Episode 449: Casey Monahan

merry christmas! i hope you're all in a good place. i hope i'm in a good place. i wish you all happiness, love and peace this holiday season. i will be on my way home this christmas day. i'm going to spend the weekend back home with my loved one, zuri. maybe we'll go to a movie, see a band, play some yatzee... end of the holiday decompression and relaxation. because even if i wasn't working any of my "jobs" this week, being with family and that whole thing can be pretty intense and a couple of days of quiet and mellow vibes. i'll talk to you on tuesday and fill you in on star wars, family time, last-minute shopping, christmas and more. merry christmas!my guest for episode 449 is behind-the-scenes texas music legend, casey monahan. if you don't know casey, he was a writer for the austin american-statesman,  he was the director of the texas state music office for 25 years under governors ann richards, george w. bush and rick perry, he created the texas music register, he was on the team that brought the grammy chapter to texas in 1994, he produced roky erickson and much, much more. in january 2015, when the new regime took over the texas capital, casey was let go. the music community was outraged, but casey turned his energy toward his family and now is back at work consulting music businesses and more. casey is a great hang, a wealth of music knowledge and a real sweetheart. i hope you enjoy my conversation with casey. i sure did. let's get down! merry christmas! -jg

Episode 441: Eve & The Exiles

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm on the mend. i was feeling awful yesterday with a nasty cold. you can hear it in the intro. i feel and sound a lot better this morning which is good because i'm moderating a panel on local, regional and national booking tonight (wed. 12/2) for the austin music foundation. if you would like to go, here's a link "expand you horizons" booking panel artists charlie faye, einar pedersen (kelly clarkson) and booking agent, laura thomas (combo plate booking) will be discussing booking strategies and taking questions. the whole thing takes place tonight! wednesday, 12/2 at 7 pm at st. elmo's soundstage in austin, tx.my guests for episode 441 are two of my favorite musicians/people, eve monsees and mike buck from eve & the exiles! they are releasing their newest album, you know she did, THIS friday 12/4. they're playing an instore at antone's records here in austin on sunday, 12/6 at 3 pm and they're doing a release show at c-boys heart and soul on friday, 12/11. go to eveandtheexiles.com and find out how to get the album if you're not in austin. eve and mike came by almost 2 months ago and we had an amazing conversation about their new album, you know she did, owning antone's record store, growing up on "guitar hero" street, mike's amazingly educational and entertaining sun radio show (mondays 7-9pm 100.1 sun radio) and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know eve and mike. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 439: Dan Dyer

hello friends! i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving! i had a really good one. my girlfriend zuri and i went to her family's house and had a great dinner. of course, i ate too much, tried not to fall asleep watching football after dinner then played a trivia game. good times. today is black friday. i hope you're having a successful one if you're one of the millions that go out and try to get the "super-deals". skyrocket is playing a show tonight (fri. 11/27) in austin at the one-2-one bar. we go on at 10. come out and celebrate the holiday with us! (i just made "black friday" a holiday)my guest for episode 439 is the amazing singer/songwriter, dan dyer! dan and i have known each other for over 20 years. he's a phenomenal talent and a super sweet and real cat. he's a black fret nominee and has the honor of performing at their black ball gala at the paramount theater in austin, tx next friday, december 4th along with a host of other nominees. you can find out all about it at black fret info dan has a new e,p,, singing river sessions available now. go to dandyer.com to find out where to get it and when you can see dan live. dan and i have a fantastic conversation about his journey from breedlove to working with lenny kravitz, jingle singing in new york city, getting into working with his hands and much, much more. i hope you all had a great thanksgiving. i am very grateful for you. let's get down!ciao! -jg

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 428: Autumn

hello friends! i hope you're all living it up this weekend. i'm good. i'm playing an F1 party with skyrocket tonight here in austin. i guess the town is gearing up for this huge car race. there's a special event in austin every weekend isn't there? wild. this is a giant worldwide car race and i hear it's very exciting. maybe someday i'll go. my guest for episode 428 is jazz/soul/funk singer, autumn! autumn just released her self-titled, debut album in september. she is also a vocalist in the nightowls who play out around austin a lot. i heard about autumn through my friends at the austin music foundation. she was their artist of the month for september. anyway, autumn came by and we had a fantastic conversation about growing in oklahoma in a conservative family, growing up singing in church, dating, making music with someone you're involved then not involved with, working in the oil business, beyonce'-esque outfits and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know autumn. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 425: Freddie Steady Krc

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you all happy and healthy. i am a bit hungover as i celebrated my birthday last night. it was a blast. saw the wonderful dawn & hawkes play, then i had a fabulous dinner, then went to se my old pal aj play and met up with a bunch of friends. great night! if you're in austin tonight, october, 16th and looking for something to do, skyrocket will be playing at the one-2-one bar at 9 pm. come out and party with us.my guest for episode 425 is singer/songwriter/drummer/guitar player/renaissance texan and texas music hall of famer, freddie steady krc! freddie has been a staple on the austin scene since the 1970's when he played drums with the likes of b.w. stevenson, jerry jeff walker, carole king and more. he went on to start the new wave/power pop band, the explosives in the late 70's. then a string of great country and garage rock bands including freddie steady 5, shakin' apostles, freddie steady's wild country and many more. freddie continues to write and play with his many bands, he owns a record label and now runs the austin chapter of the musicians union. freddie and i have an awesome and long conversation about his journey. i hope you enjoy getting to know freddie steady 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 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 407: Penelope Spheeris & Anna Fox / The Peterson Brothers

hello friends! i hope you're all finding yourselves enjoying your summer. i am. it just cooled off a bit which is nice. i have a great show for you guys today! a double-header, if you will. fist up i have legendary director, penelope spheeris and her daughter/ business partner, anna fox. you might know penelope from the big hollywood movies like "wayne's world" and "black sheep", but you might also know her from her "decline of western civilization" parts 1-3 documentaries. i came up watching part 1: the punk years and part 2: the metal years and loved them. the austin film society is presenting a ver special screening of all three parts plus, penelope's 1983 film, "suburbia" at the marchesa theater on friday, august 28th and saturday, august 29th. penelope and anna will be on hand for a "q & a" after the movies. tickets and more info on the event are available at https://www.austinfilm.org/decline so we have a great phone conversation where we find out what happened to the bands, odin and london from part 2: the metal years, why paul stanley was in bed with three girls during his interview and much more. if you want to own the new decline of western civilization box set, go here shout! factory.my second guests for episode 407 are austin's new generation of blues musicians, the peterson brothers! glenn and alex peterson stopped by to talk to me about their debut, self-titled album that came out earlier this month, being professional working musicians by night and high-school students by day, keeping their weekly continental club residency (mondays @ 6:30 fresh), where they want to take the blues and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know these fine, young, talented gentlemen. i'm sure you will too. find out more about the peterson brothers at petersonbrothersband.com let's get down!ciao! -jg  

Episode 406: Mike Flanigin Returns!

hello friends! i hope this episode of "how did i get here?" finds you happy, healthy and sexually active. things are good here. i'm putting out 3 shows this week. this is the 2nd of the week. i've also been doing a lot of podcasts... i've already done 2 today. anyway, i wanted to let you guys know that if you live in austin, my band, skyrocket! will be playing at the one-2-one bar on friday, august 21st at 10 pm. it's a good time. come out and say hello. i also want to remind you that we're doing a live podcast recording on wednesday, september, 9th from 8-10 pm at the townsend right here in austin. my guests will be, kathy valentine, miles zuniga (fastball), amy edwards and emily bell. here's a link to the facebook event page. come out and get involved!my guest for episode 406 is one of my favorite musicians around, the amazing, mike flanigin! mike has spent the last couple of years touring and playing with the likes of jimmie vaughan, billy gibbons and playing with his own organ trio almost every weekend at the continental club gallery. the whole time he was doing that, he was also making an album, the drifter, (available friday 8/21) where he wrote the songs and found an awesome cast of artists to collaborate with including gary clark jr., billy gibbons, jimmie vaughan, kat edmonson, stephen barber, alejandro escovedo, dominique davalos, clem burke and more! since each song tells it's own story and has a different collaborator, i decided to go through the album song-by-song with mike and have him tell us how each song and collaboration came about. the drifter is an amazing musical statement and mike is a truly talented man. i had a blast hanging out and talking to him about this brilliant album. i'm sure you will too. his release show is at the paramount theater in austinand features special guests, kat edmonson, billy gibbons and more. get your tickets here! let's get down!ciao! -jg