Founded in October 2007 by father and daughter jazz musicians and industry professionals, Tim Ballard (1948-2009) and Kathryn Ballard Shut (President), our vision and mission lie in promoting, performing, recording, writing about, and supporting world-class independent jazz and soul. We actively pursue great partnerships with other independent artists around the world in the effort of sharing incredible (and otherwise unknown) talents across the Internet.
We are both an artist management / booking agency as well as a ASCAP-affiliated music publisher. Owner Kathryn has been an Associate Member of the North American Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (aka NARAS or "Grammy Awards") since 2008, is a member of Worldwide Who's Who (Entrepreneurs), and is a lifelong jazz pianist, vocalist, writer, and music enthusiast.
Follow us for live updates on Twitter @timkatent or email us at timkatent@gmail.com.
Kathryn Ballard Shut - Songwrite
KATHRYN BALLARD SHUT (pronounced /shoot/) is an accomplished jazz pianist and vocalist, and now budding composer, living and working in the Denver, Colorado live music scene, who grew up surrounded by both music lovers and working musicians (the late jazz vocalist / saxophonist Tim Ballard was her father). She is the owner of music label TIMKAT Entertainment (@timkatent) and also the producer and host of the syndicated Internet radio program, 'Modern Soul Sauce' (@modernsoulsauce).
Classically trained on the piano beginning at age 8, reeds at age 10, and incorporating jazz theory by age 14, Kathryn has served for many years as both pianist and woodwind "doubler" in big bands (clarinet/flute/saxes) as well as small combos. Most recently, she served as a prominent member of several jazz ensembles within The Colorado Jazz Workshop under the leadership of famed jazz trumpeter Hugh Ragin.
From 2006-2010, Kathryn was co-leader and founder of the Denver-based classic jazz small ensemble, 'Lost Soul Jazz Combo' (http://www.reverbnation.com/lostsouldenver) and has played major venues around the Front Range (including a sold-out show in the dining room of the world famous Dazzle Restaurant). In addition to her work with Lost Soul, she also served as pianist in the long-standing vocal combo, 'The Amy Kay Combo', which performed regularly at both the D-Note and Bliss Cafe in Arvada, Colorado for almost two years.
In addition to collaborating with jazz master and father, Tim Ballard, Kathryn has also worked with Latino film and music stars Daniel Valdez (of 'Zoot Suit','La Bamba','The Westside Oratorio'), Rosana DeSoto (of 'La Bamba','Mambo Cafe'), and Jesse Borregos (TV series 'Fame'; film 'Blood In, Blood Out'), and with Denver jazz artists Mark Diamond, Keith Oxman, Drew Morell, Hugh Ragin, Linda Theus-Lee, Pete Salvador, Mike Evans, Kevin MacInness, Mark Brostrom, Jared Johnson, Jean-Luc Davis, and many more.
Kathryn is owner and president of Denver-based TIMKAT Entertainment, a full-scale music agency and label that focuses on recording and promoting world-class, independent jazz, soul, R&B, and acoustic talent for live performances, multimedia projects, and international digital album sales online.
In 2012, Kathryn turned her attention more to working on original compositions in the studio. An active ASCAP writer and publisher (under 'TIMKAT Entertainment'), 5 of Kathryn's works (contributions in lyrics and music/lyrics) will be included on a forthcoming album for Italian jazz fusion and neosoul band, Camera Soul, in spring 2013.
Finally, Kathryn is an active jazz blog contributor and her ideas can be found on music opinion sites such as NPR's "A Blog Supreme", DIYMusician (CDBABY.com), Reverb (HeyReverb.com), AllAboutJazz, and (mostly on) JazzTimes' Community Pages.
For more information about TIMKAT Entertainment and/or Kathryn, please visit and follow the company's social media sites:
Web Portal: http://about.me/timkatent
Twitter: @timkatent (http://www.twitter.com/timkatent)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/timkatent
TIMKAT Blog: http://timkatent.blogspot.com
Email: timkatent@gmail.com