins and chart arranging
16:04 – Jam Cruise memories & Earth Wind & Fire-level praise
18:33 – Artistic competition, social media, and the death of gratitude
21:47 – Nigel’s mantra: “I am unavailable for that project”
27:25 – Very Good Mondays: how the jam session series began
30:28 – No covers rule & the problem with jamfluencers
34:06 – How to move to New Orleans the right way
36:57 – Ivan Neville’s 5-word masterclass on restraint
38:43 – Social media clout vs. real musical chemistry
40:12 – Sampling vs. stealing — and calling out content thieves
44:08 – The reset button: jazz jams as workouts for musicians
46:04 – Mondays in New Orleans: a deep tradition revived
48:35 – Dungeons & Dragons? No—Do Not Disturb
50:51 – The Pope is dead? Political absurdity & betting on the next one
54:54 – Nigel holds back—for now: racial and social frustration builds
59:01 – Why the podcast exists: connection, healing, and brotherhood
1:02:25 – Final shoutouts: vintage Rhodes, Crescent 9, and Very Good Mondays

#ShadowPeoplePodcast #JazzFest2025 #AlexWasily #dumpstaphunk #VeryGoodMondays #neworleansmusic #TromboneTalk #HornSections #NoCovers #RehearsalFest #Crescent9 #thcseltzer #EarthWindAndPower #DannyAbel #nigelhall #derrickfreeman #brownhoundsounds #podcaststudio #MusicianPodcast #LiveMusicCulture