Episode 547: DD Dagger a.k.a. Allyson Lipkin

Hello friends! I hope you all had a good weekend. I'm doing well. I've been working on a lot of busy work today. It's not super-fun but it leaves you woth a feeling of accomplishment when you finish... and that's pretty good. Right? I urge any of you musicians that live in Austin to come out to a panel I'm moderating tomorrow, Wednesday December 7th at at St. Elmo Sounstage from 7-9 pm. The Austin Music Foundation presents "Hit The Road Jack(ie): Touring Deconstructed" a panel on planning and managing go to austinmusicfoundation.org for more info.
My guest for episode 547 is multi-instrumentalist art-rocker, DD Dagger a.k.a. Allyson Lipkin! Allyson is releasing her brilliant new album, The Lone Wolf Meets The Underdog on December 17th. She's also having a release party on Sat. Dec 17th at Dozen Street. Go to dddagger.com for more info on the show and where to get the album. We sat down about a month ago and had a fantastic conversation about writing a "divorce album", making The Lone Wolf Meets The Underdog, playing with Los Coast, Fastball, Danger Cakes and others, staying sane through making art and much, much more! I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 530: Thor Harris

My guest for episode 530 is the amazing Thor Harris! The Thor & Friends debut album comes out this Friday, October 7th! Thor and I have been pals since 1989 when he was the drummer for Austin's Stick People. He has since gone on to tour and record with Swans, Shearwater, Bill Callahan, Amanda Palmer, Rebecca Cannon, Lisa Germano and many more. He's recorded 6 albums with Austin studio maven, Rob Halverson. Thor & Friends is a collaboration with Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah "Goat" Gautier and draws on classic minimalist composers for inspiration. They'll be hitting the road with Adam Torres Oct 12 - Oct 30 hitting the east coast. Go to thorharris.org to see if they're coming to a town near you. Thor and I have a great conversation about growing up in a Texas coast town, Austin music, his work with Swans & Shearwater, a bad ass Talk Talk album I've never heard, Thor & Friends L.P. and much, much more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with this inspiring man as much as i did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 506: Laura Scarborough / Giulia Millanta Stops By!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm good. i have the weekend off from skyrocket this weekend. my girlfriend, zuri and i are gonna go to a cook out and doing some weekend things. maybe we'll go see the new ghostbusters... my pal, giulia millanta stops by for a quick chat abut her new kicktstarter campaign to fund her new album, moonbeam parade which comes out september 9th. she'll be previewing her album this sunday, july 17th at strange brew lounge side at 6 pm. you can go to giulia's kickstarter page to see what it's all about.
my guest for episode 506 is the incredibly talented piano/vibes/synth playing singer, laura scarborough. you might know laura as the vibes player in the ultra-flamboyant psychedelic band, the golden dawn arkestra. i had the chance to see them a few weeks ago at a black fret event and they're amazing, like nothing you've ever seen before. laura also plays with kat edmonson, suzanna choffel, bob schnieder's moonight orchestra and many, many more. she covered john lennon's love on the friends of sims album that came out earlier this year and is releasing a solo album later this year. you can find her at laurascarborough.com i hope you enjoy my conversation with laura. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 473: Tailor

hello friends! i hope you're having the time of your life. sxsw 2016 is in full-swing. i know this because i'm really, really tired. most people at sxsw usually are. i got to host the first day of the south by san jose' showcase on wednesday. it was a fantastic show that featured some of my favorites like ian moore & the lossy coils, the bluebonnets, dan dyer and the amazing sweet spirit. the whole day benefitted the SIMS foundation and i think we raised some good money for the cause. today i get back to playing with skyrocket at hanover's in pflugerville and tomorrow, the house of blues in houston. 
my guest for episode 473 is south african musical powerhouse, tailor! tailor was in austin last month making her third album. she was working with my friend, zak loy as producer and he suggested she come by and do the show. we totally hit it off and had an extremely honest conversation about making music, her career, her love life, what makes her tick and sooo much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know tailor. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 465: John Valley / Valerio Rinaldi Checks In Via Skype

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you happy and healthy. the weather has been amazing this week in austin. i've been walking to meetings, walking around outside, driving around, washing my car and doing anything i can to be outside. do you guys do that? when it's nice outside, you just walk around and enjoy the weather. we have a big show for you today, film maker/actor, john valley is here, but before we get to john, i have a quick chat with argentinian rocker, valerio rinaldi who is currently on tour in the u.s. he'll be fralo's in san antonio tomorrow, saturday 2/20 and at the blackerby recital hall in austin, tx on sunday 2/21. we have a great chat about his current tour, touring south america, rock en español and more! get out and check him out. you can find his music here, valerio on bandcamp.my guest for episode 465 is film maker/actor, john valley! you might know john from his sweet spirit videos "baby when i close my eyes" and "baby doll". when i saw those videos back in january, i really wanted to meet him and talk to him on the show because i figured anyone with that kind of imagination would make a fantastic show. well, it did! john and i had a great conversation about growing up in iowa, making films as a kid, acting, interning for terrence malick, collaborating with sweet spirit and much, much more! i suggest you check out his work on his vimeo page to get an idea of his work. it's brilliant! let's get down!

Episode 463: Tank Washington

hello friends! i hope you're all getting your love jams together for the big "love day" coming this sunday. what are you doing for valentine's day? i have no idea what i'm doing. zuri and i are going to my aunt christina's birthday party saturday in houston. we'll be coming back that night. maybe we'll go to the iron cactus north for the opening of "soul of a musician series"... the townsend is having a thing with sarah sharp... what are you doing?my guest for episode 463 is hip-hop artist, tank washington! a member of the l.n.s. crew, tank just released his first full-length album, "pain" in january. the record is absolutely brilliant. he lost his father while he was making it and it really informed the record's feel. you can find the album on itunes, spotify, soundcloud and on bandcamp. we have a fantastic conversation about turning loss into productivity and deeper art, being a father, the lns crew, growing up in austin, the current hip-hop scene and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know tank. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! jg

Episode 461: Bale Creek Allen

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm good. i had a busy day of podcasting. i'm looking forward to bringing you guys some good conversations. i'm going to galveston with skyrocket tomorrow to play a mardi gras party. i thought we were playing the galveston mardi gras, but we're not.  sometimes i don't know what's going on until i get a show sheet a couple of days before the show. welcome to "johnnyworld" population: me. my guest for episode 461 is a true artist and a dear old friend, bale creek allen. bale is a true artist because to me he is aggressively creative. by that, i mean he works in bronze sculpture, painting, photography, neon, wood work, spoken word, theater and music. i honestly love his work in all of those mediums. in the last 25 years that i've known him, i've seen many of his art shows, music shows and more. his work is always honest, powerful, sometimes brutal and always beautiful. he's a really sweet and inspiring person to be around. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 456: Ali Holder Returns!

hello friends! i hope this episode finds happy, healthy and enjoying the new year. things are good here. last week was very surreal having lost david bowie and our beloved local blues, soul and r&b curator, twine time host and leader of the cobras, paul ray. i played a couple of shows with skyrocket. in fact, i did the intro and outro for this show in my hotel room when i was out of town with skyrocket. have a great week!my guest for episode 456 is the immensely talented singer/songwriter/artist, ali holder! this is ali's second time on the show. she was on last year when she was promoting her album, in preparation for saturn's return. she's back promoting her brand new album, from my veins will fall. i love ali and her music and we have a fantastic conversation about cats, going into seclusion for a week to write, recording in mississippi, her new tuesday residencies at stay gold and the blackheart in austin and much, much more! you can see her tonight tuesday, january 19th at the blackheart here in austin. i had a great time talking to ali. she is a real talent and a great hang. 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 450: Paco Estrada

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you well. it's the last week of he year. are you okay with this year? did you have a good one? i think i had a good one. things are going well. i'm healthy and happy and in love. did you have a good christmas? i had a good one. no matter how weird it got, i was still surrounded by my loving family and i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. my guest for episode 450 is talented and beloved singer/songwriter/bandleader, paco estrada! paco and i have been trying to get together for a podcast since i started the show. well, we finally did it! i went out to orb recording studios a few weeks ago, tucked away in one of their gorgeous cutting rooms and had this great conversation. we talk about growing up a preacher's son, learning songs for dual cassette recordings, making e-books along with records, his newest album, bedtime stories, the uncertainty of labels and managers, the two corys and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know paco as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg