Episode 429: Big Cat

hello friends! welcome to another episode of "how did i get here?" a podcast where i talk to musicians and other folks in entertainment and art about what, how and why they do what they do. i hope you're all doing well. i want to let you know that my band, skyrocket, will be playing at cedar street courtyard this saturday 10/31, halloween night. we start at 9 or 10 and play til your costume is coming off and your make-up is melting come out and party with us this halloween.my guests for episode 429 are singer, malford milligan and guitarist, dave sebree from austin's newest super-group, big cat! they're self-titled debut album comes out this week and they're playing a fecord release show this thursday 10/29 at the continental club here in austin and they're playing an instore at waterloo records on friday 10/30 at 4 pm. big cat also includes drummer, les fisher, keyboard player, stefano intelisano and bass player, roscoe beck! i had a great time catching up with malford and dave about how they got the band together, making their album and much, much more. i love these guys and i'm sure you will too. 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 411: Max Frost

hello friends! i hope you've all got your labor day weekend plans in order. maybe you're going to the beach or the lake for one last time this summer. this episode is coming out a little late because i shot another episode of "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj". we shot the episode with willy braun at his gorgeous place and he taught us how to make delicious bbq ribs, coleslaw, beans and a whole lot of tito's and lemonade. it's the best one yet! i'll let you know when it's up! hey! i just want to remind you that we have a live podcast coming up next wednesday, july 9th at the townsend right here in austin, tx from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, amy edwards and emily bell! find out more about the event here.my guest for episode 411 is the amazingly talented musician/songwriter/producer/rockstar, max frost! i headed over to werd media labs and met up with max. his new single, "withdrawal" is out today. you can get it on itunes or at his website maxfrost.net. he's about to head out on tour for the month of october with austin indie darlings, wild child. so max and i had a fantastic conversation about everything from handling quincy jones' oscar, writing songs with and for people, keeping your integrity whie making pop music, why you should put your songs on soundcloud, discovering himself as an artist and much, much more. plus, he does the best bob schneider imitation ever. max is a very smart and aware person and we had a really great conversation. i hope you enjoy getting to know max as much as i did. 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 373: Elizabeth McQueen & Jerome Morrison Infinity + Infinity

hello friends! i hope you're all in fine shape and ready for the upcoming pool party season otherwise known as summer...my guests for episode 373 are elizabeth mcqueen and jerome morrison. they're presenting "infinity + infinity" at the museum of human achievement in austin, tx this thursday, april 30th and friday, may 1st with two shows per day at 7 and 9 pm. find out all about it at www.infinityplusinfinity.net so, what is "infinity + infinity"? the intermedia performance features mcqueen's newest ensemble, EMQ. with interactive structures designed and built by designer/visual artist/ man of science, jerome morrison. the work will utilize cutting-edge animation, audience-engaging motion sensor technology and, sophisticated building processes to create interactive, audience-controlled visual environments working in tandem with mcqueen's original music. we have a great conversation and they are able to explain the experience really well. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 371: Amy Edwards

hello friends! i hope you're all having a fantastic spring experience. i am. today is gorgeous here in austin, tx and i have the windows open and i am letting spring into my apartment, i'm doing some spring cleaning, i'm listening to records i bought on record store day. if you want to see my score on record store day, photos of upcoming guests or get updates on past guests, simply "like" our facebook page and you will be kept up to date on all things "how did i get here?" our guest for episode 371 is musician, radio personality, actor, blogger, wife and mom, amy edwards! amy and i played a show a while back, i thought she was great and i invited her on the podcast. after hearing her music and knowing part of her story, i thought it would be a great conversation with this fearless, creative, soulful, rocker. amy is new to playing music, she didn't start til she was 38. we have a great conversation about how she turned a group of moms learning to be rockstars over wine once a week into playing at the playboy mansion, making records and starting a legitimate solo career all while being a radio personality, blogger, wife and mom. amy is an incredibly strong and interesting woman. i had a great time getting to know her. i'm sure you will too. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 370: Et Tu Bruce'

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well out there in the world. i want to encourage all of you to head to to record store day tomorrow, saturday, april 18th 2015. we all should do our part in making this business of music work and record store day is a fun way to get involved. i'm going shopping with friends. if you don't know your local record stores, here's a great resource  to finding one in your town, recordstoreday.com if you buy some good stuff, post a photo to our facebook page also, if you live in austin, tonight, friday, april 17th 2015, my all-girl band, johnny in the ladies room will be playing at threadgills along with jess & the echoes and kendall beard and whiskey rebellion. come out for a great night of music!my guests for episode 370 are london's great americana band, et tu bruce'! these guys were in town for sxsw and we had a chance to sit down and chat. described as "west london meets the west coast", these guys have taken england's bbc-6 radio by storm, left their sweat on the stage in all of london's best clubs, toured the states with the zombies, kept their sanity during the social apocalypse that is sxsw twice and much, much more. i had a great time getting to know these guys. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 369: Paper Aeroplanes with Elen Roberts from Music Wales

hello friends! we have a lot of new listeners coming to the podcast this week. welcome. i hope you enjoy these candid conversations between folks in the biz. i have all kinds of musicians on the show. scroll through the archives here on the podbean page. or subscribe on itunes, stitcher or via the podcast app for iphones. we have new shows coming out every tuesday and friday. so, twice a week you get a peek into the lives of musicians and other people in the entertainment biz through candid conversations hosted by your truly. if you like what you hear, "like" our facebook page and you'll get photos of guests, updates from former guests, pictures of me with the guests and much more. my guests for episode 369 are welsh dream/pop band, paper aeroplanes and sitting in with them is elen roberts from music wales who was hosting a show for paper aeroplanes during sxsw at the brittish music embassy. i caught up with them during sxsw and we got to chat about the state of music in wales, what music wales does for welsh artists all over the world, paper aeroplanes new album, "joy" and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these fine folks. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 367: Gina Chavez & Mother Falcon

hello friends! i hope you all had a wonderful passover/easter weekend. i did. i got to spend some quality time with my grand mother and aunts on sunday morning for breakfast and a general hang. i love hanging out with them. i haven't done an "easter thing" for a long time. in fact, i can't remember when. in my culture you get gifts on easter. isn't that weird? i always thought it was weird. not that i wasn't thankful or grateful, i just always thought it was weird. anyway, episode of "drinking/cooking with johnny & aj" is up! this time we have a guest, emmy robbin and we make her mom's famous king ranch casserole! check it out here the link.my guests for episode 367 are 2014/2015 austin chronicle music poll's "musician of the year", gina chavez and mother falcon's nick gregg! gina has a video release party and big show this saturday, april 11th at the stateside theater in austin, tx with special guests, mother falcon, elizabeth mcqueen. riders against the storm are hosting the show. the show benefits the non-profit, ninas arribas college fund. so, we have a great conversation about what it takes to put a show on in a theater, gina's sweep of the awards, how mother falcon makes it work with such a big group and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 365: Laura Reed

hello friends! i hope this episode of our crazy little podcast finds you happy, healthy and actively making love while you listen to it. i'm doing well. i got to see my pal, paco estrada play last night. he had a record release show last night here in austin. was a great show. the album, bedtime stories is out now. you should go get. plus, i'm on it. i just watched that hbo scientology documentary, "going clear"... what a great movie and a freaky fucking cult. i recommend seeing this documentary.my guest for episode 365 is the talented and entertaining, laura reed! someone on twitter reached out to laura and me and suggested we do a podcast while she was in town for sxsw, so i checked out her music, thought she was great and invited her to be on the show. we had a great conversation about going from south africa to north carolina, making music and writing nashville, touring with george clinton, working with producer, shannon sanders and much, much more. laura is a powerhouse of talent and energy and i really had a great time getting to know her. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg