Episode 381: Mark Proct

hello friends! i hope you all had a good memorial day weekend. there was crazy rain, flooding and general old-testament-style devastation here in austin. i want to tell you guys about some solo shows i have coming up this week. tonight, tuesday, may 26th i'll be playing at the volstead in austin. i'll be playing at 10 right after last friday's guest, the big fix and right before one of my favorite people, kayce laine from nyc. thursday, may 28th, i'll be playing at 502 bar in san antonio at 9pm opening for one of my best friends, joseph king from nyc. and friday, 5/29, SKYROCKET! will be rocking hanover's in pflugerville at 10 pm. my guest for episode 381 is music business veteran, mark proct! mark shares his journey through 40 years in this business working as a roadie, soundman, tour manager, manager and everything in between with the likes of willie nelson, asleep at the wheel, jerry jeff walker, the fabulous thunderbirds, stevie ray vaughan, the vaughan brothers, the arc angels, storyville, vallejo and more. that whole time, mark had a camera and was documenting his exciting trip with all of these legendary musicians and has just put out an amazing and gorgeous book, "home today gone tomorrow", which is a collection of candid photos and stories spanning a 40 year career in this crazy business. mark and i sat down last week and went through the book and his life for 2 whole hours and here it is. i hope you enjoy it. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 377: Ray Prim Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all happy and healthy. things are good here. i wanted to tell you about a solo show i'm playing tomorrow, wed, may 13th at the hole in the wall here in austin. i'll be playing from 7-8 pm right after my friends, ethan azarian and jeff johnston. there's no cover and the hole in the wall is a good time. come out and say hi!my guest for episode 377 is signer/songwriter, ray prim! you might know ray from his band, 7 stones in the late 90's, or maybe his "soulwriter" songwriter series at flipnotics that he had for years. you might also know him from the webseries i'm in, "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj". he was also a guest in the early days of this show. ray has spent the last two years making his new album, still here on loungeside records. it's a fantastic album! he has a release show in austin this saturday, may 16th at strange brew loungeside at 9 pm. he'll be playing with a full-band right down to a horn section. we have a great conversation about being in a songwriting group, making still here on his own and learning how to record and mix and all that jazz, the maywether/pacquio fight, learning all aspects of making an album including photoshop and much, much more. i always have a great time talking to ray. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 363: The Contenders

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm still in a recovery mode from sxsw 2015. if you were here for it, i hope you're recovering. i had an eventful ending to the conference and now i'm just trying to get back to a normal life. it's surprising how much people are working during sxsw. i mean, i got out for 3 nights of it. otherwise, i just worked. i had so many podcasts to do and i was so tired from playing all week the week before with skyrocket. anyway, the result is a month of shows with bands from all over the world. i had some great conversations. i met some really cool people. if you're new to the show, welcome, enjoy, browse through old episodes on this site. my guests for episode 363 are americana duo, the contenders! singer/songwriter jay nash and drummer/songwriter, josh day, met on tour and pulled their strengths together and started this amazing duo. hey came ove to the aprtment during sxsw and we had a great talk about their journey and how they came together to form the contenders. jay lives in vermont and josh lives in nashville and we talked about how they make that work in this modern era. they have a fantastic new e.p. out called, meet the contenders. you can find out more about them at http://www.wearethecontenders.com/ i hope you enjoy getting to know jay and josh as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 355: Wild Adriatic Returns! / Pick With Austin

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. this year is just flying by isn't it. i hope you're finding the time to stop and smell the roses. how did you like the oscars? i always think i'm going to like those things, but i really have more fun just making fun of everything than actually watching the show. especially on twitter. i loved "boyhood" & "birdman". i would've taken either as best picture. i am sad that the drummer guy in "birdman" didn't "qualify" for an academy award. that was one of my favorite things in a movie EVER! i've been doing podcasts every day this week. i have a lot of great shows coming in the next few weeks. plus, SXSW is coming! run for your life!!!!my guests for episode 355 are new york rockers, wild adriatic! this amazing rock and roll band just moved to austin to write songs, taking on a saturday night residency at empire control room and garage. they're releasing a new e.p., never enough on tuesday, march 17th 2015. this is the guys' second appearance on the show. they were on last year while they were here on tour. anyway, we had a great conversation about their recent european tour, how they make songs, life in the van, how spotify helps them spread the word, mateo's love of merchandise, we talk gear and just what the hell they're doing in texas for 6 weeks. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. plus, laurie hebert from pick with austin stops by and talks about their current instrument drive. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 353: Quiet Company Returns... Again!

hello friends! i hope you al had a wonderful valentine's weekend. i had a good weekend, but as you'll hear in the intro, a sad valentine's day. skyrocket played some fun shows this weekend and we had some good laughs backstage. speaking of shows, i have a show coming up in a couple of weeks with my all-girl band, johnny in the ladies room. it's a great garage rock band featuring me, kathy valentine, dominique davalos and christina comly. we're playing on friday, march 6th, 2015 at lambert's in austin, tx. here's a link to the event page, johnny in the ladies roommy guest for episode 353 is the amazingly talented and insightful, taylor muse from quiet company! this is taylor's 3rd time on the show and i think the conversations keep getting better. quiet company has a new album, transgressor, coming out NEXT tuesday 2/24/15 on modern outsider records. the album is gorgeous. once again, taylor is working out his life in song and once again, it is a beautiful and transformative experience. i hope you enjoy our conversation that ranges from everything to current music, seeing bands, making transgressor, making peace with your demons and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 345: Cautiontape

hello friends! as you can see, we have THREE shows this week! a busy week here at "how did i get here?" headquarters. things are good here. i had a long rehearsal with skyrocket today. it was good and very productive. we recorded some songs over the last couple of weeks and now we have to work some new parts into old songs. how are you? don't forget that you can like our facebook page, "how did i get here?" and find out what shows are coming up, see pictures and keep up with bands that have ben on the show.my guests for episode 345 are synth-pop band, cationatape! caytiontape just released their debut e.p., how we shine and they have a release show tonight, jan 22nd, 2015 at the spiderhouse ball room in austin, tx. jason and brit stopped by a couple of nights a go and we had cocktails and got to know each other. we had a fantastic conversation about how the band got together, making how we shine with producer robert harrison, dating, pop music, the fact that i have four robes and much, much more! i really had a great time getting to know jason and brit. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 340: Dwight Twilley

hello friends! i have been sick since new years day. i'm feeling a bit better today. still not 100% but i was out for four days. wow! anyway, i'm totally fucking stir crazy. i need to do something. i know i have elias haslanger coming over tomorrow. i'll be really excited to see him as he will be the first person i have had contact with since jake came by to check on me last friday. look out eli! anyway, i'm playing with skyrocket this friday at the one-2-one bar here in austin, tx. also free week is going on. i'd like to get out and see some new music this week. maybe i'll be up to it tomorrow or thursday. any suggestions?my guest for episode 340 is power pop legend, dwight twilley! i have been a fan of dwight's since i was 15 and i heard the song, "girls". over the years, i've gone back to through his catalog and my power pop friends and i have kept up with him over the years and remained fans. he has an amazing new album, always that's available on his website, dwighttwilley.com and itunes and spotify etc. we had a great phone conversation about everything from the making of always, making music in his studio on his own terms, his burgeoning art career, "solid gold" vs. "dance fever" and much more! i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 332: Ian Moore Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i've had an emotionally draining week. big ups, big downs and all-arounds. i feel like our music community lost one of our elders. someone we could look to as a beacon of what we can elevate ourselves to as musicians and people. ian mclagan was that guy in our community and now he's gone. he touched a lot of people in this community and his loss is felt. big time. the big ups this week had to do with the mr. rocket baby reunion. after more than 20 years of not playing together, we reunited and played a show. it was an extremely cathartic experience. it was really fun playing those songs again. it was good being around those guys again. it was great! there was some real healing through rock and roll going on there. i'm proud and honored to have been a part of that experience. crazy, right?my guest for episode 332 is my dear old friend, making his second appearance on the show, the amazingly talented songwriter/singer/musician, ian moore! ian and i have been friends for around 30 years. i got the chance to tour with him 7 years ago when he released his album, to be loved. he's in town this week because he's on a christmas tour. which stops in austin, galveston and houston this week. find out if he's coming to your town y going to ianmoore.com to find out when he's coming to a town near you. ian is amazing artist who's followed his heart and and worn it on his sleeve for for the past 3 decades. if you like this episode and want to hear our conversation for episode 10 go to http://howdidigethere.podbean.com/e/episode-10-ian-moore/ hear about how he got started and our tour together and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with ian. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 331: Clint Wells

hello friends! i hope you all survived the thanksgiving holiday. i did. i went to houston on saturday and hung out with my family before i went to the house of blues for my skyrocket show. i'm off from skyrocket this week. i'm playing with mr. rocket baby on saturday (dec. 6th) at the one-2-one bar! tickets are still available at mr. rocket baby tix tonight, at 10:45 - 11:15 richard weiss from mr. rocket baby and i will be on KLBJ 93.7 here in austin. if you're not here and you want to hear it online, you can at http://www.klbjfm.com/my guest for episode 331 is the extremely talented guitarist/songwriter, clint wells. clint lives in nashville and was in town a couple of weeks ago getting ready to go on tour with bob schneider. clint is a guitar player who's played with  bob schneider, mindy smith, DUGAS, laura bell bundy, matthew mayfeild, jesse baylin and many, many more. we had a great conversation about kiss, metal, touring, writing and much, much more. i had a great time getting to know clint. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 321: Ron Flynt

hello friends! i hope your lives are cruising along like a yacht on open water. i'm well. i've been doing podcasts all day. i can't for you to hear them. i'm also getting my set together for my solo show tonight at the volstead. if you're in austin, the volstead is celebrating the anniversary of the volstead act with a party and i'm on the bill. come on out and throw down on the east side! also, if you live in houston, skyrocket will be playing at the house of blues bronze peacock room, THIS thursday 10/30/14. get yourself some tickets and come party with us on a thursday!my guest for episode 321 is power pop legend/producer, ron flynt! i have had the pleasure of playing a couple of songerwriter-in-the-rounds with ron over the years. he's always been a super nice and amazingly talented dude. you might know ron from the seminal power pop band, 20/20. he's put out several solo albums, produced several albums and is currently in the drakes. ron came by and we sat down and talked about growing up in broken arrow oklahoma, moving to l.a., being one of the first bands interviewed on mtv, getting "locked in" by phil spector, touring with ramones and hall & oates, making music for hanna/barbera cartoons, making records for people, the drakes and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg