We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shonnie Murrell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shonnie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew that I wanted to be an artist/ musician at the age of 5 . I use to line up my teddy bears, barbie dolls and just toys and perform as if they were my audience. I remember even writing out my award speeches and giving it in front of my family . Truly an epic memory !

Shonnie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Shonnie Murrell Known by her stage name “Shonnie”
Murrell, LaShonda Antrionette Harris was born on July 19 in Jonesboro, Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas. She has been singing and playing instruments since the age of 3.
Shonnie graduated from Sharpstown High School and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Grambling State University. Shonnie can contribute her showmanship on percussion to her years she spent marching in the Grambling State World Famed Tiger Marching band. She also held the highest position in the band as Master Drill Sgt. and was one of the main reality personalities on the hit BET show. “Season of the Tiger”. From this she landed a spot on 106 and Park,BET
Awards and other television appearances.
She is also apart of the Class of 2022 RECORDING ACADEMY in which she sits on the educaiton committee .
Funk Potion #9 , which she names when performing with her full rhythm section and band, loves to give her fans the greatest performance on earth. Shonnie believes that her energy and engaging the audience are two key elements that are important to accomplish this feat! She is most of the time compared to Sheila E., Erykah Badu, and Missy Elliot because of her ability to mix her sound, lyrical, 2nd- Line, GOGO music and visual poetry all together.
Some notables that Shonnie has performed with or opened for include:
Most recent, National Anthem singer for Houston Dash Soccer Game , Percussionist for O’Jays, Percussionist for CholexHalle, Performer for Dikembe Mutumbo Congo Foundation.
Perfromee for Freedom Over Texas , Head-liner for Austin Crawfish Fest ,Head-liner for San Antonio, TX Mardi Gras , KPC Convention.
SeerSeekers & Sundresses in Atlanta, GA
National Anthem Singer for
Rockets vs Spurs , Pelicans vs
Thunder Cameo Real Housewives of of Atlanta, Percussionist for Legendary group SWITCH. opening act for LEELA JAMES, MAJOR., RICK ROSS, LIL WAYNE. MC LYTE, MACHSAWNIOO, WARREN G.
LETOYA LUCKETT, ERIC ROBERSON, YOUNG JOC, , the late great AL
JARREAU and FRANK MCCOMBS, to name a few. Her performances have taken her all over the world ! Shonnie Murrell also helps Titlel schools upstart their music programs with her partnership with Microsoft.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

By me being apart of the recording academy , we fight everyday for creatives in every way imaginable. It is much bigger than what people really see ! So, to best support artists, creatives are the following :

Making sure that artist/creatives are paid for their work ! Right now there is a strike happening right before us for unpaid artists/ dancers/ writers/ etc. In which is extremely ridiculous and hurtful . Funding and more grants should also be implemented.

Education- Music programs are dying in schools , I know this because I have worked in education for over 14 years building programs from the ground up . Over the years I have watched prominent programs die due to lack of funding .

Copyright Protection- We need to make sure that more laws are in place to protect artists/creatives work .

Mental health support- Society must recognize that artists/creatives are humans as well who often face mental health challenges . So having more counselinng and addiction support services would be a great help.

I could go on for days in reference to this particular question but I would like people to understand again that we as artists/ creatives are people too !

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is knowing that I have touched and that I am touching the lives of someone , whether it is through performances , lyrics or just my presence in general . In the words of the late great Whitney Houston, ” I know that GOD gave me something special , that he does not give to everyone” I have to share what he gave me to the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ShonnieMurrell
• Facebook: @ShonnieMurrell
• Linkedin: @ShonnieMurrell
• Twitter: @ShonnieMurrell
• Youtube: @ShonnieMurrell

Image Credits
Getty Images