Episode 377: Ray Prim Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all happy and healthy. things are good here. i wanted to tell you about a solo show i'm playing tomorrow, wed, may 13th at the hole in the wall here in austin. i'll be playing from 7-8 pm right after my friends, ethan azarian and jeff johnston. there's no cover and the hole in the wall is a good time. come out and say hi!my guest for episode 377 is signer/songwriter, ray prim! you might know ray from his band, 7 stones in the late 90's, or maybe his "soulwriter" songwriter series at flipnotics that he had for years. you might also know him from the webseries i'm in, "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj". he was also a guest in the early days of this show. ray has spent the last two years making his new album, still here on loungeside records. it's a fantastic album! he has a release show in austin this saturday, may 16th at strange brew loungeside at 9 pm. he'll be playing with a full-band right down to a horn section. we have a great conversation about being in a songwriting group, making still here on his own and learning how to record and mix and all that jazz, the maywether/pacquio fight, learning all aspects of making an album including photoshop and much, much more. i always have a great time talking to ray. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 357: Extreme Heat

hello friends! i hope the world is treating you well. i'm good. i have a frantic week of rehearsals with multiple bands, shows with different bands, podcast stuff, dinner with rockers and more. i'm glad because this weather makes it easy to NOT go outside. to NOT got do stuff. and i've had kind of a cold since saturday. woke up this morning feeling much better and i'm ready to rock. are you?my guests for episode 357 are austin soul/funk institution, extreme heat! after 40 years of playing together, bruce spelman and mike barnes stopped by with a box of memorabilia, a quilt made of shirts from venues they've played, vinyl albums and their memories to tell the story of of their band, extreme heat. i've been seeing them for 30 of those 40 years. i still share the bill with them both, solo and with skyrocket and i still love seeing them play. this is a great story. mike and bruce came by and laid it all out, playing the armadillo, the crazy 80's, touring, taking a break, on stage heart attacks and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these legendary cats. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 347: T Bird And The Breaks

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are kinda crazy here today and i guess they will be for a while... i've entered a songwriting game with my friends where we have to write a song every day until february 25th. i wrote one last night and one and a half today. i also did 3 podcast interviews and went to the grocery store. i've had a lot of caffeine and i think you can hear it in the intro of this show. anyway, i'll be playing at gueros in austin tomorrow, wednesday, 1/28/15 at 6 pm and the bluebonnets play at 7. we'll be in the courtyard and the whole thing will be on the radio. come by, check it out.my guests for episode 347 are funk dance party band, t bird and the breaks! they have a new album that comes out today (1/27/15)!!!! it's called harmonizm and it is fucking awesome! if you like funky soul music that makes you feel good, you should buy this album. when momo's was open, we played a lot of shows together and it warms my heart to see their progress. this album, harmonizm, is the culmination of many years of hard work. it's focused. the songs are amazing and it has an overall great vibe. the guys have release shows this week and they're hitting the road for month going to the midwest and west coast find out where they'll be by going to www.tbirdandthebreaks.com i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 338: John Morton

hello friends! we are coming to the end of 2014. i hope you're all ready to enter another year and leave, what was a pretty weird year, behind. i am. 2014 was a great year for this podcast. in the last 4 months our subscribers have grown by 10,000 downloads per month! that's our biggest growth yet! thank you so much for making this show such a great part of my life. i feel like i can talk to you guys about my life. it makes me feel better. talking to these guests has made me feel so much better about life and music. so, thank you for another great year of "how did i get here?". i look forward to what we can do in 2015. happy new year! let's get down!!!!my guest for episode is speechwriter/comic/author, john morton! john has just released two books, fire the pretty girl: awkward adventures in business and the elephant on 6th street. he's been a corporate speech writer for over 25 years and wrote speeches for c.e.o.'s of american airlines for 20. i read his book, fire the pretty girl. it is fantastic. he's a great writer, he tells his life story with a sense of humor and self-deprecating honesty that makes it hard to put the book down. my friend, lucas molandes told me about him and i'm so glad we met. i hope you enjoy getting to know my new friend, john morton. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 334: Wayne Sutton

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well! happy first day of hanukkah! christmas is next week and i haven't even started shopping yet... i'm going to try to do it in two days... is that even possible?  stay tuned and find out. my friend, bill carter has a kickstarter campaign for a new album, play on, with just four days left to fund. bill was on the show a couple of years ago and is due for another visit. anyway, he's one of my favorite songwriters and i would like to see his project get funded. go to bill carter kickstarter donate some cash and get help an amazing artist. my guest for episode 334 is phenomenal guitar player, singer, songwriter and all-around great guy, wayne sutton! you might know wayne sutton best from his band, sister 7 or as they were known in the early days, little sister. their band was pivotal in creating what was known as the "black cat scene" with other bands like joe rockhead, ian moore, soulhat and others. i go to know wayne when that whole scene moved down sixth street to steamboat and became part of the "steamboat scene" which was a bigger club a couple of blocks down sixth st. anyway, wayne has gone on to play with many, many bands and most recently has started a guitar/cello duo with steve bernal that plays at the one-2-one bar on tuesdays. i had a great time talking to wayne. he's a real sweet and entertaining dude. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 326: Matt Giles

hello friends! i hope you're all keeping warm wherever you are. it's freezing here in austin. i have spent the day running around and rebuilding my pedal board. if you're not a guitar player, it probably doesn't sound terribly exciting. if you are a guitar player, you feel my excitement. i have a pedals just strewn around for the last couple of years since i dismantled my last pedal board. anyway, i've got all the stuff now and after i write this, i'm going to get busy putting it together. rock on, bitches!!!!my guest for episode 326 is the amazing singing, songwriting, guitar player, matt giles! matt has been playing with quite a few people here in austin since the 90's. his most recent project, the drakes, plays every tuesday at the one-2-one bar here in austin, tx. he also is a guitar player for many folks here in town like, amanda pearcy, woodboss, penny jo pullus, the stir and many more. i got to see the drakes a couple of week ago and i loved it. i hope you enjoy getting to know matt giles. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jgciao! -jg

Episode 307: Paul Oveisi

hello friends! i hope you're all dealing with the end of summer with grace and a nice tan. i wanted to swim today, but i've been inside doing a podcast, working on shows i recorded last week and getting ready to run to a session with a guy i'm producing a song for. then later tonight, i'm playing my last "johnny goudie & friends" summer residency at strange brew. i'm going to miss playing there every week. you get spoiled in a room like that. everyone that works there is totally cool, it's artist oriented and it's so nice to play a listening room. anyway, i have a great show tonight, tuesday, september 9th at 8 pm at strange brew lounge side. my guests are, ryan holley, joe reyes and kathy valentine!!!!!! kathy doesn't do acoustic shows so this is a rare treat. come out and see all of these great artists and celebrate my last show of this super fun residency.my guest for episode 307 is my dear old friend, former momo's owner, paul oveisi! momo's and it's owner were an incredibly important part of the music austin scene during the time it was open. paul wasn't just a club owner, he helped form bands, (the heathens, the coveters) he managed bands (dan dyer, the heathens) he encouraged a culture of community around momo's by having late night jams, suggesting collaborations and of course giving musicians work. paul moved to new york around three years ago with his girlfriend, suzanna choffel and his absence and the closing of momo's have left a hole in what some see as a scene that has not changed for the better. he opened a place in manhattan called, zirzamin which was destroyed by hurricane sandy a couple of months after i played there. anyway, he's moved on to restaurants and he's as interesting and entertaining as ever. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 200: Highlights (originally released 9/2/13)

hello my friends! wow! we made it to 200 episodes! can you believe it? well, i don't really know where to start... i'd like to thank sheboygan for the theme song. they have an album coming out this month and they'll finally be guests very soon. i would like to thank all of the guests that have taken time out to meet with me and have a conversation. these last 100 shows were very fun and exciting. if you haven't heard them, check out this episode, you'll get a taste of them. most of all, i'd like to thank YOU, the listener for listening. you make this show possible. THANK YOU. i'm looking forward to the next 100 episodes. are you?episode 200: highlights is the "best of" the last 100 episodes. in this episode, you'll hear from bob schneider on cleaning up, ian mclagan on groupies in the 70's, producer, c.j. eiricksson talks about working with hanson, glen phillips talks about a new album from toad the wet sprocket, lance keltner talks about giving rod stewart a suggestion and getting fired for it, steve poltz talks about laughing at really bad news, elizabeth mcqueen talks about the beatles, joanna barbera talks about being out of place in arizona, nakia and a.j. vallejo talk about racism in the south and the band death talk about their next move.... all good stuff! thank you again for listening. we couldn't do it without you. xoxo, jg

Episode 269: Tee Double Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing the very best you can be doing. i am. i'm in houston with my family for a while as we all spend time with my grandfather as he passes from this life. this is a very intense experience. he has been my guy my whole life. he's been my father for pretty much my whole life. i'm glad that we can all be together during this time. he lived a very full life. he's given us all good lives and he and my grandmother created this beautiful family that i have been so very lucky to have been born into.for episode 269 we have the return of prolific rapper/entrepreneur, tee double. we had tee on a couple of years ago and since then, he's released a ton of music and started a non-profit call the urban artist alliance and much more. i ran into him at sxsw and we had a quick chat about what he was up to. i love talking to him. he's got such a great perspective and work ethic. in this episode we talk about everything from the progression and commercialization of music and music festivals to his new non-profit, urban artist alliance. tee double is a great guy and i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.ciao! -jg

Episode 253: Kevin Mckinney

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are crazy here. i've got sxsw 2014 at my door. i'm trying to confirm the last of the interviews i have. i started getting ready for this sxsw in january. i hope it pays off. i'm worried that i'm meeting a bunch of people downtown and i won't be able to find a quiet place to talk to them. it's hard this time of year. anyway, i'm doing some here at my apartment. mostly, i'm excited to talk to these people, see old friends and get some good conversations for you guys. i'm playing at sam's burger joint music hall in san antonio tonight (friday 3/7) with skyrocket. if you live there, come out.my guest for episode 253 is the incredibly talented and always entertaining, kevin mckinney! i've gotten tweets and emails since i started this show about getting kevin in here. well, i did. i also played a show with his new band, wrenfro with tony scalzo, michael hale and gary newcome. they're great! i got to jam with them about a month ago at their weekly monday night show at strange brew in austin. anyway, kevin came by, we talked about wrenfro, soulhat, the black cat, solo albums, four-tracks and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with kevin. i did.ciao! -jg