Music Life and Times

Jamie Hood is the owner-operator of the digital marketing agency, Jamie Hood Creative/Marketing, but also a lifelong musician. That experience and his passion to “give back” come together in a charitable initiative he calls the Fare Thee Well Foundation. For more than 20 years, Jamie and the Foundation have been staging music-oriented events, the entire proceeds from which go to provide music camp scholarships to kids who otherwise might not be able to afford to attend. In this episode, Jamie talks about how music has impacted not only his life, but the lives of those kids as they experience the joy of playing music.

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.

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 about the project as construction is being completed for a planned Fall 2026 opening.

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 musicians fail to understand their calling, to work with each other for the pleasure of their audience, the night is a bust, the game is lost.