Episode 411: Max Frost

hello friends! i hope you've all got your labor day weekend plans in order. maybe you're going to the beach or the lake for one last time this summer. this episode is coming out a little late because i shot another episode of "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj". we shot the episode with willy braun at his gorgeous place and he taught us how to make delicious bbq ribs, coleslaw, beans and a whole lot of tito's and lemonade. it's the best one yet! i'll let you know when it's up! hey! i just want to remind you that we have a live podcast coming up next wednesday, july 9th at the townsend right here in austin, tx from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, amy edwards and emily bell! find out more about the event here.my guest for episode 411 is the amazingly talented musician/songwriter/producer/rockstar, max frost! i headed over to werd media labs and met up with max. his new single, "withdrawal" is out today. you can get it on itunes or at his website maxfrost.net. he's about to head out on tour for the month of october with austin indie darlings, wild child. so max and i had a fantastic conversation about everything from handling quincy jones' oscar, writing songs with and for people, keeping your integrity whie making pop music, why you should put your songs on soundcloud, discovering himself as an artist and much, much more. plus, he does the best bob schneider imitation ever. max is a very smart and aware person and we had a really great conversation. i hope you enjoy getting to know max as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 410: SaulPaul

hello friends! i hope you're doing well. today is the 10th annual, HAAM day in austin, tx. there is music everywhere from 6 am - 2am. participating businesses are donating a portion of of their income today to HAAM. you can get involved and show your support by supporting participating businesses and/or going to see some music somewhere today. for a complete listing of music, venues and participating businesses got to myhaam.org get out and get involved. HAAM is one of those things that makes austin and the music scene here unique. support it. my guest for episode 410 is rapper/singer/songwriter/author/public speaker and all-around great guy, SaulPaul! i met SaulPaul a month or so ago when we were both on an austin music foundation panel. he seemed like an interesting and talented guy with a lot going on, i was right. saulpaul came by a couple of weeks ago and we talked about losing his mom at 3, prison, college, making unique music that incorporates rap and acoustic guitar, tedtalks, google talks and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know SaulPaul. i sure did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 409: Wiretree / Croy And The Boys

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you winning the race. i'm doing well. i have the weekend off from skyrocket, so i'll be going to my friends joe's to swim on saturday then to see a screening of penelope spheeris' 1983 film, "suburbia". i'll be doing the weekend stuff that everyone always gets to do when i'm on my way out of town to a gig or going to an early load in and soundcheck somewhere. exciting huh? hey! don't forget we have a live podcast coming up wednesday, sept. 9th  from 8-10 pm at the townsend here in austin, tx. my guests will be miles zuniga (fastball) kathy valentine, amy edwards and emily bell! there's no cover. check out the facebook event.my guest for episode 409 is kevin peroni from austin's indie pop band, wiretree! they've just rereleased the album that put them on the map, 2007's bouldin, on vinyl. kevin stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we talked about growing up in corpus christi, getting to austin, discovering pop music, starting wiretree, playing festivals in japan and europe, getting songs placed in movies and tv shows and much, much more. kevin was also nice enough to give us a brand new wiretree song, "let it go" to debut on the show. you can hear it at the end of the show. kevin is an amazing songwriter and artist, wiretree is an amazing band. i hope you enjoy getting to know kevin as much as i did. plus, corey baum from croy and the boys calls in to talk about their kickstarter campaign that ends next saturday, 9/5. check out croy and the boys kickstarter and see what you can do. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 405: Emily Wolfe Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all staying cool in the dog days of summer. i'm enjoying a slow and relaxing sunday morning. i've been playing the last three nights with skyrocket. they were all great shows. we had a drummer subbing for our drummer and he did a great job. our how in houston at house of blues on friday was sold out. that was good. hey! we have a live podcast recording coming up on wednesday, september 9th from 8-10 pm at the townsend right here in austin, tx. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga (fastball), amy edwards and emily bell! if you're in austin and would like to come, check out our facebook event page.my guest for episode is the amazingly talented, emily wolfe! emily was on the show a couple of years ago and since her last appearance her life has changed drastically and we get into it. she has a new single, "cigarette burns" and is currently working on a new album. anyway, we met up at the werd company podcast studio and had a great conversation about recovery, staying sober, writing music, working with the great mike mccarthy, her plans for the next year and much, much more. emily is such a great talent and i want to thank her for being so brutally honest with me about what she's been going through lately. that stuff is never easy. i hope you enjoy our conversation as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 404: Girl Pilot

hello friends! i hope you're managing out there in this insane heat. maybe you're in a body of water or just inside with the air conditioning running. either way, i hope you're staying cool. i'm writing this the day before it comes out and i'm about to go play a show outside... ick. i'm thinking about playing shows like this in my bathing suit. is that unprofessional? 104 degrees is too hot. i'm going to stop by target and get myself a fan. if you;re in houston tonight, friday august 14th skyrocket will be playing at the house of blues bronze peacock room. come out and say hi. also, if you;re in austin tomorrow, saturday 8/15 skyrocket is doing an extremely rare show at the hole in the wall. i'm sure there will be a low cover. come out and see us where we started out. my guests for episode 404 are austin's own, girl pilot! you might know their leader, sahara smith. she put out an album a few years ago called myth of the heart that was executive produced by t-bone burnett and she ended up making appearances on tv shows including david letterman. anyway, after that experience, sahara went back to the drawing board and realized she wanted a band and that band is girl pilot. so i met lauren mike and sahara from the band at the werd company podcast studio and we had a fantastic conversation about where they've been and where they're headed. i hope you enjoy getting to know girl pilot. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 400: Live at The Townsend! With Suzanna Choffel, Justin Elliott, Nakia, A.J. Vallejo and Jazz Mills

hello friends! welcome to episode 400 recorded live at the townsend in austin, tx. my guests for this show are suzanna choffel, justin elliott, nakia, a.j. vallejo and jazz mills! i would like to thank all of my guests, the townsend for hosting us so graciously, the werd company for coming out and recording it so beautifully and most of all the crowd that came out and made it so fun. this is a great show! we talk about periscope, amazing cocktails including one called, "how did i get here?", aj asks me to smell his finger, french trips, more cocktails and much, much more. i hope you enjoy it as much as we did. thank you for listening to this show. i feel like the last 400 episodes have been life-changing for me. i can't wait to see what the next 400 episodes hold. thanks again for listening. it makes me happy. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 399: Songs From The Podcast

hello friends! i hope you're all enjoyeing summer. when this comes out i'll be getting ready to leave galveston and return to austin for our live recording of episode 400 tomorrow, wednesday, july 29th from 8-10pm at the townsend! my guests will be, aj vallejo, jazz mills, suzanna choffel, nakia and justin elliott! come celebrate 400 episodes with us!welcome to episode 399: songs from the podcast. over the last year i've had well over 100 guests come by the apartment, talk to me at festival, meet me at werd podcast studios and even meeting at undisclosed locations, to talk about where they're at with their music life and music career. often times, these people are coming by during their "press assaults" promoting their latest album or single. sometimes i end up getting turned on to a new band, artist, album or song. in fact, it happens all the time. i love when a podcast is over and the artist's music stays with me and i become a fan. with well over 100 artists on the show over the last year, i got turned on a bunch of music. in this episode i included 15 songs that i loved. there so many more, that i started a playlist on spotify titled, "episode 399: songs from the podcast" you can find a link to it on our facebook page check it out there are a lot of songs on there. so, i get to play d.j. and spin tunes from shivery shakes, little brave, quiet company, billy harvey, migrant kids, the blue bonnets, bob schneider, phranchyze, dwight twilley, t.a.p.e.s., skinny lister, cautiontape, the wind + the wave, LEV and wild adriatic! hopefully, this mix sparks your interest in some of these bands and makes you check out the spotify playlist where you can check out even more music from the podcast. i hope you enjoy listening to this as much as i enjoyed making it. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 394: Migrant Kids

hello friends! i hope you're all out there walking on sunshine this summer. i'm good... well, not good. i'm anxious because i have to go to the dentist today to have tooth pulled and to put in an implant post. sounds freaky, right? jeez. it stresses me out to be out of it and in pain and just confined to my apartment. all of those thoughts give me anxiety. hopefully, it won't be bad. i'm no stranger to the dentist, but i still get psyched out by that shit. at least they're nice. wish me luck.my guests for episode 394 are dream pop, shoe-gazer, rock trio, migrant kids! they've just put out a new single, "thread", produced by bright light social hour they're incredibly cool guys who make really beautiful and powerful music. they stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great chat about their sound, how they make music as a trio, playing bass and drums at the same time, not forgetting where you and your people came from, working with bright light social hour and much, much more. i had a great time getting to know migrant kid, i'm sure you will too. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 393: Billy Harvey #3

hello friends! i hope you're all getting it back together after the 4th of july weekend of insanity. i had a great weekend. i got to play a lot. i played on thursday at the grand opening of the townsend, a new club in downtown austin. i played some songs by myself then i had today's guest, billy harvey sit in on some songs and i played with the bluebonnets. great time. then friday i played at stubb's with amy edwards and i got to play some songs with the bluebonnets again. look for our new band which we've renamed, ladyband johnson. then sunday, night i played at the william harries graham guitar pull at the continental club gallery with william, noelle hampton and nathan hamilton. great time was had by all. my guest for episode 393 is the amazing billy harvey! billy has a gorgeous new album the comes out this friday, july 10th, called, dear danger. dear danger is my favorite album so far this year. billy is an incredible songwriter that just keeps surprising you with his amazing depth both musically and lyrically. this is billy's third time on the show. on this episode we cover some different topics than before, reading glasses, kickstarter rewards, getting over bullshit as you get older, touring with patty griffin, his new album, what to do with your anger, dear danger and where it came from and much, much more. he's one of the deepest, most talented and funniest people i know and i love him. i hope you enjoy this conversation as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 391: Ali Holder

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you getting ready for the 4th of july by eating as many hot dogs and as much apple pie as you can without dying. also, fireworks. i am coming to you from my apartment whee i am frantically trying to prepare for tonight's taping of "cooking/drinking with johnny & a.j.", the cooking webseries that i co-host with a.j. vallejo. it's a good time, but i've been out of town for a few days playing shows and my place is a mess. i have to get it cleaned up before i mess it up again cooking with aj and the yanez sisters... check the "how did i get here?" facebook page for photos and an update when the show comes out. in fact go to  how did i get here on facebook and "like" it if you haven't. there's all kinds of stuff on there. get involved then let's get down!my guest for episode 391 is singer/songwriter, ali holder! ali came over a while back and we got to have an incredible conversation about her journey both personally and musically from small town texas to becoming a real musical force here in the austin scene. she is currently in oxford, mississippi recodring the follow-up to her brilliant, debut album, in preparation for saturn's return. the new album is due out this september. you can find out all about ali and her music at aliholder.com i want to thank ali for being so candid during our conversation. i know it made her a bit uneasy, but that's what makes her so cool. i hope enjoy getting to know ali. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg