Episode 477: Bruce Sudano

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well out there in the world. i'm good. i have a busy day of running errands, laundry, writing two songs and of course, this podcast. i'm headed to vegas tomorrow to play a show with skyrocket. should be fun. i'm bringing my recording gear just in case i can interview donny osmond or an elvis impersonator. i hope you guys have a good weekend. 
my guest for episode 477 is legendary singer/songwriter, bruce sudano. i caught up with bruce when he was in town for sxsw promoting his gorgeous new album, the burbank sessions. his illustrious career spans five decades starting with the band, alive n kickin' in the late 60's, then his r&b band in the early 70's, brooklyn dreams hooked up with donna summer and wrote and performed, "heaven knows" with the disco star. he ended up marrying donna summer and going on to write "bad girls" with her among many other songs. he work on and in films like, "thank god it's friday", "american hot wax" and "hollywood knights". his latest album, the burbank sessions is absolutely gorgeous. he's still making music that is relevant because it's honest, the expression is raw and real and he is just a bad-ass songwriter. check him out at brucesudano.com he'll be on tour in may. i hope enjoy getting to know this amazning artist/person. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 465: John Valley / Valerio Rinaldi Checks In Via Skype

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you happy and healthy. the weather has been amazing this week in austin. i've been walking to meetings, walking around outside, driving around, washing my car and doing anything i can to be outside. do you guys do that? when it's nice outside, you just walk around and enjoy the weather. we have a big show for you today, film maker/actor, john valley is here, but before we get to john, i have a quick chat with argentinian rocker, valerio rinaldi who is currently on tour in the u.s. he'll be fralo's in san antonio tomorrow, saturday 2/20 and at the blackerby recital hall in austin, tx on sunday 2/21. we have a great chat about his current tour, touring south america, rock en español and more! get out and check him out. you can find his music here, valerio on bandcamp.my guest for episode 465 is film maker/actor, john valley! you might know john from his sweet spirit videos "baby when i close my eyes" and "baby doll". when i saw those videos back in january, i really wanted to meet him and talk to him on the show because i figured anyone with that kind of imagination would make a fantastic show. well, it did! john and i had a great conversation about growing up in iowa, making films as a kid, acting, interning for terrence malick, collaborating with sweet spirit and much, much more! i suggest you check out his work on his vimeo page to get an idea of his work. it's brilliant! let's get down!

Episode 461: Bale Creek Allen

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm good. i had a busy day of podcasting. i'm looking forward to bringing you guys some good conversations. i'm going to galveston with skyrocket tomorrow to play a mardi gras party. i thought we were playing the galveston mardi gras, but we're not.  sometimes i don't know what's going on until i get a show sheet a couple of days before the show. welcome to "johnnyworld" population: me. my guest for episode 461 is a true artist and a dear old friend, bale creek allen. bale is a true artist because to me he is aggressively creative. by that, i mean he works in bronze sculpture, painting, photography, neon, wood work, spoken word, theater and music. i honestly love his work in all of those mediums. in the last 25 years that i've known him, i've seen many of his art shows, music shows and more. his work is always honest, powerful, sometimes brutal and always beautiful. he's a really sweet and inspiring person to be around. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 448: The Trishas

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i should be doing well. i'm spending the christmas week with my family in houston and these shows have all been lade in advance and i'm taking a legitimate week off from my work. i don't do that much. some weeks are slow with skyrocket, solo stuff or the podcast, but i never really just "unplug" for a week and not do any work. i'm looking forward to this break. hopefully, i'm enjoying it. my guests for episode 448 are americana darlings, the trishas! yes. i know they're not currently "super-active" as a band, but i have been trying to get them on the show since i started it. luckily they were playing some shows in new york, south texas and austin a few weeks ago and i got them to stop by bright and early one morning after a show. it was even more fun and hilarious than i imagined it would be. these are some of the most talented, hard working, prolific artists i know. they're also the most entertaining group of people to be around. i hope they work together more simply because something magical happens when they're together. i hope you enjoy my morning with the trishas as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 446: Kanude

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here except, i took my car in because the window wouldn't roll up. they called today and told me they could fix my window, but then went down a list of like $1,200 worth of work that needs to be done to it. that's a little stressful during a slow work month and the christmas season. i also have to go to houston and back twice over the next week. might be time for a new car...my guest for episode 446 is singer/songwriter/actor chris knudson also known as kanude! i've known kanude for a few years and he's always been a great guy and great songwriter. he has a christmas song, "best christmas ever" available now at his bandcamp page along with several great albums. we have a great conversation about rooming with owen wilson at boarding school, scoring "el mariachi", living in berlin, nyc, houston, making records, playing at church and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know kanude. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 444: Jason Robert Blum Returns! / Gigtown

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. it really feels like a strange time and i hit a breaking point on tuesday... i freaked out on internet people who ended up blocking me on facebook. i hit a breaking point. i'm not proud, but i bet you're feeling that if you watch the news and read your facebook feeds. anyway, i'm better now. i have a lot of christmas shopping to do. i have music and art to make, podcasts to do and put out, skyrocket shows to play, a wonderful girlfriend that i love, an amazing family, two dogs that i love. i guess i can just focus on that and trying to make that all work. that's what i decided. my guest for episode 444 is singer/songwriter, jason robert blum! jason just released a gorgeous new album, invisible words. he made the record at plyrz studio in los angeles. it was produced by the great jim scott and features the talents of jj johnson, dave palmer, blake mills and dave monsey. find it on itunes or at jasonrobertblum.com jason and i have a great conversation about making the record, his many travels, our tv show idea "fishing for gonorrhea" and much, much more. i'm sure you're going to love getting to know jason. he's a good hang. before that, i sit down for a few minutes with brian and andy from the new musician/audience/venue uniting app, gigtown. the gigtown guys were in austn launching their new app which has already taken off in san diego and now they're branching out to austin and seattle. they're really good guys with a great idea to help musicians connect with their audience. check our conversation. it's informative. also go to gigtown.com to find out more. have a great weekend! let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 431: LOLO

hello friends! i hope you all had an enjoyable halloween weekend. if you live in austin, i hope that you made it through the floods on friday. i had a pretty harrowing 6 1/2 hour trip to houston on friday getting around closed highways etc. i hope all that were affected by the floods are okay. hey gang! tomorrow, tuesday 11/3 at the townsend here in austin, i'll be playing with my rock band, ladyband johnson along with the bluebonnets, eve & the exiles and more. we'll be celebrating dominique davalos' birthday. she plays bass in ladyband johnson and in the bluebonnets and i love her. the shindig starts at 7:30. come out and party on a tuesday!my guest for episode 431 is singer/songwriter/actor and force to be reckoned with, LOLO. you might know her as lauren pritchard star of the hit broadway show, "spring awakening".  she's written the songs for an off broadway play called "songbird". she's just released an e.p., comeback queen on DCD2 records and is currently on "the wilderness politics tour" with andrew mcmahon in the wilderness, new politics and the griswolds. i caught up with LOLO when the tour stopped in austin at emo's last night and we had a great conversation in the backstage courtyard. her e.p. comeback queen is absolutely amazing. and i suggest you go to her website, weaponforsaturday.com and see when she's coming to a town near you. i hope you enjoy getting to know LOLO as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg 

Episode 418: Jesse Sublett Returns!

hello friends! i hope life is treating you well. things are good here. i got to play at an xtc tribute/SIMS benefit on friday night at strange brew lounge side. there was an amazingly well-rehearsed house band led by my pal jon green. there was a host of awesome singers that got up and threw down on the song they sang. i sang a song by the xtc alter-ego band, the dukes of stratosphear called, "collideascope". it was a very special night and i was honored to be a part of it. i played a benefit for big brothers and big sisters with skyrocket in houston on saturday. i actually did the intro for this show in my hotel room between soundcheck and the show. i hope you like it.my guest for episode 418 is musician/author/artist/actor and one of the coolest guys i know, jesse sublett! jesse has a fantastic new non-fiction book out called, "1960's austin gangsters: crime that rocked the capital". the book is about austin's seedy underworld and follows austin's notorious overton gang and all of the outrageous crimes and wild characters in their orbit. it's a fascinating story that takes you through brothels in south austin, bank robbing tours through small towns in the south and midwest, darrel k. royal's u.t. football program, the "dixie mafia", bugged jails and crooked sheriffs and much, much more. go to jesse's website for yourself! i loved this book and in our conversation, jesse takes us deeper into the lives of some of austin's most nefarious and colorful characters. i hope you enjoy this conversation as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 417: Chip Pope

hello friends! i hope you're all out there doing it until you need glasses. things are good here. i wrote a really good song with my pal, gabe rhodes today and i'm writing a song with my old music partner, einar tomorrow. i'm getting into a writing rhythm which i hope will get me out of my "writing funk". i feel like i've been doing false starts musically for the last couple of years. now, i'm just gonna write a bunch of songs and figure it out as i go. wish me luck. my guest for episode 417 is hilarious, writer/comic, chip pope! chip lives in los angeles but was in town a month ago doing some stand-up and visiting family. i saw him do stand up a couple of years ago at a festival and laughed my ass off. we have a few mutual friends and for some reason i feel like i met him when he lived here. anyway, chip came by while he was in town and we talked about writing for ellen, roseanne, the beavis and butthead reprise a couple of years ago, natasha leggero's latest comedy central special, a new comedy/history show for nat geo coming soon, his whacky family, new romantic 80's bands and singers and much, much more. i had a great tome getting to know chip. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 393: Billy Harvey #3

hello friends! i hope you're all getting it back together after the 4th of july weekend of insanity. i had a great weekend. i got to play a lot. i played on thursday at the grand opening of the townsend, a new club in downtown austin. i played some songs by myself then i had today's guest, billy harvey sit in on some songs and i played with the bluebonnets. great time. then friday i played at stubb's with amy edwards and i got to play some songs with the bluebonnets again. look for our new band which we've renamed, ladyband johnson. then sunday, night i played at the william harries graham guitar pull at the continental club gallery with william, noelle hampton and nathan hamilton. great time was had by all. my guest for episode 393 is the amazing billy harvey! billy has a gorgeous new album the comes out this friday, july 10th, called, dear danger. dear danger is my favorite album so far this year. billy is an incredible songwriter that just keeps surprising you with his amazing depth both musically and lyrically. this is billy's third time on the show. on this episode we cover some different topics than before, reading glasses, kickstarter rewards, getting over bullshit as you get older, touring with patty griffin, his new album, what to do with your anger, dear danger and where it came from and much, much more. he's one of the deepest, most talented and funniest people i know and i love him. i hope you enjoy this conversation as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg