Episode 442: Narc Twain / Sam Means

hello friends! i hope you've all had a great week and are heading into the weekend with purpose. i'm good. still stopped up from having a cold but i feel a lot better. i had a great time moderating the austin music foundations's "expanding your horizons" booking panel on wednesday. i recorded it for a podcast, but there was so much interaction with the audience, who didn't have microphones, that  we can't put it out. next time. anyway, it was informative and i suggest that if you're a musician here in austin, you check out the austin music foundation. they can help you find your way.episode 422 is a double-header skype show! first up, i have a great chat with tommy siegel from brooklyn based band, narc twain. their new e.p. is out today. check them out on soundcloud. we have a great conversation about the band and how they came together, his other bands, drunken sufis and jukebox the ghost, what the brooklyn scene is like and much, much more. next up i talk to phoenix, arizona'a own sam means! sam's newest album, "10 songs" produced by steven macdonald from redd kross, doesn't come out until january 22nd, but you can check out some tunes from the album and find all things sam at sammeansmusic.com. sam and i have a great conversation about his old band, the format with nate ruess from the band, fun.,  scoring movies, his company hellomerch,com, how he's not fronted a band live but is willing to try and much, much more! i had a great time talking to these guys. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 440: Casey McPherson Returns!

hello friends! i hope you all had a great holiday weekend. i had a very laid back holiday weekend. i played one show with skyrocket and did a couple of podcasts on saturday and sunday. i got the chance to sit down and talk to paco estrada on saturday at orb recording studios and then sunday morning, bright and early, the trishas came over and we had a great conversation and a lot of laughs. look for both of those in the coming weeks. my guest for episode 440 is one of my favorite people and best friends, the amazingly talented singer/songwriter from alpha rev and flying colors, casey mcpherson! casey has had a busy few years since he was last on. he's released several albums and toured europe a few times with his prog/rock/pop band, flying colors which features mike potnoy and steve morse. he's released a lot of new music with his band, alpha rev. he's also been finding ways to build a community and help his community by raising awareness about affordable housing. this year casey is a black fret nominee and he's performing at the 2nd annual black fret black ball gala at the paramount theater in austin, tx this friday, december 12th. you can find out how to get tickets by going to black fret black ball gala. i hope you enjoy my conversation with casey. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 418: Jesse Sublett Returns!

hello friends! i hope life is treating you well. things are good here. i got to play at an xtc tribute/SIMS benefit on friday night at strange brew lounge side. there was an amazingly well-rehearsed house band led by my pal jon green. there was a host of awesome singers that got up and threw down on the song they sang. i sang a song by the xtc alter-ego band, the dukes of stratosphear called, "collideascope". it was a very special night and i was honored to be a part of it. i played a benefit for big brothers and big sisters with skyrocket in houston on saturday. i actually did the intro for this show in my hotel room between soundcheck and the show. i hope you like it.my guest for episode 418 is musician/author/artist/actor and one of the coolest guys i know, jesse sublett! jesse has a fantastic new non-fiction book out called, "1960's austin gangsters: crime that rocked the capital". the book is about austin's seedy underworld and follows austin's notorious overton gang and all of the outrageous crimes and wild characters in their orbit. it's a fascinating story that takes you through brothels in south austin, bank robbing tours through small towns in the south and midwest, darrel k. royal's u.t. football program, the "dixie mafia", bugged jails and crooked sheriffs and much, much more. go to jesse's website for yourself! i loved this book and in our conversation, jesse takes us deeper into the lives of some of austin's most nefarious and colorful characters. i hope you enjoy this conversation as much as i did. 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 412: Three Bones

hello there friends! i hope you all had a great labor day weekend and you're on your way to an easy four-day week. i've had a good labor day weekend. i played shows, went to shows, went to the mall, cleaned out my closet and did a podcast with aly tadros. eventful! not a lot of "normal" labor day weekend stuff, but i don't lead a "normal" life. hey gang! we have a live podcast tomorrow, wednesday, sept. 9th at the townsend from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, amy edwards and emily bell! there is no cover for this event and you can find out all about it here.my guests for episode 412 are dalt and victoria from the lo-fi/soul band, three bones! their new album, haven't you heard comes out today and they're celebrating with a record release show with special guests, tele novella and ringo deathstar at the chicon collective. it's brought to you by solistice live and you can find out more about it here. dalt and victoria came by lat week and we had a fantastic conversation. i had a great time getting to know three bones. 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 395: The Octopus Project

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you running in slow-motion on a gorgeous summer day through a field of golden wheat into the arms of your lover. i'm doing well. i am getting ready to leave to orlando and play with skyrocket tonight. i'm still recovering from my oral surgery i had on friday. long story, i'll fill you all in on this friday's show. today's show is a special show for me because i went to the werd company podcast studios to try out recording a show in a studio outside of my apartment. well, it was a tremendous success! engineer, juan alsina, (who you'll get to know in the show) did a fabulous job of recording the show and everyone there was totally top-notch, pro. click on the link above if you're looking to find a place to record a podcast. their rates are totally reasonable and i think the show sounds better than ever. thank you, werd!my guests for episode 395 is one of austin's most innovative, creative and musically brilliant exports, the octopus project! their score for the film, kumiko: the treasure hunter comes out this week on vinyl. the movie is amazing and the score is absolutely gorgeous. if you're not a vinyl person, you can find it and all of their other releases on itunes, spotify and by going to their website,  theoctopusproject.com. you can also find their wealth of videos and other content including handmade, stuffed animals. i had a blast sitting down and getting to know this hyper-creative trio and talking to them about everything, keeping a band together for 16 and staying fresh and relevant, creating visual art including videos, one-of-a-kind merchandise, being a couple in a band, the theremin, finding chords that make you cry, how juan the engineer won a scavenger hunt that included the band, scoring films and much, much more. toto, yvonne and josh are three of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. they also make amazing music and art. i hope you enjoy getting to know the octopus project. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 393: Billy Harvey #3

hello friends! i hope you're all getting it back together after the 4th of july weekend of insanity. i had a great weekend. i got to play a lot. i played on thursday at the grand opening of the townsend, a new club in downtown austin. i played some songs by myself then i had today's guest, billy harvey sit in on some songs and i played with the bluebonnets. great time. then friday i played at stubb's with amy edwards and i got to play some songs with the bluebonnets again. look for our new band which we've renamed, ladyband johnson. then sunday, night i played at the william harries graham guitar pull at the continental club gallery with william, noelle hampton and nathan hamilton. great time was had by all. my guest for episode 393 is the amazing billy harvey! billy has a gorgeous new album the comes out this friday, july 10th, called, dear danger. dear danger is my favorite album so far this year. billy is an incredible songwriter that just keeps surprising you with his amazing depth both musically and lyrically. this is billy's third time on the show. on this episode we cover some different topics than before, reading glasses, kickstarter rewards, getting over bullshit as you get older, touring with patty griffin, his new album, what to do with your anger, dear danger and where it came from and much, much more. he's one of the deepest, most talented and funniest people i know and i love him. i hope you enjoy this conversation as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 391: Ali Holder

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you getting ready for the 4th of july by eating as many hot dogs and as much apple pie as you can without dying. also, fireworks. i am coming to you from my apartment whee i am frantically trying to prepare for tonight's taping of "cooking/drinking with johnny & a.j.", the cooking webseries that i co-host with a.j. vallejo. it's a good time, but i've been out of town for a few days playing shows and my place is a mess. i have to get it cleaned up before i mess it up again cooking with aj and the yanez sisters... check the "how did i get here?" facebook page for photos and an update when the show comes out. in fact go to  how did i get here on facebook and "like" it if you haven't. there's all kinds of stuff on there. get involved then let's get down!my guest for episode 391 is singer/songwriter, ali holder! ali came over a while back and we got to have an incredible conversation about her journey both personally and musically from small town texas to becoming a real musical force here in the austin scene. she is currently in oxford, mississippi recodring the follow-up to her brilliant, debut album, in preparation for saturn's return. the new album is due out this september. you can find out all about ali and her music at aliholder.com i want to thank ali for being so candid during our conversation. i know it made her a bit uneasy, but that's what makes her so cool. i hope enjoy getting to know ali. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 383: Little Brave Returns! / Texas Music Water

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you being able to shut off the tractor beam on the death star so that you can rescue the princess and go home. i want to let you know that i have a show THIS thursday at the roost in north austin. i received a call last night from my friend that books the place and he said someone dropped out last minute and would i play on thursday at 8. so, i'm playing a solo acoustic show at the roost in north austin at 8 on thursday. come out and say hi to me. i want to also let you know that texas music water is the official water of "how did i get here?". dean wolfe from texas music water stops by the show today to quickly give us the background on texas music water and about the non-profits it supports like HAAM, SIMS, Anthropos Arts, Warrior Cry Music Project and more! find out where you can your texas music water at www.texasmusicwater.com "you hydrate. we donate"Episode 383 finds little brave back in the "hot seat". also known as stephanie macias, this is her second appearance on the show. this past april she put out and amazing new double cd, mythology. this album is absolutely gorgeous. going between electronic pulses and totally organic solo ukelele performances. i urge you to not only buy this album, but go to littlebravemusic.com and buy a physical copy. stephanie stephanie made such a beautiful package that also comes with a beautiful booklet. artists like little brave give me hope. she is a creative force to be reckoned with and we have a great conversation about everything from eating right to designing the gorgeous packing for mythology and everything in between. as always, i had a great time getting to know little brave again. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg