Episode 419: Sweet Spirit

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. the austin city limits festival is in town the next two weekends and i'm playing out of town both weekends, so i won't be able to go. are you going? are you coming in from out of town for it? i haven't been in a few years... maybe i'm overdue. hey! i have some press to share with you. austin monthly magazine featured the podcast in their october 2015 issue. this is very exciting for us here at "how did i get here?" check it out here! also, i was a guest on my friend, amy edwards' new podcast, "the real show". we have a great chat about podcasting, honesty, insecurity and much more with a lot of laughs. amy is a great host and her show is really good. listen here!my guests for episode 419 are sabrina ellis and andrew cashen for the amazing 9- peice power pop band, sweet spirit! their brilliant new album, cokomo, (produced by mike mccarthy) comes out friday, october 16th on nine mile records! sabrina and andrew were on earlier this year talking about their other band, a giant dog. but 2015 has been a banner year for them. they released their debut e.p., released two songs with britt daniel of spoon, they've spent the year touring on the country with and without spoon, they managed to write, record and are now about to release their debut, full-length album, cokomo and head out on tour of the east coast for the month of october. go to sweetspiritatx.com to find out if they're coming to a town near you and where you can get their amazing new album, cokomo. i love hanging out with sabrina and andrew. we have a lot of laughs, they are really focused and they're poised to do some great stuff. i hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 416: Dawn & Hawkes

hello friends! i hope you all are ready for the first day of fall this wednesday. i am! i have a new jean jacket, a new sweater and i'm ready to layer my clothes and feel cool, dry air. guys, i want to let you know that i am playing a tribute to XTC this friday, sept. 25th at strange brew. my friend, jon greene has assembled a great house band and they're having many singers of not including stephen doster, seela, darin murphy, kris nelson, jon sanchez,bruce hughes, miles zuniga and more including yours truly. yes! i will be ther singing as well. the show starts at 8pm and proceeds go to benefit the SIMS foundation. get your tickets here. come out, it should be a good time!my guests for episode 416 are singer/songwriter duo, dawn & hawkes. they have a new album, yours and mine that comes out next friday, 10/2. they'll be playing a waterloo instore that day and playing a special show at the one world theater in austin, tx that night. anyway, i have been trying to get these guys on the show since i saw them on "the voice" last year. they played before skyrocket one night and i really loved their harmonies and their songs. anyway, i talked to them at a show a few months ago, they told me they'd come on when they put out their new album and BOOM! here we are. so, newlyweds, miranda and chris came by a little over a month ago and we sat down and talked about their wedding, their songwriting process, being a romantic/musical duo, their new album, yours and mine, their experience on the voice and much more. i had a great time getting to know these amazingly sweet and talented people. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 413: January May

hello friends! i hope you've had a great week! i have had a pretty eventful and busy week. not all has been awesome, but what in life is awesome all the time? i want to thank the townsend, werd media labs, my guests and everyone who made it out to our live podcast on wednesday. it was a pretty interesting show. people got into it. it wasn't as funny as live ones tend to be, but i've gotten a couple of emails telling me how informative and deep it was. so, look for that next week. if you're in houston tonight, 9/11/15, skyrocket will be playing at the continental club at around 10 pm. come out and party down with us!my guests for episode 413 are k.g., matthew and adam. otherwise known as the pop band, january may! these kids moved here from missouri last year when they released their debut full-length album, trouble made. they have had no problem putting themselves out there and when they have, it's really paid off. they've won grants, gotten to record and perform at full sail university after winning one of their contests and they have teamed up with the women's clothing company, belk to help promote the band and offset expenses so they can stay on the road. these guys have a clear head and they really handle themselves ell in this business. they're also, very sweet and a great hang. i hope you enjoy getting to know january may 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 408: David Pulkingham / Utopiafest

hello friends! i hope you're all handling the insane stock market fluctuations with a cool hand like e.f. hutton. things are good here. i've been practicing with pal amy edwards and yates hagen for a show we have at the gibson showroom for the austin film society in a couple of weeks. it's been fun working on songs and changing them up to accommodate our stripped down band. speaking of a coupe of weeks... we have a live podcast coming up on wednesday, sept. 9th at the townsend from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, emily bell and amy edwards. these live shows are really fun and there is no cover. come out and say hi. my guest for episode 408 is one of austin's most "in demand" guitar players, david pulkingham. you might know david through his work as a sideman with such notable artists as, alejandro escovedo, robert plant, patty griffin and many more. well, david has stepped out of his sideman role for his gorgeous new album, little pearl. just released last friday, little pearl features patty griffin, lloyd maines, the tosca string quartet and many more. david stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great talk about growing up in a commune, music school, taking part in the latin explosion, learning rock and roll from alejandro escovedo, playing with robert plant and much, much more. i've always liked david. he's an exceptional musician and great hang. also, travis sutherland from utopiafest (sept. 4th0 sept. 6th) stops and tells what to expect at the 7th annual utopiafest this labor day weekend. more info on utopiafest at utopiafest.com. 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 400: Live at The Townsend! With Suzanna Choffel, Justin Elliott, Nakia, A.J. Vallejo and Jazz Mills

hello friends! welcome to episode 400 recorded live at the townsend in austin, tx. my guests for this show are suzanna choffel, justin elliott, nakia, a.j. vallejo and jazz mills! i would like to thank all of my guests, the townsend for hosting us so graciously, the werd company for coming out and recording it so beautifully and most of all the crowd that came out and made it so fun. this is a great show! we talk about periscope, amazing cocktails including one called, "how did i get here?", aj asks me to smell his finger, french trips, more cocktails and much, much more. i hope you enjoy it as much as we did. thank you for listening to this show. i feel like the last 400 episodes have been life-changing for me. i can't wait to see what the next 400 episodes hold. thanks again for listening. it makes me happy. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 388: Tapes / Texas Music Water Returns!

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you slaying the dragons of life. i'm doing well. i'm running around, doing laundry, getting this show together before i leave to corpus christi to play with skyrocket tonight. i'm hustling back tomorrow to make it back in time to cover the solstice festival going on here in austin tomorrow, sat. june 20th at pan-am park from noon to 10 pm. a lot of great artists on the bill including, ringo deathstarr, jazz mills, money chicha, zeale, dead love club and more! find out all about it at solticeatx.com . my guests for episode 388 are the incredibly dreamy, electro-instrumental band, tapes! i came across these guys about a month ago and freaked out. they're a new band that just released two gorgeous albums. they're both available on itunes, spotify, soundcloud and of course, bandcamp go HERE to hear and buy these amazing albums! i got to see the band on friday and it was amazing. they make the most beautiful music. anyway, carlos and sergio came by the other night and w had a great chat about growing up in laredo, crazy high school bands, film school, forming tapes, you get a free lesson in spanglish, a peek into how they're gonna make their next record and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these guys and their music. i sure did. plus, dean wolfe from texas music water and american music water stops by again and tells us how we can support our community through music non-profits like SIMS, HAAM and more by just drinking water find out more at texasmusicwater.com and americanmusicwater.com "you hydrate. we donate" let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 386: Darin Murphy

hello friends! i hope you're all finding your way through the maze of life without having to go back to the beginning a bunch of times. things are good here. summer is kicking in and i've been in a bathing suit of some sort since monday... so that's pretty good. i'm going to hit the pool, go to the movies and see some outdoor shows. you know. just some summer stuff. my guest for episode 386 is my dear old friend and skyrocket bandmate, darin murphy! darin came by a few weeks ago and we went on a four-mile walk and we recorded it. it was a great walk and a great conversation with one of my best friends. we talked about his finely-tuned ear, his solo records, getting his ass kicked in the studio, trish and darin, broadway, the fab-fourgeries, skyrocket and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know one of my favorite people to make music and hang out with. i sure have. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 375: The Sideshow Tragedy Returns Again!

hello friends! happy cinco de mayo! i hope you're well. i had a great weekend i went to infinity+infinty, saw bottlerocket, went to chepofest, i've been staying with my dogs... good times. my guests for episode 375 are the incredible rock and roll duo, making their 3rd appearance on the show, the sideshow tragedy! their incredible new album, capital comes out today. they'll be playing a release show here in austin at the continental club on may 9th and then they'll be heading out on tour may 15th-may 30th. go to thesideshowtragedy.com to find out when they'll be coming to a town near you. we had a great conversation about everything, the long-term dangers of football, making capital, touring europe vs. touring the u.s., the lessons learned on tour, "the kenny loggins" drink at the double-wide in dallas is no longer called "the kenny loggins" and much, much more. i love talking to these guys. enjoy!ciao! -jg