Episode 530: Thor Harris

My guest for episode 530 is the amazing Thor Harris! The Thor & Friends debut album comes out this Friday, October 7th! Thor and I have been pals since 1989 when he was the drummer for Austin's Stick People. He has since gone on to tour and record with Swans, Shearwater, Bill Callahan, Amanda Palmer, Rebecca Cannon, Lisa Germano and many more. He's recorded 6 albums with Austin studio maven, Rob Halverson. Thor & Friends is a collaboration with Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah "Goat" Gautier and draws on classic minimalist composers for inspiration. They'll be hitting the road with Adam Torres Oct 12 - Oct 30 hitting the east coast. Go to thorharris.org to see if they're coming to a town near you. Thor and I have a great conversation about growing up in a Texas coast town, Austin music, his work with Swans & Shearwater, a bad ass Talk Talk album I've never heard, Thor & Friends L.P. and much, much more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with this inspiring man as much as i did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 519: Jonathan Fox Band

Hello friends! I hope you had a great weekend. I had a good one. Skyrocket played a couple of private shows in Houston. They were fun shows in bbq places, so i had a lot of bbq this weekend. I loved both dinners and we had a blast at both gigs. If you live in Austin or in the Hill Country, Skyrocket will be playing shows in both of these places this weekend. Friday, 9/2 at Cedar Street Courtyard in Austin and Saturday 9/3 at Mercer Street Dance Hall in Dripping Springs, TX. 
Jonathan Fox from Jonathan Fox Band is my guest for episode 519! Jonathan Fox Band has just released their 2nd album, Loverlust. Jonathan made this record in his studio apartment with his drummer and guitar player. We have a great conversation about growing up in the DFW area, being influenced by Blink 182 and John Mayer, making Loverlust in his apartment, the dating woes of the hopeless romantic and much, much more. You can find out when they're coming to a town near you by going to jonathanfoxband.com Have a great week. Let's get down!
Ciao! -jg

Episode 516: Free Kittens And Bread

Hello friends! I hope this episode find you well and and having a successful summer. It's been raining since Saturday here in Austin. It's been nice to get rid of the heat for a little bit, but the rain is a little much. Quick plug, Skyrocket, the band i'm in, is playing this weekend. Friday, August 9th, we'll be playing the new Hanovers 2.0 in the North Austin/Round Rock area. Saturday, August 20th, we'll be heading down to Houston to play The Continental Club. find out more details at skyrockettheband.com
My guests for episode 516 are Austin punk/pop band, Free Kittens And Bread! Their brilliant new album, American Miserablist was released recently and they just got off of a tour of the US. Their single, "Brainless" already has over 35,000 plays on spotify. (i accidentally said "35 plays" in the intro, but i meant 35,000. sorry guys.) Chase Spruiell and Mark Hawley came by and we had a great conversation about combining punk music, folk music and power pop to create their sound, meeting in film school at St. Edwards, playing house parties on tour vs. clubs, the genius of Steve Poltz, touring the US and much, much more! I hope you enjoy getting to know these guys. I sure did. Let's get down!
Ciao! -JG

Episode 514: Patrick Husband

hello friends! i hope you're all holding up in this insane heat. some days i feel like i'm gonna melt. hey! if you're listening to this show the day it comes out. skyrocket will be playing tonight, friday august 12th at sam's burger joint in san antonio. come on out and join the party. on the original music front, i'm going to be writing with the members of my band, ladyband johnson next week. we have a show coming up in november. i'll be sure to let you know when that happens. 
my guest for episode 514 is the amazingly talented, patrick husband! i met patrick around a month ago at a listening party for his gorgeous new e.p., simple house. i got hear the album and see the brilliant video for his single, "if you want it". needless to say i was blown away by patrick's songs and the great production by same sky productions' andre cantave and david messier. patrick and i have a great conversation about a tough upbringing after losing his mother at a really young age, how music saved his life, finding his sound, recording simple house and much, much more. i had a great time getting to know patrick. i'm sure you will too. stay cool out there... literally. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 512: Those Poor Serfs / The Eric Bee

hello friends. i hope this episode finds you well. i need to make an important announcement about a dear friend and very important part of the music community, bass player/producer, george reiff. george has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. he had a brain tumor removed on friday and is recovering. he has a long road ahead of him and that road is going to be very expensive. his family has started a gofundme page so that we can all help out. please go to gofundme.com/georgereiff and give what you can. let's help this beautiful man and his family get through this. let's do it for george.
episode 512 is a double-header featuring two new austin bands, the soul-infused americana band, those poor serfs and garage-rockers, the eric bee! first up, those poor serfs frontman, derek kinsaul stops by and we have a great conversation about working with the afore mentioned, george reiff on their new e.p., city view. if you live in austin, you can see those poor serfs tonight, friday, august 5th at lambert's. go to thosepoorserfs.com to get their music and find out where they're playing next. the second part of this double-header is eric bee from the band, the eric bee! their brilliant, new self-titled album recorded live in just two days at public hi-fi studios is available now! see them live in austin on saturday, august 20th at the one-2-one bar. find their music and show schedule at theericbee.com i hope you enjoy getting to know these two new bands. don't forget to get get out and support local music where ever you are! 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 499 Part Two: The Conversations

hello friends! yesterday was the first day of summer. are you ready? have you chosen your summer jam? i have... i announced it at our live show last night for episode 500. it's "make me like you" by gwen stefani. what's yours? you can be a hit at any pool party, backyard bbq, boat ride, beach house party by playing my summer jam 2016 playlist available on spotify. i'll post a link on our facebook page. 
episode 499 part 2: the conversations is a clip show of some of the highlights of the last hundred shows. you'll hear joe king carrasco talk about being banned from saturday night live, being the first poster boy for mtv and more. mike flanigin talks to me about why he chose billy gibbons to sing the title track from his latest album, the drifter. chip pope talks about writing for tv, the natasha leggero special and more. lincoln durham explains how he's lived in his head since he was a kid. director penelope spheeris and her daughter anna talk about "the decline of western civilization part 2: the metal years". brannen temple gives me a history lesson on the origin of bebop. emily wolfe talks about hitting bottom and getting sober. bruce sudano talks about staying inspired after 40 plus years in the business and how casablanca told his band to play disco. once again, it's been a great hundred episodes. i look forward to the next 500. thank you so much for listening. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 499 Part One: The Music

hello friends! i want to remind you that we are recording our 500th podcast live this coming monday, june 20th at 8 pm at the townsend here in austin, tx. my guests will be nakia, kathy valentine, taylor muse (quiet company), suzanna choffel and aj vallejo! come out and celebrate with us! enjoy fine cocktails, delicious snacks and a great conversation with some of he most entertaining musicians around. plus, there's no cover!!!
episode 499 part one: the music is a playlist i put together out of some of the music i've been turned on to by guests over the last hundred episodes. part two will be excerpts of conversations from soem of the last hundred episodes. look for that on tuesday. here's the track listing for episode 499 part one: the music...
 1. "baby when i close my eyes" - sweet spirit
 2. "stop the world" - mike flanigin w/ gary clark jr.
 3. "echo of whoos" - calliope musicals
 4. "no one gonna give you love" - my jerusalem
 5. "down to the ocean" - jeremy nail
 6. "atta blues" - emily wolfe
 7. "withdrawal" - max frost
 8. "september in your eyes" - bruce sudano
 9. "summer samaritan" - los coast
10. "ready for war" - love & chaos
11. "work" - tank washington
12. "heartbreak bugaloo" - the midnight stroll
13. "sweet dreaming" - daniel eyes and the vibes
14. "southern suburbian" - sally allen
15. "one" - moving panoramas
16. "polyester" - john evans
17. "i don't wanna have to lie" - lolo

Episode 498: Arthur Yoria

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i want to invite those of you who live in austin to our live podcast recording of episode 500 at the townsend on monday, june 20th at 8 pm. my guests will be taylor muse (quiet company), suzanna choffel, kathy valentine, a.j. vallejo and nakia. go to our facebook event page for more info. come out and celebrate 500 episodes of "how did i get here?". plus, there's no cover!
see you on monday!
my guest for episode 498 is singer/songwriter, arthur yoria! arthur and i go back a few years and he's always been one of my favorite people to play shows with because i'm such a fan of him and his music. arthur has a new single and video out for the beautiful song, "ruff life" and is currently working on a new album for splice records. find out all about where he's playing and how to get his music by going to arthuryoria.com. arthur came by a few weeks ago. i hadn't seen him in a few years and we had a great conversation about taking a break from from the grind of the biz, meeting his dog rita, working on new music for a new album, dealing with medications and much, much more! i had a great time catching up with my old friend. enjoy! let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 497: Sally Allen

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. summer is upon us. i haven't chosen my summer jam, but i am zeroing in on something and i'll be announcing my summer jam on monday june 20th (which is the first day of summer) at our live recording of episode 500 at the townsend here in austin. i've been consulting with some friends who taking making a decision on a summer jam a priority in their lives. so, let us know what your summer jam is. post it on our "how did i get here?" facebook page. maybe you can turn me on to something i haven't heard yet.
my guest for episode 497 is singer/songwriter, sally allen. sally just put out an amazing new album, eight track sessions that she recorded on her own on an eight track recorder. sally is also one of the shiny soul sisters singing back-up for recent guest, shinyribs. her cover of tom petty's "refugee" is featured on the friends of sims album that came earlier this year. sally and i had a great conversation about recording eight track sessions, touring with shinyribs, meeting robert plant and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know sally. i sure did. let's get down!
ciao! -jg