John Barry Talley was born in 1943 and grew up near Princeton, Kentucky. He studied piano at Bethel College while a high school student and then enrolled in the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1965 with a major in piano performance. He remained at Oberlin for an additional year to complete a second major in choral conducting.

Talley then attended the Peabody Institute, holding successive fellowships in music theory, piano, and choral conducting. After earning his Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory in 1967, he began a doctoral program. While in Baltimore, Talley also held a number of professional positions, serving as organist/choirmaster of several churches and as conductor of an oratorio society, a German singing society, two musical theater troupes, and choral programs in three private schools: Bryn Mawr, Boys' Latin, and Garrison Forest.

In 1971 Talley accepted a staff position at the U.S. Naval Academy as Assistant Director of Musical Activities with responsibilities as organist-choirmaster, director of the Academy's music theatre program, and director of the Glee Club. The following year, Talley was promoted to Director of Musical Activities, a position he held until his retirement in 2006.

Talley received a Doctor of Musical Arts from Peabody in 1983. Under Talley's direction, the Naval Academy Glee Club rose to a position of national prominence, appearing in many of America's concert halls; in cathedrals, churches, schools, and colleges throughout the United States; and on European tours. Under his direction, the Glee Club appeared in more than one hundred nationally televised programs, several presidential inaugural galas, and a 20-year run on NBC/TNT's annual "Christmas in Washington" program.

In retirement, Talley has worked actively as a musician, directing Annapolis Music Festivals, working as an associate conductor with Encore Creativity's Chautauqua program in western New York, serving as a choral clinician, and filling in as guest organist at local churches, including the Naval Academy Chapel.