Episode 472: Brannen Temple

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you well. austin, texas is in the depths of sxsw. it's all happening. bands are running around town. pedestrians are in the middle of the road looking at their phones. people are littering. i had a hangover the other day. all signs that sxsw is in full-swing. i got to attend a very special documentary screening last night. it's called "the shopkeeper" and it's about my mentor, musician/songwriter/producer, mark hallman. i had the good fortune of getting to be in it and it was absolutely amazing. my friend rain perry made it. i'll keep you guys up on what's going on with it and when it's going to come out. keep an eye out for "the shopkeeper".
my guest for episode 472 is drummer, brannen temple. you might know brannen from his bands, temple underground, black red black blaze and more. or you might know him from his work with, sheena easton, eric johnson, janet jackson, the dixie chicks, boz skaggs and many, many more. brannen is one of the best drummers and musicians i've ever seen in my life. most people that know him say that too. he's also one of the coolest guys i've meet and have had on the show. we have an in-depth conversation about what music means, what it does, what it can do. brannen's approach to studio and live playing. this is honestly one of my favorite episodes. prepare for a lesson in true cool. enjoy my conversation with this masterful musician and soulful human being. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 457: KP and the Boom Boom

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i got to play the new antone's here in austin last night. i really like that place. it looks and sounds beautiful. great sound on stage, great location and great people. i'm very happy antone's is back. i missed it. if you're in houston tonight, friday, jan. 22nd, skyrocket will be at the continental club. we go on at 10. it's a great time.my guests for episode 457 are kate and nick from austin euro/soul/pop kp and the boom boom! if you live in austin, you can see them tomorrow, saturday, january 23rd at geraldine's in the new van zant hotel. they have two e.p.'s out now and are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length in a few months. you can find them online at kpbbmusic.com. nick and kate came by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great conversation about living in the u.k., india and guatamala, having an indian singing guru, euro/soul, having natural charisma, opening for snoop dogg, the writing and recording process and much, much more! i had a great time getting to know kate and nick. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 451: Kev Bev and the Woodland Creatures

happy new year everyone! welcome to 2016! i hope you all had a safe and happy new years eve and spent it with loved ones. i am about to head to houston as i write this to play a new years eve party. should be fun. i'll be with my friends. i have some resolutions i'm going to try to stick to: quit sugar drinks and cookies, eventually quit smoking, be a better person. what are yours? my first guests for 2016 are kevin and candace collins from the 9-piece, soul/funk/reggae/hip-hop extravaganza known as, kev bev and the woodland creatures! their new album, domesticated is out TODAY, jan 1 2016! you can find it and all about them at kevbevandthewc.com domesticated is a celebration of life much like their idols, sly and the family stone. i thought this would be a great way to start out 2016. candace and kevin came a few weeks ago and had a great conversation about handling a 9-piece band, life in a small east coast town, music scenes, kickstarter, vinyl is the hotdog of music?, being a couple on a band and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know candace and kevin as much as i did. let's get down! happy new year!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 428: Autumn

hello friends! i hope you're all living it up this weekend. i'm good. i'm playing an F1 party with skyrocket tonight here in austin. i guess the town is gearing up for this huge car race. there's a special event in austin every weekend isn't there? wild. this is a giant worldwide car race and i hear it's very exciting. maybe someday i'll go. my guest for episode 428 is jazz/soul/funk singer, autumn! autumn just released her self-titled, debut album in september. she is also a vocalist in the nightowls who play out around austin a lot. i heard about autumn through my friends at the austin music foundation. she was their artist of the month for september. anyway, autumn came by and we had a fantastic conversation about growing in oklahoma in a conservative family, growing up singing in church, dating, making music with someone you're involved then not involved with, working in the oil business, beyonce'-esque outfits and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know autumn. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 408: David Pulkingham / Utopiafest

hello friends! i hope you're all handling the insane stock market fluctuations with a cool hand like e.f. hutton. things are good here. i've been practicing with pal amy edwards and yates hagen for a show we have at the gibson showroom for the austin film society in a couple of weeks. it's been fun working on songs and changing them up to accommodate our stripped down band. speaking of a coupe of weeks... we have a live podcast coming up on wednesday, sept. 9th at the townsend from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, emily bell and amy edwards. these live shows are really fun and there is no cover. come out and say hi. my guest for episode 408 is one of austin's most "in demand" guitar players, david pulkingham. you might know david through his work as a sideman with such notable artists as, alejandro escovedo, robert plant, patty griffin and many more. well, david has stepped out of his sideman role for his gorgeous new album, little pearl. just released last friday, little pearl features patty griffin, lloyd maines, the tosca string quartet and many more. david stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great talk about growing up in a commune, music school, taking part in the latin explosion, learning rock and roll from alejandro escovedo, playing with robert plant and much, much more. i've always liked david. he's an exceptional musician and great hang. also, travis sutherland from utopiafest (sept. 4th0 sept. 6th) stops and tells what to expect at the 7th annual utopiafest this labor day weekend. more info on utopiafest at utopiafest.com. let's get down!ciao! -jg

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 401: Continental Drift

hello friends!  hope you're all doing well and taking the last weeks of summer in stride. i'm trying to. i'm getting my shit together after a couple of whirlwind weeks of podcasts, shows, the beach, new york, connecticut and the 400th podcast... whew! i had a great time doing everything, but it was utterly exhausting. hey! if you live in austin or not, i'll be on 93.7 KLBJ tonight at 11. i'll be on "local licks" with loris lowe talking about the podcast and stuff. check it out at www.klbjfm.com. also, tomorrow, wednesday, august 5th, i will be moderating a panel for the austin music foundation's, "the music business is dead" panel. we'll be discussing the implications of the austin music census findings with a great panel of musicians and music business folks. you can find out more and rsvp here http://austinmusicfoundation.org/. come out and find out where this community is headed and what you can do to sustain a career in this day and age.my guests for episode 401 are jedidiah and david from the ten piece, afro beat/psych band, continental drift. these guys are about to release their debut ep in a few weeks. i had the pleasure of sitting down with these cats yesterday and chatting about west african music, what is psychedelic music, maintaining order in a 10-peice band, recording live, working out songs at shows and much, much more. these guys are amazing musicians with a great vision and i really enjoyed getting to know them. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! jg

Episode 400: Live at The Townsend! With Suzanna Choffel, Justin Elliott, Nakia, A.J. Vallejo and Jazz Mills

hello friends! welcome to episode 400 recorded live at the townsend in austin, tx. my guests for this show are suzanna choffel, justin elliott, nakia, a.j. vallejo and jazz mills! i would like to thank all of my guests, the townsend for hosting us so graciously, the werd company for coming out and recording it so beautifully and most of all the crowd that came out and made it so fun. this is a great show! we talk about periscope, amazing cocktails including one called, "how did i get here?", aj asks me to smell his finger, french trips, more cocktails and much, much more. i hope you enjoy it as much as we did. thank you for listening to this show. i feel like the last 400 episodes have been life-changing for me. i can't wait to see what the next 400 episodes hold. thanks again for listening. it makes me happy. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Repost Episode:166: The Jitterbug Vipers, Slim Richey

slim richey, 1938-2015hello friends. it is with great sadness that i bring you the repost of this episode of "how did i get here?" episode 166: the jitterbug vipers. yesterday, legendary jazz guitarist and beautiful soul, slim richey, lost his battle with lymphoma. this is a great loss to our community and our tribe. my heart and condolences go out to his family, his lovely wife and musical partner, francie meaux jeaux, his friends and his viper bandmates, sarah sharp and masumi jones. sadly, with this great loss comes a great financial burden with slim having spent a lot of the last couple of months in the hospital and funeral costs. you can help francie and the family by going to their gofundme page and donating what you can. i hope you enjoy this great/crazy conversation and get something out of it. i sure did. slim will be missed.