Episode 520: Kady Rain Returns!

Hello friends! Welcome to the last days of summer 2016. Labor day weekend is upon us. I hope you have fabulous plans to close out the summer. I don't really have plans. Does anyone have a boat they want to take on? I'm playing with Skyrocket on Friday at Cedar Street Courtyard in Austin and Saturday, we'll be at Mercer Street Dance Hall in Dripping Springs. Come out and start your Labor Day weekend off with some sweet jams provided me and my pals.
Kady Rain and Ben Bazzrea return to the show for episode 520! Their new awesome e.p., "All I Ever Wanted" came out last Friday! You can find it on itunes, Spotify and of course at kadyrain.com. They'll be playing at The 36th Annual Fall Pecan Street Festival on Sunday Sept. 25th at 7pm go to pecanstreetfestival.org for a complete listing of bands and times. Kady, Ben and I have a great conversation about writing songs, making "All I Ever Wanted", the state of pop music in Austin and the world, making it work as a couple and musical partners, lava lamps and much, much more! I hope you enjoy our conversation. I sure did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 518: The South Austin Moonlighters Return!

Hello friends! I hope you're all doing well. Getting your kids back-to-school or living what ever dream you choose to live. Things are good here. I saw The Fixx last night with my dear old friend and mentor, Mark Hallman. My old friends in Deep Blue Something opened the show and i had a great hang with them before the show. We caught up for a bit while listening to Genesis and Phil Collins songs talking about their genius. Great time, with great friends last night. I should probably try to get out and see some new bands soon.
My guests for episode 518 are Phil Hurley and Lonnie Trevino from The South Austin Moonlighters! Their new album, Ghost of a Small Town just came out, so I invited them back to talk about it and more. We had a great talk about getting a new guitar player, making Ghost of a Small Town themselves, four-tracks, band politics, our true feelings for Jack Johnson and much, much more. You can catch them tonight at The Mucky Duck in Houston. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Phil and Lonnie. I sure did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 517: Money Chicha

Hello friends! I hope you're all surviving the end of summer heat and floods. It's crazy out there, right?
I got to see Alice Cooper on Sunday night! I was amazing. I want to thank my friend, AJ Vallejo for inviting me. I had a blast seeing AJ's band, BANG before the Alice show. It was a great night all around. Alice's show is an onslaught of costume changes, snakes, giant frankenstein monsters and heavy metal. Plus, he's super old and still rocking like a champ. it was inspiring.
My Guest for episode 517 is Greg Gonzalez, the bass player from Money Chicha, Brownout and the Grammy winning, Grupo Fantasma! Money Chicha has a fantastic new album out, Echo En Mexico. I've been a fan of Money Chicha for a few years now and I've gotten to see them a few times during their residency at The Continental Club Gallery here in Austin and i'm a big fan. Greg and i have a conversation about balancing, touring and making music with three high-profile bands, growing up in Laredo, teaching composition, making Echo En Mexico, the history of Chicha music, playing with Prince and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know Greg. I sure did. Let's get down!
Ciao! jg

Episode 515: Magna Carda

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you well. things are good here. i'm doing some writing and recording this week. so far, it's been fun, frustrating and ultimately, liberating. i have some gigs with skyrocket this weekend. if you live in north austin, we'll be making our debut at the new hanovers 2.0 in round rock on friday, august 19th and saturday, august 20th we'll be at the continental club in houston. come out and say hi.
my guests for episode 315 are megz kelli and dougie do from austin hip hop sensations, magna carda! their amazing, new album, cirqlation is out now! they're going to be playing the austin city limits festival and the sound on sound festival this fall. we have a great conversation about how megz and dougie met in college, megz displacement by hurricane katrina, the austin hip hop scene, making cirqlation and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these brilliant young artists as much as i did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 509: Eric Tessmer

hello friends! i hope life is treating you well. i had a good weekend of shows with skyrocket. i did a podcast with a band called, drop out vegas when i was in houston on saturday. they're an amazing pop band and we had a great conversation in my hotel room. look for that in a couple of weeks. i'm looking forward to making some new music this week with some friends and shooting a cooking show with aj. friday, skyrocket will be playing at speakeasy in downtown austin. it's our first gig in this awesome venue. come out and say hi if you can.
my guest for episode 509 is guitar hero, eric tessmer! eric's new e.p., EP1 comes out this friday, july 29th. he'll be playing release shows this weekend. friday, july 29th at antone's in austin and saturday, july 30th at dan electro's guitar bar in houston. eric and i have a great conversation about miraculous guitar purchases, growing up in richland center, wisconsin, making EP1, working with the great jacob sciba, living in his rehearsal space, getting sober and much, much more. you can find out more about eric at erictessmerband.com. i hope you enjoy getting to know eric as much as i did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 507: Belcurve

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. staying healthy. are you guys as freaked out as i am by all of the violence in our country and in the world right now? it's starting to feel like "ghostbusters 2" when the ugliness is coming up from bowels of the earth and invading human beings and making them do ugly things. there's so much anger out there. i hope that there is some way that world can take a collective deep breath and find a way to support and understand each other rather than kill each other. now i sound like a hippie. 
my guests for episode 507 are one of austin's newest bands, belcurve! belcurve is made up of members of other austin bands like, quiet comapany, the please, please me, castro and more. they've written and recorded some amazing songs in their studio and now they're ready bring them to the people. "hot mess" is the first single they'll be releasing some time soon. you can hear it on the show. we have a great conversation about the way they came together, surviving the death of a band member, writing as a group, ice factory studios and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know belcurve. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 505: Shawn Pander

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you happy and healthy in the middle of your summer 2016. i did some summer stuff yesterday. my girlfriend, zuri and i went out to brunch with some friends and went swimming in their gorgeous infinity pool that is on the top of a big hill in lakeway and overlooks austin in the best way possible. we had drinks, chatted, listened to some sweet jams and floated around in the 103 degree weather. pretty sweet right? i'm going to try to continue the mellow pool party summer vibe going until at least august. 
my guest for episode 505 is singer/songwriter, shawn pander! shawn just put out a gorgeous new album, black and white and is playing shows in support of this album. including tonight, tuesday, july 12th at strange brew lounge side in austin, tx! if you're not in austin, but you're coming for acl 2016, shawn will be preforming there on sat, october 8th. go to shawnpander.com to find out when he's coming to a town near you. shwan and i have a great conversation about the houston music scene, living in l.a., his new album, black and white, working for giada de laurentis, the music he wrote for the tito's play and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know shawn. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -kg

Episode 504: Van Wilks Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're having a good week and ready to cruise into the weekend in style. i have no idea what that means, but it sounds nice. if you live in san antonio, my band, skyrocket will be playing at sam's burger joint music hall, tonight, july 8th 2016. come out and get into the festivities that you can only get into by cutting loose with skyrocket on a friday night in s.a.. i'm playing friday, but i'm off saturday and next weekend. slow month for the skyrocket clan. i have no idea what i'm doing on saturday night. maybe some good peeps are playing and i'll see a band or two.
guitar hero, van wilks returns to the show for episode 504! van has a new album out, 21st century blues. i think it's his best and toughest sounding album yet. the more i have these conversations with my elders, the more i am convinced that if you stay inspired and stay true to yourself, you will always grow and your art will always be honest and good. such is the case with van wilks and his first album in ten years, 21st century blues. van and i have another great conversation. i never ceased to be inspired by van and the other amazingly talented people in my life that i look up to. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 494: The Midnight Stroll / Kady Rain Stops By!

hello friends! i hope everyone had a great memorial day weekend. i did. i played some gigs with skyrocket, zuri and i laid low on sunday and i actually did a couple of podcasts yesterday. i want to let you guys know about that skyrocket will be playing in the hill country this friday, june 3rd at mercer street dance hall in dripping springs and friday, june 4th, we'll be playing at the continental club in houston. come out, it's a good time. kady rain stops by in the intro of the show to talk about the gofundme page they started to finish their e.p., make a video, hire a publicist and make some new merch. they're very close to reaching their goal. you can help them make it. 
ghostland observatory frontman, aaron behrens and producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, jonas wilson collectively known as the midnight stroll, return to the show today for episode 494! they've both been on before on their own, now they back together to talk about the gorgeous new midnight stroll album, heartbreak bugaloo, which comes out tomorrow, wednesday, june 1st! you can find it at all the regular online places including their bandcamp page. we have a great conversation about how they wrote and recorded heartbreak bugaloo together, ghostland observatory's summer schedule, jonas's solo albums, we try to figure out who the new rock heroes are and much, much more! i love hanging out and talking to these guys. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 493: Shinyribs

hello friends! are you feeling that TGIF feeling you get on the friday of a three-day holiday weekend? me neither. but some people really do feel that feeling. i've felt it before... the last time was probably in the 80's, but i remember it well. having plans that involved a beach or some kind of backyard bbq with booze, bathing suits and a pool. anyway, i'm going to be staying at my ex's house with my dogs. that'll be fun. i'll be playing a couple of shows with skyrocket and hanging out with my girlfriend, zuri. i hope you have a good weekend. 
my guest for episode 493 is the amazing singer/songwriter/performer, kevin russell from the band, shinyribs! i have been watching kevin play since 1989 when he was in the shreveport, la band, the picket line coyotes. kevin moved to austin with that band and when the coyotes ran their course, they split up and kevin started the gourds and went on to play with them for 18 years. the gourds career is covered in the amazing documentary, "all the labor". anyway, as the gourds were fading, kevin started shinyribs and three brilliant albums later, shinyribs is touring and going full-steam bringing their funky/soul/honky tonk happiness to thousands of people a year. i had a great time getting to know kevin. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!
ciao! jg