Episode 532: Shmu

Hello friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a good weekend. i did spend some of it worried that was too sick to play. I can't tell if I have a lingering cold or just really bad allergies, because it seems like one day, i'm better and the next i'm totally sick again. Anyway, I had a good time singing at the John Lennon birthday show at Threadgill's here in Austin on Sunday. Lots of cool folks joined Stephen Doster's #9 Orchestra to pay tribute to John on his birthday.
My guest for episode 532 is Samuel Chown musically known as Shmu! Shmu's latest album Shhh!!! is absolutely fantastic! Sam and I have a great conversation about growing up in Canada, going to Berklee College of Music, making shoe-gazer/dream pop meets psychedelic glitch music, his label, GTZ Records and much, much more! I hope you enjoy getting to know Sam/Shmu as much as I did. Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 525: Rattletree

Hello friends! I hope you're all doing well. I'm recovering from a pretty fun Sunday. I went to the Reckless Kelly Sunset Motel listening party at Arlyn Studios here in Austin yesterday. The album is great. The party was awesome. Lots of old friends and new friends all celebrating one of our own and their new album. It reminds me how lucky I am to be a part of this scene. Sunset Motel comes out this Friday, September 23rd. You'll be hearing from them on this show very soon.
My guest for episode 525 is Joel Laviolette from the electronica/marimba band, Rattletree! This weekend Rattletree will be hosting "The Rattletree Glow Party" with all kinds of activities, musical projects, food and more.The party takes place this Friday, Sept 23rd, Saturday, Sept 24th and Sunday Sept 25th. For tickets and more information, simply go to rattletree.com Joel and i have a great conversation about learning marimba and living in Africa, teaching marimba, incorporating electronic music and traditional African music, the glow party, African chord changes and much, much more. I hope you enjoy our conversation. 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 510: Jackie Venson

hello friends. i hope this episode finds you all doing well. i'm good. i'm glad that these conventions are over. i thought it was exciting to see the first woman accepting her party's nomination for president. i watched it live. i like what she's saying. i'm really glad these conventions are over. i feel like this campaign has been going on forever. hey! if you want to get away from all things political and you're listening to this show the day it comes out, skyrocket is playing tonight, friday, july 29th at speakeasy here in austin. come out and party with us. 
my guest for episode 510 is musical powerhouse and guitar hero, jackie venson! jackie has a new album, live at strange brew, coming out on september 16th and is heading out on a west coast tour starting next wednesday, august 3rd. go to jackievenson.com to find out if she's coming to a town near you. jackie and i have a great conversation about growing up austin, her time at berklee college of music, making a switch from classical pianist to blues guitarist in 2011, recording her new live album, why she likes short guys and so much more. i had a great time getting to know jackie. i'm sure you will too. let's get down! 
ciao! -jg

Episode 503: Jane Ellen Bryant

hello friends! i hope you had a good 4th of july weekend. i did. i got to play at the townsend's one year anniversary party. i played with mark hallman, nathan harlan, steven weisburd and the bluebonnets. what a great time. i'm actually booking some future podcast guests today. is there anyone you'd like to see on the show? i'm reaching out to publicists from all kinds of bands. hopefully, we'll be able to nail down some good ones. 
my guest for episode 503 is the incredibly talented, jane ellen bryant! jane's new e.p., twenties, comes out this friday, july 8th. she'll also be playing a release show on friday, july 8th at lambert's in austin with special guest, emily bell. i've heard about jane for years, but i've never gotten to meet her. it was great getting to sit down and talk to this austin native about recording her new e.p. twenties with frenchy smith, come up through the austin school of music, playing with max frost and much, much more. you can see the video for her song, "twenties" at janeellenbryant.com i hope you enjoy getting to know jane. i sure did. lets get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 481: The Accidentals Return!

hello gang! i hope you're all doing well. i am up super early so that i can get some shit done before i leave town for the weekend with skyrocket. i'll be in houston tomorrow for record store day. i'll be hitting cactus music, sig's lagoon and where ever else my record buying takes me. if you don't know the mom and pop record stores in your town, here's a good resource to find stores participating on record store day! http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues happy shopping!
my guests for episode 481 are the pride of traverse city mi, insanely talented, extremely sweet, the accidentals! these guys were on the show a year ago during sxsw 2015, well, sxsw 2016 rolled around and we had them back! since they were last here, they've been on the road the whole time. touring the u.s., playing festivals, picking up a gaggle of fans along the way. they're on tour now, just go to moreaccidentals.com to find out when they're coming to a town near you and pick up their album, bittersweet. we have another great conversation about touring, puppy parties, keeping it together as a band by being sweet to each other and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with the accidentals. i sure did. lets' get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 466: David Messier

hello friends! i hope you're all feeling footloose and fancy free. i'm doing well. i'm just sitting here listening to my first bandmate's new album he made with his wife. it's called, little souvenir and it's really good. their band is called basketcake. they don't play live or anything. they have kids and jobs. they just made an album because they love making music. fortunately, it's available for people to buy and listen to. here's a link to their band camp page basketcake bandcamp page go hear it for yourself!my guest for episode 466 is producer/singer/songwriter, david messier! you might know david as the owner of same-sky productions, producer and sideman, or as the frontman for the early 2000's boston band, papermoon. he is making his official debut as a solo artist with his album, waiting for eldridge, which comes out this friday, february 26th. he's also having a record release show friday february 26th at the townsend in austin, tx. so, if you're in austin, come out to the townsend on friday, see the show and pick up a copy of waiting for eldridge. if you're not in austin, check out davidmessier.com for all of your david messier needs. i hope you enjoy my conversation with david. i sure did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 443: My Jerusalem

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well out there in podcast land. things are good here. i got to go to the back fret black ball gala on friday. it was a fantastic event held at the paramount theater here in austin. black fret is a non-profit that gives grant to musicians to help them further their careers. on friday, black fret gave out $150,000 in grants to artists! i talked to some folks on the red carpet but unfortunately, it was way too loud and the recordings came out crappy. but, i got a couple of minutes with black fret founders, colin kendrick and matt ott and you'll hear that on the intro to this show. congratulations to those guys for two years of supporting artists!!!! check out black fret at blackfret.orgmy guest for episode 443 is amazing frontman jeff klein from the band, my jerusalem! my jerusalem just finished recording an album that should be out next spring. they're on the road this week in texas playing thursday, 12/10 at empire control room and garage, friday, 12/11 at the doublewide in dallas and saturday, 12/12 at paper tiger in san antonio. you can find out where they're playing and how to get their music by going to thisismyjerusalem.com jeff and i go back around 15 years. we spent 10 of those not speaking. in those 10 years jeff put out several critically acclaimed albums, toured the world with the twilight singers and the gutter twins, lived in new orleans, opened for X, the psychedelic furs and much, much more. i had a great time catching up with jeff. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 429: Big Cat

hello friends! welcome to another episode of "how did i get here?" a podcast where i talk to musicians and other folks in entertainment and art about what, how and why they do what they do. i hope you're all doing well. i want to let you know that my band, skyrocket, will be playing at cedar street courtyard this saturday 10/31, halloween night. we start at 9 or 10 and play til your costume is coming off and your make-up is melting come out and party with us this halloween.my guests for episode 429 are singer, malford milligan and guitarist, dave sebree from austin's newest super-group, big cat! they're self-titled debut album comes out this week and they're playing a fecord release show this thursday 10/29 at the continental club here in austin and they're playing an instore at waterloo records on friday 10/30 at 4 pm. big cat also includes drummer, les fisher, keyboard player, stefano intelisano and bass player, roscoe beck! i had a great time catching up with malford and dave about how they got the band together, making their album and much, much more. i love these guys and i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 427: Moving Panoramas / Honky Tonk Heaven: The Story of the Broken Spoke

hello friends! i hope you're all flying high again! things are going well here at la casa de johnny. i have a great big show for you guys today. before we get to my conversation with moving panoramas, i have a quick chat with michelle faires, producer of "honky tonk heaven: the story of the broken spoke" a documentary about the legendary texas honky tonk. they've just started editing and they've started a kickstarter campaign to finish up their movie. michelle gives us an insight to the story, but you can check it out and give at kickstarter.com/brokenspokefilm do it!my guests for episode 427 are the amazing dreamgaze trio, moving panoramas! their gorgeous new album, one came out earlier this month. you can find one and fin out all about them at movingpanoramas.com leslie and rosie from the band came by a few weeks ago and we had an amazing conversation about leslie's life-changing, traumatic few months, turning heartache and confusion into beautiful art, teaching rosie music and becoming bandmates, fear of numbers, school of rock, shoegaze vs. dreamgaze, the making of one, custom earplugs vs. $1 earplugs and much, much more! leslie's story is harrowing, but what she was able to do musically not only made her feel better but it made the world a more beautiful place and for that i thank her and the rest of the band. let's get down!ciao! -jg