Episode 626: Kathy Valentine Returns Again!

Former Go-Go, current Bluebonnet and one of my favorite people, Kathy Valentine returns to the show for episode 626! Kathy's has a busy year and she's back on the show to talk about it. Plus, she's started a new series assembling the talent of women in the arts called, "She Factory". The first of the series is a song pool featuring Nina Diaz (Girl In A Coma), Carolyn Wonderland, Jane Ellen Bryant, Suzanna Choffel, Ruthie Foster and Patricia Vonne. It takes place at The Townsend on Tuesday, September 19th from 8-10:30. You can find out all the details HERE. Kathy and I have  great conversation about The Bluebonnets newest album, Tonewrecker, her solo singles she's been releasing,  the idea behind and the future of "She Factory", her memoir and much, much more! I always love hanging out with Kathy. I'm sure you will too. Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 583: Redd Volkaert

One of Austin's greatest musicians, Barry "Frosty" Smith passed away on Wednesday. He was 71. His vast and impressive list of credits includes Funkadelic, Lee Michaels, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimmie Vaughan, Soulhat, Papa Mali, Delbert Mclinton and many, many more. I was lucky to get see him play so many times over the years and it was always an inspiring experience. The last time I saw him was around three years ago at the Continental Club Gallery where he was playing with Mike Flanigin.  That night, I saw the master at work and then got to exchange a few words after. Rest in peace Frosty. Thank you for the groove. We'll miss you.
My guest for episode 583 is the amazingly talented guitar legend, Redd Volkaert! You might know Redd from his work with Brad Paisley, George Jones, Tim Mcgraw, Dolly Parton, his years with Merle Haggard and many, many more. He's put out several albums and instructional videos. If you live in Austin, you can see him every Saturday at 3:30 pm at The Continental Club and every Sunday at 7:00 pm with his band, Haybale at The Continental Club as well. Redd and I have a great conversation about growing up in Canada, falling in love with the guitar, his years in California, playing with Merle Haggard, what inspires him and much, much more! I hope you enjoy getting to know Redd. I sure did. Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 529: Reckless Kelly

Hey gang! I hope you've all had a great week. Things are going well here. Heading out to Houston to spend some time with my grandmother. She's 94 now. We're very, very close, so i'm trying to spend as much time with her as i can. SKYROCKET! will be playing in Houston tonight at The Continental Club. People were saying it's sold out. As of last night, it was not, so if you live in Houston, come out tonight Friday 9/30 and party with us! I'll be going to ACL Festival this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes on Tuesday's show. 
My guest for episode 529 is the amazing Cody Braun from Reckless Kelly! For 20 years Reckless Kelly has been making amazing americana music and touring the country relentlessly. They've just released their 11th album, the stunning, Sunset Motel. The album is a gorgeous example of a band taking a sound and running with it and 20 years down the road, there's amazing growth and depth beyond what they even expected. Cody and I have a great conversation about growing up in Idaho, playing in his dad's band with his brothers, moving to Austin and starting Reckless Kelly, their experiences with releasing albums and touring the U.S. for 20 years, the importance of art in everything from writing songs to album packaging, making Sunset Motel and much, much more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Cody as much as I did. Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 517: Money Chicha

Hello friends! I hope you're all surviving the end of summer heat and floods. It's crazy out there, right?
I got to see Alice Cooper on Sunday night! I was amazing. I want to thank my friend, AJ Vallejo for inviting me. I had a blast seeing AJ's band, BANG before the Alice show. It was a great night all around. Alice's show is an onslaught of costume changes, snakes, giant frankenstein monsters and heavy metal. Plus, he's super old and still rocking like a champ. it was inspiring.
My Guest for episode 517 is Greg Gonzalez, the bass player from Money Chicha, Brownout and the Grammy winning, Grupo Fantasma! Money Chicha has a fantastic new album out, Echo En Mexico. I've been a fan of Money Chicha for a few years now and I've gotten to see them a few times during their residency at The Continental Club Gallery here in Austin and i'm a big fan. Greg and i have a conversation about balancing, touring and making music with three high-profile bands, growing up in Laredo, teaching composition, making Echo En Mexico, the history of Chicha music, playing with Prince and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know Greg. I sure did. Let's get down!
Ciao! jg

Episode 499 Part Two: The Conversations

hello friends! yesterday was the first day of summer. are you ready? have you chosen your summer jam? i have... i announced it at our live show last night for episode 500. it's "make me like you" by gwen stefani. what's yours? you can be a hit at any pool party, backyard bbq, boat ride, beach house party by playing my summer jam 2016 playlist available on spotify. i'll post a link on our facebook page. 
episode 499 part 2: the conversations is a clip show of some of the highlights of the last hundred shows. you'll hear joe king carrasco talk about being banned from saturday night live, being the first poster boy for mtv and more. mike flanigin talks to me about why he chose billy gibbons to sing the title track from his latest album, the drifter. chip pope talks about writing for tv, the natasha leggero special and more. lincoln durham explains how he's lived in his head since he was a kid. director penelope spheeris and her daughter anna talk about "the decline of western civilization part 2: the metal years". brannen temple gives me a history lesson on the origin of bebop. emily wolfe talks about hitting bottom and getting sober. bruce sudano talks about staying inspired after 40 plus years in the business and how casablanca told his band to play disco. once again, it's been a great hundred episodes. i look forward to the next 500. thank you so much for listening. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 381: Mark Proct

hello friends! i hope you all had a good memorial day weekend. there was crazy rain, flooding and general old-testament-style devastation here in austin. i want to tell you guys about some solo shows i have coming up this week. tonight, tuesday, may 26th i'll be playing at the volstead in austin. i'll be playing at 10 right after last friday's guest, the big fix and right before one of my favorite people, kayce laine from nyc. thursday, may 28th, i'll be playing at 502 bar in san antonio at 9pm opening for one of my best friends, joseph king from nyc. and friday, 5/29, SKYROCKET! will be rocking hanover's in pflugerville at 10 pm. my guest for episode 381 is music business veteran, mark proct! mark shares his journey through 40 years in this business working as a roadie, soundman, tour manager, manager and everything in between with the likes of willie nelson, asleep at the wheel, jerry jeff walker, the fabulous thunderbirds, stevie ray vaughan, the vaughan brothers, the arc angels, storyville, vallejo and more. that whole time, mark had a camera and was documenting his exciting trip with all of these legendary musicians and has just put out an amazing and gorgeous book, "home today gone tomorrow", which is a collection of candid photos and stories spanning a 40 year career in this crazy business. mark and i sat down last week and went through the book and his life for 2 whole hours and here it is. i hope you enjoy it. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 308: Tommy Taylor

hello friends! i hope you're all having a great day and time in your life. really. i want you all to be doing well. i'm doing well. i played my last show for my residency at strange brew on tuesday. it was a blast. kathy valentine played a very acoustic show and she was amazing. i read a facebook post from her that made me think she's probably not doing any more of them which is a drag. anyway, if you missed the residency, i'm sorry. it was fun. hey! if you're in austin this sunday, sept. 14th, i'll be playing with john bush from the new bohemians at his sunday show at one-2-one bar. the show is from 5:30 - 7:30. i'm looking forward to jamming with such great musicians. speaking of jamming with great musicians, if you're in houston tonight friday, sept. 12th, i'll be playing at the continental club with skyrocket! we start at 10. come out and party with us.my guest for episode 308 is amazing drummer, tommy taylor. i'm sure you've heard tommy play he's the drummer on the christopher cross album with "ride like the wind" and he's played with eric johnson for decades. i met tommy when i was 16 years old. he's always been a great hang and such a great talent. i got to jam with him a lot in the 90's when he played in the "sunday monsters" at steamboat with stephen doster and will sexton. i've been trying to get tommy on the show since i started it. i know he started playing in bands here in austin when he was just a teenager. he ended up playing with christopher cross when he was 20, won grammys. toured the world, played on all the tv shows, went on to play with eric johnson, on spotify alone, songs he's played on have been played over 15 million times. it was an honor to sit down and chat with such an amazing part of rock and roll history. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 303: Joe Reyes

hello friends! i hope you're out there successfully getting your nuts like crazy, rabid squirrels. i'm just getting in from a session for a song i'm producing for an artist named, daniel eyes. we cut drums at SPACE with this guy cruz playing and it turned out fantastic! it's a great room, a great studio, that's why i'm glad they're sponsors of this show. quality, great staff and of course, air conditioning. i'll be playing my tuesday residency tonight at strange brew. my guests will be the incredibly talented chris taylor and the phenomenal, little brave. it starts at 8. if you're in austin, come see what it's all about. my guest for episode 303 is ultra-talented/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter, joe reyes! you might know joe from the many musical projects he's been involved in like, freddy fender, billy harvey, salim nourallah and many more. or, the many bands he's played/plays in like, lara & reyes, buttercup, demitasse and many more. joe was in town from san antonio a couple of weeks ago and we got together and had a great conversation about his interesting musical journey, san antonio, buttercup, demitasse, freddy fender and much, much more. i love joe. he's an amazing talent and total sweetheart. i hope you enjoy getting to know him as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 301: Kevin Wommack / Rain Perry Checks In

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i had a week off from podcasting, three weeks off from SKYROCKET! and i've been puppy-sitting. crazy times. anyway, i'm back! i have four more shows in my tuesday residency at strange brew here in austin. i know. i'm gonna miss it. tonight i have two amazingly talented friends playing with me, kacy crowley and lang freeman from sounds under radio and the rocketboys. i'll also have some friends that are in from nyc sitting in on some songs with me. good times! on this episode, i have a quick phone conversation with californian singer/songwriter-turned documentarian, rain perry about her documentary, "the shopkeeper: a documentary about mark hallman and the congress house". she has an indiegogo campaign to raise money to finish it. here's a link, indegogo link go check it out. mark hallman is my mentor and one of the most important people in my life and i lived in the congress house for 2 years. give what you can.my guest for episode 301 is manager and label owner, kevin wommack. i've known kevin for nearly 30 years. he's worked with omar and the howlers, sara hickman, guy forsythe, los lonely boys, ben kweller and many more. he also has a label, playing in traffic and run ben kweller's label, the noise company who has just released wild child's "the runaround". kevin has had an amazing career, rich with experiences both high (winning a grammy with los lonely boys) and low (the death of sims ellison from pariah) talking to him is like talking to a jedi of the business. if you're a young band or in any band, i recommend listening to this smart and extremely interesting man. i hope you enjoy my convesation with kevin as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg