Episode 264: Caught A Ghost / Roto's Magic Act

hello friends of rock! i hope this episode finds you happy and healthy. i think i'm good. trying to exercise, eat healthy and re-quit smoking. a terrible habit that follows me like a heroin habit. it's so hard to say no. as much as i try to avoid them, convenience stores scream at me as i drive by, "johnny! come in! we have cigarettes, bro!" then i cave. shit! e i eat like a fucking fiend when i quit. maybe i'll just eat carrots and celery this time. on a different topic, we have three shows coming out this week and next week. i have two more sxsw 2014 shows from loud hotel lobbies. i'll be releasing them along with two regular shows. so, if you don't like those loud shows, you'll still get two regular ones each week. does that make you happy?episode 264 is another sxsw 2014 double-header. these were both done in hotel rooms so there's minimal noise. first up is los angeles blue eyed soul band, caught a ghost. their new album, human nature came out two weeks ago on 4/1/14. the album is great! i caught up with jesse and tessa in their hotel room and we had a quick, but very good conversation that almost didn't happen. next up, roto's magic act from brooklyn, ny. the band is the brainchild of my talented friend, james rotondi. james and i caught up in his hotel room just hours before his showcase and w talk about everything from his time in the bands air and mr. bungle to how to make a performance matter and then he performs a magic trick before my very eyes. great conversations with great musicians. i hope you enjoy getting to know these folks as much as i did.ciao! -jg

Episode 257: Ume returns / Joseph King returns

hello my friends! i hope you're all doing well. i have been putting together all of my sxsw shows and let me tell ya, there are a lot. i have been pleasantly surprised that so many turned out so good. i was worried that i was doing to many in a row. that they were too short. that the places i was were too noisy. the only thing that turned out true is that some places were just so noisy and there were too many distractions to really have a focused conversation. but they turned out good. some are even great! look forward to these shows coming out over the next month. today's episode is my first one. enjoy!episode 257 is a double-header of returning guests! first up is lauren larson from ume. lauren was on a couple of years ago and since her last appearance the band has played over 200 shows in the u.s. and europe, been in tons of magazines including guitar world and rolling stone, they've just released a new album called monuments and they're heading out on a midwest/west coast tour on 3/23! we have a great conversation. next up is my dear old friend, joseph king who is making his 4th appearance on the show! last we heard from him, he was starting a kickstarter campaign to fund his debut solo album. well, it got funded and joseph released his beautiful new album, wanderlusting on march 5th. came to austin to showcase for sxsw and he brought his new band by the apartment and i got to catch up with joseph and get to know the talented kayce and will. we had a great talk! i hope you enjoy these conversations as much i did. ciao! -jg

Episode 253: Kevin Mckinney

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are crazy here. i've got sxsw 2014 at my door. i'm trying to confirm the last of the interviews i have. i started getting ready for this sxsw in january. i hope it pays off. i'm worried that i'm meeting a bunch of people downtown and i won't be able to find a quiet place to talk to them. it's hard this time of year. anyway, i'm doing some here at my apartment. mostly, i'm excited to talk to these people, see old friends and get some good conversations for you guys. i'm playing at sam's burger joint music hall in san antonio tonight (friday 3/7) with skyrocket. if you live there, come out.my guest for episode 253 is the incredibly talented and always entertaining, kevin mckinney! i've gotten tweets and emails since i started this show about getting kevin in here. well, i did. i also played a show with his new band, wrenfro with tony scalzo, michael hale and gary newcome. they're great! i got to jam with them about a month ago at their weekly monday night show at strange brew in austin. anyway, kevin came by, we talked about wrenfro, soulhat, the black cat, solo albums, four-tracks and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with kevin. i did.ciao! -jg

Episode 250: Scorpion Child

hello friends of nature and rock and roll! i hope you're all doing well. i am. i've had a good week so far and it's only tuesday. i have a solo show this week on thursday 2/27 at stubb's in austin, tx. i'll be playing a songwriter in the round with ryan holley, paco estrada and a few other folks. should be fun. if you are in houston, skyrocket will be playing there on friday 2/28 at rockefeller hall. i believe that place is going to be closing in the next few months so, if you like seeing us there, which i know many people do, we're only doing two more shows there before it closes down. i know. it's sad. i saw a lot of great shows there... dr. john, the bodeans, the neville bros. the ohio players and many, many more. goodbye rockefeller hall. you had  a great run!my guest for episode 250 is aryn jonanthan black from the full-throttle rock and roll band, scorpion child! you might have seen him on VH1's that metal show this past saturday (2/22/14). that show also named their debut, self-titled album as one of the top 5 albums of 2013. the album is amazing and the rock world and european rock world have embraced the band and they're returning to the u.k. next month. if you live there look them up. i've known aryn for a few years, he's always seemed like a real rockstar to me and he is. he's a genuine 24 carrot rocker. so is scorpion child. i hope you enjoy my conversation with aryn. i did! ciao! -jg

Episode 403: Ocean Of Stars

hello friends! i hope you're all braving the extreme heat that is upon us. i'm doing well. just working on some music, booking a live podcast for sept. 9th (details coming soon), prepping for 3 podcasts i'm doing tomorrow etc. so, i listened to the american top 50 chart on spotify this morning while i was running. i probably heard about 15 to 20 songs on shuffle. i wasn't very moved by anything which made me kind of sad. then i realized that there is so much non-mainstream music out there, so much of it comes through this show. i'm really lucky to be in the position to have so much music coming through and getting turned on to so much stuff. it gives me hope. go find some new music. it feels good.my guest for episode 403 is ocean of stars leader, danny grochow! this is danny's second time on the show. he was on a couple of years ago talking about some solo material he was releasing and now he's back with with a new e.p. from his band, ocean of stars. danny is a great guy who is out there playing bass and guitar as a sideman but still makes the time to write, record and perform his original instrumental-prog-rock. we have a great conversation about four track cassette recording, the rpm challenge, finding musicians, writing complex instrumental music, answering want ads and much, much more. i i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg