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.

Episode 379: Moms That Rock w/ Co-host, Suzanna Choffel feat. Jazz Mills, Elizabeth McQueen, Raina Rose & Savanna Welch!

hello and welcome to this unique episode of "how did i get here?". a few weeks ago i went to visit suzanna choffel and her new baby, lulu. we got to talking about continuing to rock once you've entered motherhood. wondering how you balance being an performing/touring/creative artist and a mother... well, we decided to turn it into a podcast. i asked suzanna to put together a group of women she sees as her support team and to co-host the show. we have a wonderful group of extremely talented mothers. savanna welch, jazz mill, raina rose and elizabeth mcqueen share their experiences as moms that rock. we get a great insight into the writing/recording/touring/backstage life with a child. my thanks to suzanna and lulu for putting together the panel of guests and co-hosting. thanks to raina and benny, savanna, elizabeth and jazz. we had a great conversation, passed babies around and laughed. i hope you enjoy our chat. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 378: Danny Malone Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i just found out about the loss of b.b. king. sad to see such a beautiful cat go. b.b., you will be missed. the thrill is gone indeed.my guest for episode 378 is the amazingly talented, danny malone! this is danny's second appearance on the show. we recorded a live one at hotel vegas 3 years ago in may of 2012. anyway, i am a huge fan of danny malone. he has a gorgeous album out now called, speedreamer. he made the album on my favorite medium, four-track cassette. he is a recent black fret grant recipient. we have a great conversation about, house parties, four-track cassette recording, we compare neurosis, europe and much, much more! danny is a great hang. i love talking to him. enjoy! let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 376: A.J. Vincent

hello my friends! i hope you're all doing well. i just got some horrible news that there is an "allergy tsunami" coming. is that sensationalism or am i in trouble for the coming months and according to the news, coming years as well. yuk! i just got on flonase a month ago. it seems to be working. how do you control your allergies? my guest for episode 376 is one of austin's best, most innovative and entertaining musicians, a.j. vinent! he's just joined austin's hard rock heroes, scorpion child! you might also know aj from his time as the keyboard player for the bright light social hour, or from his insane solo shows. he's won best keyboard player in the austin chronicle music awards. he's got solo music out and it's awesome you can hear it at ajvincent.com. we have a fantastic conversation about  being born and raised in austin, cutting his teeth in a metal/hardcore/indie rock band in high school called, poor man's opera, hearing pink floyd, boston, led zeppelin and tower of power all in one day, we discuss our idea for "speedos" the woman's answer to "hooters", people buy him leslie cabinets, keyboards, joining scorpion child and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know aj. i sure did. let's get down!

Episode 374: Ethan Azarian

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i want to remind you about chepofest! tonight, may 1st 2015 at the cactus cafe' in austin, tx my friend, david' garza is heading up an all-star jam in honor of our friend chepo pena who's fallen ill as of late and needs some help with hospital bills. david' brings the party. let's party for chepo!my guest for episode 374 is amazing musician/artist, ethan azarian! we have a great conversation about growing up in rural vermont, moving to austin, the orange mothers, his duo with jeff johnston (they play wednesday night happy hour at the hole in the wall in austin, tx), making art. where all the cows in his paintings come from, fatherhood and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know ethan. 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 346: Amy Cook Returns!

hello friends! i hope you are all doing well and ready for the weekend. i am. SKYROCKET! is back to regular work this week. we're going to houston tomorrow and then lake charles, la on saturday. saturday is supposed to be some crazy mardi gras costume ball, so that should be fun. i hope you guys have enjoyed the three-show-week. we actually got a shout out from KUTX 98.9 here in austin today for our cautiontape show from yesterday. check it out http://kutx.org/austin-music-minute/how-we-shine it's nice to get the recognition.my guest for episode 346 is the amazingly talented and ultra-cool, amy cook! this is amy's second time on the show. amy just won a black fret grant, she is one of the 10 artists that won $10,000 in the inaugural group of grant recipients. we have a great conversation about everything, recording with robert plant, the magic of david garza, butt implants and much, much more. i love talking to amy, she is one of the coolest people i know. she'll be one of the coolest people you know after you listen to this show. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 342: Silver Ships

hello friends! i hope you're all out there successfully fishing in the stocked pond of life. things are good here. i'm starting to feel normal again. i've been making plans for later in the week. i don't have any shows this weekend. we're just doing a private show at the acl moody theater on wednesday. should be fun! i'm feeling good enough to start working on some new music. i've been itching to make some new songs, but i've felt like such shit the last couple of weeks, that didn't. anyway, i'll let you know when i do. my guest for episode 342 is four-track wizard, chazz bessette from the band, silver ships! they've just released a new album, songs from a room that never moves, that is absolutely gorgeous. chazz recorded it himself writing all the songs, playing all the instruments and recording on to a four-track reel-to-reel tape machine. we have a fantastic conversation about coming up a four-track in seattle, math rock, moving to austin, touring and much, much more. i was getting sick during this conversation so please excuse me if i sound grumpy. i hope you enjoy getting to know chazz as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 340: Dwight Twilley

hello friends! i have been sick since new years day. i'm feeling a bit better today. still not 100% but i was out for four days. wow! anyway, i'm totally fucking stir crazy. i need to do something. i know i have elias haslanger coming over tomorrow. i'll be really excited to see him as he will be the first person i have had contact with since jake came by to check on me last friday. look out eli! anyway, i'm playing with skyrocket this friday at the one-2-one bar here in austin, tx. also free week is going on. i'd like to get out and see some new music this week. maybe i'll be up to it tomorrow or thursday. any suggestions?my guest for episode 340 is power pop legend, dwight twilley! i have been a fan of dwight's since i was 15 and i heard the song, "girls". over the years, i've gone back to through his catalog and my power pop friends and i have kept up with him over the years and remained fans. he has an amazing new album, always that's available on his website, dwighttwilley.com and itunes and spotify etc. we had a great phone conversation about everything from the making of always, making music in his studio on his own terms, his burgeoning art career, "solid gold" vs. "dance fever" and much more! i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure 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