Music Life and Times

Music Life and Times, an ongoing discussion between internationally renowned jazz pianist Kevin Bales, and Mike Shaw, singer-pianist and author of the novel The Musician, argues that becoming an accomplished musician takes three commitments: discipline, self-acceptance or self-confidence, and cooperation. They are also the life lessons that music teaches those who would learn to play. Our podcast seeks to prove the premise through revelations about music and musicians past and present as well as from our own experiences as career musicians.

Music Life and Times is a music podcast hosted by Kevin Bales, with 84 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Kevin Bales hosts Music Life and Times, a music show with 84 episodes published.

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  Episode #85

  EP84: Authenticity Revisited

  Jul 17, 202619 min

  One of the life lessons you learn, learning to play music is how to be authentic. In music it means developing your own style and individual expression. Of course, you are inspired by others and you have to learn the craft, but as you mature you develop your own sound, your own “voice.” Being authentic takes courage, especially when you are performing, but the courage you amass will carry over to being authentic in whatever your do and with the people you encounter along your way. This episode borrows from and builds on themes from Music Life and Times Episode 63 from July 2025.

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  Episode #82

  EP81: Taking Risks

  Jun 5, 202619 min

  Sonny Rollins passed away on May 25 at the of 95. The legendary saxophonist of the bebop era and beyond was famously unhappy with his performances. But the occasional bad night was worth the trade-off to Rollins. His refusal to play the same passages the same way from night to night, those risks he took regularly might go badly at times, but they were also responsible for his greatest moments. The example he set applies well beyond his playing, well beyond music in fact, to most of life. Staying safe, on the beaten path, is easier; but great achievements, life's most gratifying moments, only come to those willing to risk departure from safe, to take the road less traveled.

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  Episode #81

  EP80: Will Scruggs and Churchill Grounds at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center

  May 15, 202620 minS0

  <p>Will Scruggs is a noted jazz saxophonist with a head for business and a major commitment to the sustainability of jazz in the city of Atlanta. That has led Will on a three-year journey to establish a new home for jazz in Atlanta. Named after Sam Yi's historic Churchill Grounds and historic jazz figure Mary Lou Williams, Churchill Grounds at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center will include a club with a stage large enough to accommodate a big band, a restaurant, a first floor retail and education center, and a top floor recording studio. We talk with Will...

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  Episode #80

  EP79: Confidence, Not Arrogance

  May 1, 202618 minS0

  <p>2026 Super Bowl winning quarterback Sam Darnold was once considered a “draft bust.” Interviewed after his Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots, Darnold told reporters, “As long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible.” Music is analogous to sports in many ways: performers can't hide; it's live; it takes years of hard work to become accomplished and failure along the way is inevitable; confidence is essential. Confidence but not arrogance. When players, musicians as well as athletes, are arrogant, all about themselves as opposed to working with and respecting their other band or team members, they misfire. When mus...

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  Episode #79

  EP78: The Psychedelic Buddy Red

  Apr 17, 202623 minS0

  <p>Guitarist Buddy Red describes his music as “psychedelic.” The son of Atlanta rapper T.I., a pioneer of trap music, the 26-year-old Red has adopted a style more closely associated with rock 'n roll and the blues. A regular at Northside Tavern in Atlanta, Buddy was chosen the opening act of the 2026 Atlanta Jazz Festival. </p>

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