Episode 442: Narc Twain / Sam Means

hello friends! i hope you've all had a great week and are heading into the weekend with purpose. i'm good. still stopped up from having a cold but i feel a lot better. i had a great time moderating the austin music foundations's "expanding your horizons" booking panel on wednesday. i recorded it for a podcast, but there was so much interaction with the audience, who didn't have microphones, that  we can't put it out. next time. anyway, it was informative and i suggest that if you're a musician here in austin, you check out the austin music foundation. they can help you find your way.episode 422 is a double-header skype show! first up, i have a great chat with tommy siegel from brooklyn based band, narc twain. their new e.p. is out today. check them out on soundcloud. we have a great conversation about the band and how they came together, his other bands, drunken sufis and jukebox the ghost, what the brooklyn scene is like and much, much more. next up i talk to phoenix, arizona'a own sam means! sam's newest album, "10 songs" produced by steven macdonald from redd kross, doesn't come out until january 22nd, but you can check out some tunes from the album and find all things sam at sammeansmusic.com. sam and i have a great conversation about his old band, the format with nate ruess from the band, fun.,  scoring movies, his company hellomerch,com, how he's not fronted a band live but is willing to try and much, much more! i had a great time talking to these guys. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 438: The SIMS Foundation Turns 20!

happy thanksgiving everyone! i hope you all have plenty to be thankful for. i'l be missing my family this thanksgiving, but i'll be with my girlfriend's family here in austin and that should be a good time. are you thinking of frying a turkey for thanksgiving? well, my pal, aj vallejo and i have a special thanksgiving edition of "cooking/drinking with johnny and aj" where fry a turkey cajun-style and teach you how to make this delicious and quick way to make your thanksgiving turkey go to our youtube page and learn how to make a fried turkey! i hope you all have a happy thanksgiving!my guests for this very special episode are heather alden, jennifer vocelka and kyle ellison from the SIMS foundation. for 20 years now, the SIMS foundation has provided support for austin musicians and their families. to find out more or just get involved go to simsfoundation.org.  along with the KGSR "live broadcast # 23" release this friday, kyle ellison has produced "friends of SIMS" an album of some of austin's best artists playing some of their favorite covers including, charlie sexton, alejandro escovedo, doyle bramhall ll and many more. we have a great and insightful conversation about mental health care, how SIMS can help and much, much more. i'm thankful for the SIMS foundation. they were there for me when i needed them. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. happy thanksgiving! ciao! -jg

Episode 437: Star Parks

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. the weather in austin has been gorgeous the last couple of days and that's always a good thing. i hope wherever you are, it's gorgeous too. fall is the best! i'm playing a solo show on tuesday, november 24th at the volstead here in austin. i'll be opening for the big fix which should be a good time. come out. the volstead is a rad bar and the have a fantastic patio. other than that, i'm heading to fredericksburg tomorrow with skyrocket tomorrow to play at the crossroads. those are always lively and interesting shows with at least three bachelorette parties in the audience. each party thinks their bachelorette is the best and as they drink more, they become more and more competitive. should be lively and interesting. i'll let you know how it goes on tuesday's show.my guest for episode 437 is andy bianculli from the band, star parks. their album, don't dwell will be available in january 2016, but for now you can go to starparks.bandcamp.com to hear some jams. andy came by back in early october and we had a fantastic conversation about touring with a cajun band, the legitimacy of john cusack as brian wilson, making lo-fi pop music on your own and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know andy. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 425: Freddie Steady Krc

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you all happy and healthy. i am a bit hungover as i celebrated my birthday last night. it was a blast. saw the wonderful dawn & hawkes play, then i had a fabulous dinner, then went to se my old pal aj play and met up with a bunch of friends. great night! if you're in austin tonight, october, 16th and looking for something to do, skyrocket will be playing at the one-2-one bar at 9 pm. come out and party with us.my guest for episode 425 is singer/songwriter/drummer/guitar player/renaissance texan and texas music hall of famer, freddie steady krc! freddie has been a staple on the austin scene since the 1970's when he played drums with the likes of b.w. stevenson, jerry jeff walker, carole king and more. he went on to start the new wave/power pop band, the explosives in the late 70's. then a string of great country and garage rock bands including freddie steady 5, shakin' apostles, freddie steady's wild country and many more. freddie continues to write and play with his many bands, he owns a record label and now runs the austin chapter of the musicians union. freddie and i have an awesome and long conversation about his journey. i hope you enjoy getting to know freddie steady as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 422: Sphynx Returns... Again!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. maybe you're celebrating john lennon's birthday. i'll be on 89.9 kutx in austin today at 2:30 along with stephen doster's band and a lot of other folks singing john's songs. tune in. turn on. and freak out! if you're not in austin, tune in to kutx.org to listen. hey gang! if you're in houston, tonight friday, 10/9, come out to the continental club and party with skyrocket. we go on at 10 pm. on that same note, if you're in pflugerville, skyrocket will be at hanover's tomorrow saturday, 10/10 we go on at 10 there too. we have three shows coming out next week, so look for shows on monday, wednesday and friday. my guests for episode 422 are returning for the fifth time. they're one of my favorite bands. they're one of the most energetic, creative and fun bands around. they're sphynx!!!! the guys stop by and talk to me about unicorn sex, the highs and lows of the last year of their lives, their new album, live from earth, touring, their dead van, the magic of french pop, their upcoming cmj showcase and much, much more! these guys have been through a lot over the last year/ they're weary but still going strong. they're beautiful people with a very strong musical and brotherly bond that i love being around and so will you. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 419: Sweet Spirit

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. the austin city limits festival is in town the next two weekends and i'm playing out of town both weekends, so i won't be able to go. are you going? are you coming in from out of town for it? i haven't been in a few years... maybe i'm overdue. hey! i have some press to share with you. austin monthly magazine featured the podcast in their october 2015 issue. this is very exciting for us here at "how did i get here?" check it out here! also, i was a guest on my friend, amy edwards' new podcast, "the real show". we have a great chat about podcasting, honesty, insecurity and much more with a lot of laughs. amy is a great host and her show is really good. listen here!my guests for episode 419 are sabrina ellis and andrew cashen for the amazing 9- peice power pop band, sweet spirit! their brilliant new album, cokomo, (produced by mike mccarthy) comes out friday, october 16th on nine mile records! sabrina and andrew were on earlier this year talking about their other band, a giant dog. but 2015 has been a banner year for them. they released their debut e.p., released two songs with britt daniel of spoon, they've spent the year touring on the country with and without spoon, they managed to write, record and are now about to release their debut, full-length album, cokomo and head out on tour of the east coast for the month of october. go to sweetspiritatx.com to find out if they're coming to a town near you and where you can get their amazing new album, cokomo. i love hanging out with sabrina and andrew. we have a lot of laughs, they are really focused and they're poised to do some great stuff. i hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 414: Joe King Carrasco / Clay Liford, Director of "Slash" Stops By

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you embracing the world as if it were your mother. things are good here. today we get a visit from director, clay liford who stops by to talk about his new movie, "slash". he's 95% done with the movie and has launched a kickstarter campaign to finish it. it's a coming of age comedy about a boy who writes "slasher fan fiction" a sub-genre of erotic fan fiction and stars michael ian black, missi pyle, hannah marks, michael johnston and more. clay and i have a great conversation about the sensitive nature of this story and how it's already caused some controversy in the "slasher" world. check out his kickstarter campaign and see what you can give. you have until friday sept. 25th so, get out there and get invovled!my guest for episode 414 is the man, the myth, the legend, the amazing joe king carrasco! joe stopped by a few weeks ago while he was in town promoting his new album, chiliando which he made with his new band, joe king carrasco y los side fx. chiliando is joe's most rocking album to date. he's been living in puerto vallarta for a while now and settled into his new mexican life. we sat down and had a fantastic conversation about, being a star of early mtv, having michael jackson sing back-up on a session, getting banned from saturday night live, his excitement over chiliando, questionable vans breaking down in the mountains while on tour, his dog rescue foundation vivaperros.org, owning his own club in puerto vallarta and much, much more! it was an hnor to have joe king come over and chat. i hope you enjoy it as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 412: Three Bones

hello there friends! i hope you all had a great labor day weekend and you're on your way to an easy four-day week. i've had a good labor day weekend. i played shows, went to shows, went to the mall, cleaned out my closet and did a podcast with aly tadros. eventful! not a lot of "normal" labor day weekend stuff, but i don't lead a "normal" life. hey gang! we have a live podcast tomorrow, wednesday, sept. 9th at the townsend from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, amy edwards and emily bell! there is no cover for this event and you can find out all about it here.my guests for episode 412 are dalt and victoria from the lo-fi/soul band, three bones! their new album, haven't you heard comes out today and they're celebrating with a record release show with special guests, tele novella and ringo deathstar at the chicon collective. it's brought to you by solistice live and you can find out more about it here. dalt and victoria came by lat week and we had a fantastic conversation. i had a great time getting to know three bones. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 409: Wiretree / Croy And The Boys

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you winning the race. i'm doing well. i have the weekend off from skyrocket, so i'll be going to my friends joe's to swim on saturday then to see a screening of penelope spheeris' 1983 film, "suburbia". i'll be doing the weekend stuff that everyone always gets to do when i'm on my way out of town to a gig or going to an early load in and soundcheck somewhere. exciting huh? hey! don't forget we have a live podcast coming up wednesday, sept. 9th  from 8-10 pm at the townsend here in austin, tx. my guests will be miles zuniga (fastball) kathy valentine, amy edwards and emily bell! there's no cover. check out the facebook event.my guest for episode 409 is kevin peroni from austin's indie pop band, wiretree! they've just rereleased the album that put them on the map, 2007's bouldin, on vinyl. kevin stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we talked about growing up in corpus christi, getting to austin, discovering pop music, starting wiretree, playing festivals in japan and europe, getting songs placed in movies and tv shows and much, much more. kevin was also nice enough to give us a brand new wiretree song, "let it go" to debut on the show. you can hear it at the end of the show. kevin is an amazing songwriter and artist, wiretree is an amazing band. i hope you enjoy getting to know kevin as much as i did. plus, corey baum from croy and the boys calls in to talk about their kickstarter campaign that ends next saturday, 9/5. check out croy and the boys kickstarter and see what you can do. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 399: Songs From The Podcast

hello friends! i hope you're all enjoyeing summer. when this comes out i'll be getting ready to leave galveston and return to austin for our live recording of episode 400 tomorrow, wednesday, july 29th from 8-10pm at the townsend! my guests will be, aj vallejo, jazz mills, suzanna choffel, nakia and justin elliott! come celebrate 400 episodes with us!welcome to episode 399: songs from the podcast. over the last year i've had well over 100 guests come by the apartment, talk to me at festival, meet me at werd podcast studios and even meeting at undisclosed locations, to talk about where they're at with their music life and music career. often times, these people are coming by during their "press assaults" promoting their latest album or single. sometimes i end up getting turned on to a new band, artist, album or song. in fact, it happens all the time. i love when a podcast is over and the artist's music stays with me and i become a fan. with well over 100 artists on the show over the last year, i got turned on a bunch of music. in this episode i included 15 songs that i loved. there so many more, that i started a playlist on spotify titled, "episode 399: songs from the podcast" you can find a link to it on our facebook page check it out there are a lot of songs on there. so, i get to play d.j. and spin tunes from shivery shakes, little brave, quiet company, billy harvey, migrant kids, the blue bonnets, bob schneider, phranchyze, dwight twilley, t.a.p.e.s., skinny lister, cautiontape, the wind + the wave, LEV and wild adriatic! hopefully, this mix sparks your interest in some of these bands and makes you check out the spotify playlist where you can check out even more music from the podcast. i hope you enjoy listening to this as much as i enjoyed making it. let's get down!ciao! -jg