Episode 407: Penelope Spheeris & Anna Fox / The Peterson Brothers

hello friends! i hope you're all finding yourselves enjoying your summer. i am. it just cooled off a bit which is nice. i have a great show for you guys today! a double-header, if you will. fist up i have legendary director, penelope spheeris and her daughter/ business partner, anna fox. you might know penelope from the big hollywood movies like "wayne's world" and "black sheep", but you might also know her from her "decline of western civilization" parts 1-3 documentaries. i came up watching part 1: the punk years and part 2: the metal years and loved them. the austin film society is presenting a ver special screening of all three parts plus, penelope's 1983 film, "suburbia" at the marchesa theater on friday, august 28th and saturday, august 29th. penelope and anna will be on hand for a "q & a" after the movies. tickets and more info on the event are available at https://www.austinfilm.org/decline so we have a great phone conversation where we find out what happened to the bands, odin and london from part 2: the metal years, why paul stanley was in bed with three girls during his interview and much more. if you want to own the new decline of western civilization box set, go here shout! factory.my second guests for episode 407 are austin's new generation of blues musicians, the peterson brothers! glenn and alex peterson stopped by to talk to me about their debut, self-titled album that came out earlier this month, being professional working musicians by night and high-school students by day, keeping their weekly continental club residency (mondays @ 6:30 fresh), where they want to take the blues and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know these fine, young, talented gentlemen. i'm sure you will too. find out more about the peterson brothers at petersonbrothersband.com let's get down!ciao! -jg  

Episode 403: Ocean Of Stars

hello friends! i hope you're all braving the extreme heat that is upon us. i'm doing well. just working on some music, booking a live podcast for sept. 9th (details coming soon), prepping for 3 podcasts i'm doing tomorrow etc. so, i listened to the american top 50 chart on spotify this morning while i was running. i probably heard about 15 to 20 songs on shuffle. i wasn't very moved by anything which made me kind of sad. then i realized that there is so much non-mainstream music out there, so much of it comes through this show. i'm really lucky to be in the position to have so much music coming through and getting turned on to so much stuff. it gives me hope. go find some new music. it feels good.my guest for episode 403 is ocean of stars leader, danny grochow! this is danny's second time on the show. he was on a couple of years ago talking about some solo material he was releasing and now he's back with with a new e.p. from his band, ocean of stars. danny is a great guy who is out there playing bass and guitar as a sideman but still makes the time to write, record and perform his original instrumental-prog-rock. we have a great conversation about four track cassette recording, the rpm challenge, finding musicians, writing complex instrumental music, answering want ads and much, much more. i i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 402: Jamie Wellwarth

hello friends! i hope you're all enjoying the this last month of summer. i am. it's really, really hot here in austin. over 100 every day. that gets a little old... but i'll make it! i got to moderate an austin music foundation panel last night on sustaining a career in music. all of the panelists, the amf folks, the one-2-one folks and the audience were all really nice. i had a great time and met a lot of really nice people. i'm looking forward to doing more. my guest for episode 402 is continental club (austin) production manager, member of the nomad sound team and front of house soundman for jane's addiction, jamie wellwarth! people have been hitting me up for a long time about getting jamie on the show. people said we would be total friends and it would be a great conversation. well, that was an understatement. jamie and i had an amazing conversation, running sound for your idols, being a survivor, the continental club, microphones, living sober and much, much more! i really loved getting to know jamie. i'm sure you will too. 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

Episode 387: Löwin Returns! / Solstice Festival

yo people who read these transmissions from my sad, little brain! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i've been rehearsing, seeing bands, doing podcasts and generally trying to stay cool. on today's show, we get a special visit from and have a quick chat with matt, lauren and adrian from solstice festival. it's a free festival that takes place saturday, june, 20th 2015 from noon to 10 pm at pan am park in austin, tx. the festival features ringo deathstarr, zeale, jazz mills, money chicha, dead love club and many, many more. matt, lauren and adrian fill us in on solstice live, solstice festival, the shows this thursday and friday in 14 clubs and more. you can also go to solticeatx.com and find out line ups and info. my guests for episode 387 are sara and chris from the band, löwin! this is the band's second appearance on the show. they've just released a fantastic, new e.p. called, royal jelly. you can find it on itunes, spotify, soundcloud, select record stores and at their shows. if you live in austin, you can see löwin every saturday in june at the blackheart on rainey st. at midnight. i've seen them they're a great band. sara is a great musician/singer/frontwoman. we have a great conversation about they're new ep royal jelly, kanye west, writing and recording, songs with the names sara and johnny, the current music scene and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know löwin as much as i have. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 376: A.J. Vincent

hello my friends! i hope you're all doing well. i just got some horrible news that there is an "allergy tsunami" coming. is that sensationalism or am i in trouble for the coming months and according to the news, coming years as well. yuk! i just got on flonase a month ago. it seems to be working. how do you control your allergies? my guest for episode 376 is one of austin's best, most innovative and entertaining musicians, a.j. vinent! he's just joined austin's hard rock heroes, scorpion child! you might also know aj from his time as the keyboard player for the bright light social hour, or from his insane solo shows. he's won best keyboard player in the austin chronicle music awards. he's got solo music out and it's awesome you can hear it at ajvincent.com. we have a fantastic conversation about  being born and raised in austin, cutting his teeth in a metal/hardcore/indie rock band in high school called, poor man's opera, hearing pink floyd, boston, led zeppelin and tower of power all in one day, we discuss our idea for "speedos" the woman's answer to "hooters", people buy him leslie cabinets, keyboards, joining scorpion child and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know aj. i sure did. let's get down!

Episode 366: The Miseries

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well out there in this world gone mad. things are good here. i have a lot of things going on right now. i have a gig with my band, johnny in the ladies room on april, 17th 2015 at threadgill's in austin, tx. we'll be playing with love and chaos featuring my friends, kendall beard and aj vallejo. speaking of aj. we shot the second episode of our youtube cooking show, "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj"check out episode 1. here's the link. episode 2 will be up soon. my guests for episode 366 are dutch pop/punk rockers, the miseries! these guys were in town during sxsw and got a chance to come by the apartment and chat about their origin, growing up in the netherlands, touring holland, what it's like to actually live in amsterdam and much, much more. their self-titled album is out now! you get it on itunes, spotify and from their website, themiseries.nl i hope you enjoy getting to know the miseries. i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 361: Beats Delicious Festival 2015 Wild Adriatic / Angela Perley & The Howlin' Moons / Topher Mohr / Skinny Lister

congratulations to our sponsor, strange brew loungeside for taking "best venue to play", "best club sound" and "best live music venue" in the 2014/2015 austin music poll!hello friends! welcome to the first sxsw show of the season. on sunday, march 15th i got to go to the beats delicious festival at the stonehouse villa in driftwood, texas! i got to watch and talk to wild adriatic, angela perley & the howlin' moons, topher mohr and skinny lister. my friend amy and her crew at beats delicious pulled together a great festival showcasing all these great bands from all over, with local vendors promoting all their wares from make-overs to photo booths, a gin and juice bar, local brewries, food and more. the stonehouse villa was a gorgeous location and we got to do our interviews in the bridal suite. i was joined by kristi olberding who shot some gorgeous photos which i will post on our facebook page. if you'd like to see kristi's work, check out her website www.kristiolberding.com i hope you enjoy my conversations with these great bands as much as i did. i had a blast at the festival and i'm looking forward to next year. thanks beats delicious! let's get down!ciao! -jgwildadriatic.comangelaperley.comtophermohr.comskinnylister.com

Episode 356: Tommy Mack & The Lifters

hello my friends! i hope you're all heading into the weekend with awesome plans. maybe you're going to see some music. maybe some music needs you to come see it. i say you look up your favorite local entertainment guide, be it online or even analog newsprint, find yourself a band to see. if you like them, buy their album, cd, download card, t-shirt, sweatshirt or any other merch they have. like their facebook page, follow them on twitter and instagram. what i'm saying is, get out there this weekend and see some music. if you like it, support it. get involved. my guest for episode 356 is the talented and always entertaining, tommy mack! tommy mack & the lifters have ben playing around for a while. they have a couple of rocking albums out. you can find them, their music and when they're playing at thelifetrs.net. i've known tommy for over 20 years and we've been trying to do this podcast for the last two years. we finally got it together and had a great conversation about the hard rock scene in the 80's, the a.r.c. (austin rehearsal complex), the backroom, continental club and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with tommy mack. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 355: Wild Adriatic Returns! / Pick With Austin

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. this year is just flying by isn't it. i hope you're finding the time to stop and smell the roses. how did you like the oscars? i always think i'm going to like those things, but i really have more fun just making fun of everything than actually watching the show. especially on twitter. i loved "boyhood" & "birdman". i would've taken either as best picture. i am sad that the drummer guy in "birdman" didn't "qualify" for an academy award. that was one of my favorite things in a movie EVER! i've been doing podcasts every day this week. i have a lot of great shows coming in the next few weeks. plus, SXSW is coming! run for your life!!!!my guests for episode 355 are new york rockers, wild adriatic! this amazing rock and roll band just moved to austin to write songs, taking on a saturday night residency at empire control room and garage. they're releasing a new e.p., never enough on tuesday, march 17th 2015. this is the guys' second appearance on the show. they were on last year while they were here on tour. anyway, we had a great conversation about their recent european tour, how they make songs, life in the van, how spotify helps them spread the word, mateo's love of merchandise, we talk gear and just what the hell they're doing in texas for 6 weeks. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. plus, laurie hebert from pick with austin stops by and talks about their current instrument drive. let's get down!ciao! -jg