Episode 728: Hard Proof

Hello gang! Four time Austin Music Award winners,  Stephen Bidwell and Joe Wollard from Austin Afrobeat band, Hard Proof are my guests for episode 728! Hard Proof is celebrating a decade of being a band and playing next weekend at Waterloo Music Festival here in Austin. You can fnd their music, videos, show dates and more at hardproofmusic.com. We have a great conversation about Afrobeat, how they came together as a band, working with producers Adrian Quesada and Frenchie Smith, touring with a big band and much more. I had a great time getting to know these fine gentlemen. I'm sure you will too. Let's get down!
Ciao! - JG

Episode 401: Continental Drift

hello friends!  hope you're all doing well and taking the last weeks of summer in stride. i'm trying to. i'm getting my shit together after a couple of whirlwind weeks of podcasts, shows, the beach, new york, connecticut and the 400th podcast... whew! i had a great time doing everything, but it was utterly exhausting. hey! if you live in austin or not, i'll be on 93.7 KLBJ tonight at 11. i'll be on "local licks" with loris lowe talking about the podcast and stuff. check it out at www.klbjfm.com. also, tomorrow, wednesday, august 5th, i will be moderating a panel for the austin music foundation's, "the music business is dead" panel. we'll be discussing the implications of the austin music census findings with a great panel of musicians and music business folks. you can find out more and rsvp here http://austinmusicfoundation.org/. come out and find out where this community is headed and what you can do to sustain a career in this day and age.my guests for episode 401 are jedidiah and david from the ten piece, afro beat/psych band, continental drift. these guys are about to release their debut ep in a few weeks. i had the pleasure of sitting down with these cats yesterday and chatting about west african music, what is psychedelic music, maintaining order in a 10-peice band, recording live, working out songs at shows and much, much more. these guys are amazing musicians with a great vision and i really enjoyed getting to know them. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! jg

Episode 390: Kalu James Returns!

hello friends! i hope you are living life like an angel of love and happiness. i am well. i am working on some guitar stuff for a gig i'm playing next friday with amy edwards. it's really fun to just play electric guitar and be loud and not even have to sing. i'm looking forward to it. also, i wanted to let you guys know that i'll be playing some songs with the bluebonnets next thursday at the grand opening for the townsend which is a new, swanky club opening here in austin. also, while we're on the subject of gigs.. i'm playing song swap with william harries graham on sunday, july 5th at the continental club gallery. come out and say hi!my guest for episode 390 is talented singer/songwriter, kalu james! this is kalu's second time on the show. he's had a couple of life changing years since he was last on the show a couple of years ago. i saw him play a month or so ago and was reminded what a great artist he is and what a genuine and nice person he is. so, we did it again. we have a great conversation about, the magic in the continental club gallery, becoming the man of the family, re-prioritizing life, writing songs about nothing, über adventures, american racism, a live album in the can and much, much more! i want to thank kalu for coming in and being so honest and real about where he is in his life. kalu is a great artist and a great guy. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 229: Kalu James

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are all good here in johnny world. hey! if you're in austin next friday, december 20th, i'll be playing a solo show at the one-2-one bar from 6-7pm. a happy hour holiday solo show! come out and say ho! i've been booking a lot of guests for 2014 already. looking to the festivals to see what kind of cool guests i can get for the show. do you have any ideas for guests? let us know at the "how did i get here?" facebook page. my guest for episode 229 is nigerian born singer/songwriter, kalu james. i had met kalu over the years, but never really sat down and talked to him. well, a couple of weeks ago he came over and we had a great conversation. we talked about growing up in nigeria, finding bootleg steely dan cassettes in nigerian  market places, moving to new york for college, playing around in the open mic scene, fela kuti, treacherous restaurant gigs and much, much more. it's a great conversation. kalu is a fun and interesting guy to talk to. enjoy!ciao! -jg