Episode 616: Finlay

Hello friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. My guest for episode 616 is pop singer and songwriter, Finlay! Finlay's latest single, "Tides" released in March, has been played over 129,000 on Spotify alone. "Tides" is is only her second single. Her first single, "Always There" was released in November. you can find music, videos and more at finlaymusic.com So in the last 9 Months, Finlay has released 2 singles, gotten over 140,000 plays on both combined on Spotify, secured major management, was picked as one of NPR's "100 Artists To Watch at SXSW 2017", she was Austin Music Foundation's Artist of the Month for July and a lot more. You might be asking yourself, "How does she do it?". Well, Finlay and I have a great conversation about growing up in Houston, learning piano at a young age, going to college in L.A., surviving a deadly shark attack in 2012, returning to the ocean and comitting her life to music, making music with her husband and much, much more! I had a great time getting to know Paige Finlay. I'm sure you will too. 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 444: Jason Robert Blum Returns! / Gigtown

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. it really feels like a strange time and i hit a breaking point on tuesday... i freaked out on internet people who ended up blocking me on facebook. i hit a breaking point. i'm not proud, but i bet you're feeling that if you watch the news and read your facebook feeds. anyway, i'm better now. i have a lot of christmas shopping to do. i have music and art to make, podcasts to do and put out, skyrocket shows to play, a wonderful girlfriend that i love, an amazing family, two dogs that i love. i guess i can just focus on that and trying to make that all work. that's what i decided. my guest for episode 444 is singer/songwriter, jason robert blum! jason just released a gorgeous new album, invisible words. he made the record at plyrz studio in los angeles. it was produced by the great jim scott and features the talents of jj johnson, dave palmer, blake mills and dave monsey. find it on itunes or at jasonrobertblum.com jason and i have a great conversation about making the record, his many travels, our tv show idea "fishing for gonorrhea" and much, much more. i'm sure you're going to love getting to know jason. he's a good hang. before that, i sit down for a few minutes with brian and andy from the new musician/audience/venue uniting app, gigtown. the gigtown guys were in austn launching their new app which has already taken off in san diego and now they're branching out to austin and seattle. they're really good guys with a great idea to help musicians connect with their audience. check our conversation. it's informative. also go to gigtown.com to find out more. have a great weekend! let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 434: Laurie Gallardo Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i had a crazy weekend of shows. hey! speaking of shows, i'm playing a solo show next tuesday, november 17th at the townsend. the show starts at 8 and i go on at 9. there will be a special guest playing from 8-9. i'll post a link on our facebook page when i have all the details. i'm looking for an old drum machine that's reasonably priced and is from the 70's. do you know of one. write me on our facebook page. my guest for episode 434 is the voice of KUTX 98.9 fm in austin, laurie gallardo! this is laurie's second time on the show. we sat down a month or so ago and caught up on her various endeavors including her d.j. shift on KUTX 98.9 monday-thursday 8-11pm, her support of local music and touring bands with her "austin music minute" heard daily on KUTX and "the good music club" which can be found at thegoodmusicclub.com/ and much, much more! laurie has been a great friend and tireless supporter of the podcast and my music career. i have a genuine respect for her. i see her out at a lot of shows and music functions. she's definitely an important part of this crazy austin music scene. i hope you enjoy our conversation as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 415: Live at The Townsend w/ Kathy Valentine, Emily Bell, Amy Edwards and Miles Zuniga

hello friends! welcome to episode 415: live at the townsend with our guests, kathy valentine, emily bell, amy edwards and miles zuniga! this episode was recorded in front of a live audience on wednesday, sept. 9th. i have great conversations with all of the artists and we have a great group conversation about where we think things are going in the music world. the show was recorded by our friends at werd media labs. i had a blast talking to these great artists. i'm sure you will too. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 396: Wonderbitch

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i have shared custody of my dogs with my ex and she's leaving town today and i'm going to stay with my dogs for a whole week. i love it. i miss living with them, so this is a nice treat. i have to go in for a follow-up post-op appointment at the dentist. i'm pretty sure it'll all be fine. it feels fine. i have a big announcement. as you know, we are closing in on episode 400 and we're going to celebrate by having a live podcast recording! it will take place wednesday, july 29th from 8-10 pm at the townsend. my guests will be aj vallejo, suzanna choffel, jazz mills, nakia and justin elliott! here's a link to the facebook event page. if you live in austin, come celebrate with us.my guest for episode 396 is alex chod from the disco/psych/prog band, wonderbitch! i first heard about them from matt and lauren from solstice festival. so, i looked them up and was blown away by their ability to cross the lines of prog and dance pop. alex and i have a great conversation about everything college in indiana, expensive chords, the subtle magic of the DX7, how to be prog but not too prog, making "playing keyboards" sexy, finding like-minded bandmates, i learn what y.o.l.o. means, über driving and much, much more! their new single, "josanna" is available online now! i had a great time getting to know alex. i'm sure will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 369: Paper Aeroplanes with Elen Roberts from Music Wales

hello friends! we have a lot of new listeners coming to the podcast this week. welcome. i hope you enjoy these candid conversations between folks in the biz. i have all kinds of musicians on the show. scroll through the archives here on the podbean page. or subscribe on itunes, stitcher or via the podcast app for iphones. we have new shows coming out every tuesday and friday. so, twice a week you get a peek into the lives of musicians and other people in the entertainment biz through candid conversations hosted by your truly. if you like what you hear, "like" our facebook page and you'll get photos of guests, updates from former guests, pictures of me with the guests and much more. my guests for episode 369 are welsh dream/pop band, paper aeroplanes and sitting in with them is elen roberts from music wales who was hosting a show for paper aeroplanes during sxsw at the brittish music embassy. i caught up with them during sxsw and we got to chat about the state of music in wales, what music wales does for welsh artists all over the world, paper aeroplanes new album, "joy" and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these fine folks. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 367: Gina Chavez & Mother Falcon

hello friends! i hope you all had a wonderful passover/easter weekend. i did. i got to spend some quality time with my grand mother and aunts on sunday morning for breakfast and a general hang. i love hanging out with them. i haven't done an "easter thing" for a long time. in fact, i can't remember when. in my culture you get gifts on easter. isn't that weird? i always thought it was weird. not that i wasn't thankful or grateful, i just always thought it was weird. anyway, episode of "drinking/cooking with johnny & aj" is up! this time we have a guest, emmy robbin and we make her mom's famous king ranch casserole! check it out here the link.my guests for episode 367 are 2014/2015 austin chronicle music poll's "musician of the year", gina chavez and mother falcon's nick gregg! gina has a video release party and big show this saturday, april 11th at the stateside theater in austin, tx with special guests, mother falcon, elizabeth mcqueen. riders against the storm are hosting the show. the show benefits the non-profit, ninas arribas college fund. so, we have a great conversation about what it takes to put a show on in a theater, gina's sweep of the awards, how mother falcon makes it work with such a big group and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 310: Will Knaak Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all "in it" this weekend for summer's last stand. yes, this weekend marks the last weekend of summer. fall starts next week and honestly, i'm ready for fall. my morning runs have been hot and humid festivals of sweat. i'm ready for cool, nice fall morning runs. hey! if you live in austin, today, friday, sept 19th 2014 is "danny crooks day"! no shit! my old friend is being honored by the city for his contributions to the music community. there's a party at the roost at 7 with the showing of a documentary and TONS of bands. i'll be playing some songs at 8. if you went to, or played at steamboat, you should come out and say hi to danny. it's gonna be a great show. i'll be coming back into town to play with skyrocket at 10:30 at the one-2-one bar. we don't do too many shows in the city limits... you should come out. do it!!!!my guest for episode 310 is amazing guitar player/singer/songwriter, will knaak! will making his second appearance on the show. he's just released his first solo album, the only open road and it's awesome! the album was produced by guitar hero, jeff plankenhorn and features brannen temple on drums and yoggi on bass. it's a pretty impressive debut album. you might know will as being a sideman for many country bands here in texas. he spends a lot of time on tour and has pretty much his whole life. he started out playing young and was out playing professionally when he was 12 years old! we have a great conversation about his journey, the courage it takes to make the step from sideman to frontman and the delicate balance, touring, working with jeff and much, much more. i am a huge fan of will's both as a player and as a person. you will be too after our conversation. lrt's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 309: Charlie Hodge & Lucas Molandes Return!

hello friends! i hope you all had a great weekend and you'e feeling good about everything. i'm doing well. i played all weekend. i played on friday and saturday with skyrocket and sunday with john bush and his group of awesome musicians including penny jo pullus, john nelson, glenn mcgregor, landis armstrong, brad houser and seth orrell. great times! i love playing at the one-2-one bar. i'm actually playing there this friday september 19th with skyrocket. come out and rock out with us in this sweet south austin club.my guests for episode 309 are two of my favorite funny men and best pals, charlie hodge and lucas molandes! charlie is hosting a big comedy show tonight at cap city. we talk all about it on the show. anyway, i hang out with thee guys a lot and we do podcast stuff together, so this show is more of just funny dudes hanging out and making each other laugh. i think we need this kind of episode every once in a while. this crazy conversations covers online dating, "i am cumin and i need to be loved", grocery stores, johnny's bagging pet peeves, lucas' sister is super-catholic, charlie wants to start a brick and mortar dating place called "cumin space" and much more insanity. i absolutely love these dudes and i love hanging out with them. i hope you love hanging out with us. let's get down!ciao! -jg