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

Episode 228: Carter Beckworth

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i am getting it together to leave town for a mid-week private SKYROCKET! show. this is the last week of SKYROCKET! shows before new years eve. we have three shows this week and i'm playing a songwriter in the round at the one-2-one bar in austin, tx on thursday, december 12th from 7-9 pm. the other songwriters will be drew smith, graham wilkinson and danny matthews. should be a good time. i'm getting back out there. i've booked some solo shows. i have another one next friday, december 20 from 6-7 pm. it's also at the one-2-one bar in austin, tx. i'm really looking forward to playing. if you're in austin, come out and say hi. i'd love to see you.my guest for episode 228 is singer/songwriter, carter beckworth! he's just released his third album, humble heart.  i didn't know carter when he came over, but we sat down (after the dead rat was taken out of my apartment) and headed into "the carter beckworth experience" full-force. turns out he's a really sweet, hard-working guy with some great songs and lady-pleasing looks. he's shared the stage with such acts as ryan bingham, bob schneider, hayes carll and many, many more. if you're in austin this friday, december 13th, he'll be playing with his band at stubb's. you should go check it out! i hope you enjoy getting to know carter beckworth as much as i did. i'm sure you will.ciao! -jg

Episode 224: Wendy Colonna Returns!

hello friends! first off, i hope you all have a great thanksgiving. i have a lot to be thankful for... one of those things is this podcast, my guests and most of all, YOU! thank you so much for listening to this show. i couldn't do it without you guys. anyway, i'm going to houston to spend thanksgiving with my family. i'll also be playing there friday with SKYROCKET! at the house of blues. if you're in houston for thanksgiving, come out and spend "black friday night" with us!my guest for episode 224 is singer/songwriter, wendy colonna! wendy makes her second appearance on the show after an exciting year and a half loaded full of travel, writing and ending up with her recording and releasing a new album, "nectar". wendy tells us how she paired up with mark addison to make "nectar", her travels around the u.s. writing and playing gigs, working on the third "HAAM JAM" christmas album and much, much more. i love hanging out with wendy. it always makes me feels more grounded. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. ciao! -jg

Episode 223: Little Brave

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. today we add another chapter to my rat saga. i woke up to the faint stench of death in my kitchen. i went to the office of my apartments and told them and they sent someone over right away and they found the departed rat fink under the dishwasher. i'm glad they got it. hopefully, it's the last one. anyway, i'm getting my shit together to go to san antonio today (friday, 11/22/13) SKYROCKET! is playing at sam's burger joint music hall tonight. should be a good time. i'll be seeing former guest, chris taylor and he's bringing me a new painting he did of me. i'm looking forward to seeing that! san antonio, here we come!my guest for episode 223 is extremely talented, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter stephanie briggs a.k.a, little brave! she's currently working on her third album as little brave and has a kickstarter campaign that goes until december 4th.here's a link, little brave kickstarter. if you like what you hear, you should kick her some cash and help her see her vision through. anyway, i reached out to stephanie because i liked what i heard of her music and what i saw of her performances. she came by and we talked about looping instruments live, having hits in qatar, playing all of the instruments yourself while recording, working with matt novesky, her her journey as a solo artist and much, much more! i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. and remember, if you like what you hear, give her some money to finish her album. she's definitely deserving of it.ciao! -jg

Episode 221: Dan Workman

hello lovelies! i hope fall is treating you all well. it got cold here for a couple of days and that was rad! the F-1 race is in austin this weekend and it's making for some maddening traffic. my computer is in the hospital which is why this episode is coming out late. i hate that. my poor computer... probably too many podcasts. keep your fingers crossed that it's nothing too serious. i'm staying with my dogs this weekend and i have family in town so keep your fingers crossed for that too. my guest for episode 121 is producer/engineer, dan workman! dan has worked with the likes of zz top, destiny's child, abeyance' and many, many more. he's also the president sugarhill recording studios in houston, tx which is the oldest recording studio in the united states. along with his many musical endeavors, dan is the producer and co-host of the web series, "live from sugarhill studios". a great show with many great live performances. i met up with dan backstage at the house of blues in houston just before a SKYROCKET! show. we talked about recording, the survival of big box studios, bad ass grammy parties, avant-garde recording artists, beyonce's dad and his reaction to "bootylicious" and much, much more. the recording gets noisy because the d.j. gets going a couple of minutes into our talk. sorry about that. i hope you enjoy my conversation with dan. i did.ciao! -jg

Episode 215: The Rocketboys Return!

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you doing the 50 in under 10 seconds. i am doing well. if you're getting this on the day it comes out (10/25/13) and you live in houston, SKYROCKET! is playing the house of blues houston 5th anniversary party. we're excited about that. we'll be staying in houston for a private halloween gig where we'll be trading sets with a band all night. i'll let you know how it went next week. my girlfriend's dad is coming to town next week. i'm off friday and i'm looking for something fun for us to do as a group. apparently, they want to see music... is anyone playing in austin on friday, 11/1?my guests for episode 215 are justin wiseman and brandon kinder from the rocketboys! this is the rocketboys' second appearance on the show. brandon, the singer, came by last year for the release of their last album, build anyway. this time i'm joined by brandon and keyboard player justin to talk about the last year of their lives which includes touring the whole time with such bands as reliant k, twenty-one pilots, the almost and the mowgli's. they're about to go back to the east coast and the midwest out with the mowgli's in november. before they take off, they'll be playing a free show THIS sunday (10/27/13) in austin at umami mia's at 3 pm. anyway, we have a good talk about touring, writing, recording, should you mess around with a guy in shades? and much, much more. the rocketboys are an amazing band. you should buy their album and go see them. i love hanging out with justin and brandon. i'm sure you will too.ciao! -jg

Episode 214: Van Wilks

welcome to guitarland!hey gang! i hope you're all doing well. i'm good. i did something i've never done yesterday... i played in a golf tournament! also, i've only played like twice in my life. i get the "golf thing" now, but i think you have to be kinda wealthy to get into it. i had a great weekend, i saw the movie "don jon". it was really good. i played with SKYROCKET! on saturday. we have a few shows this week including a big show at the house of blues in houston on friday, october 25th for their 5th anniversary. here's the info, https://www.facebook.com/events/491731977601277/my guest for episode 214 is legendary guitar player, van wilks! van has been a staple of the austin music scene since the 70's. he has put out several album over the course of his career and toured all over the united states and europe extensively. i first heard van almost 30 years ago when he put out his "boystown" e.p. in the 80's. since then, i've seen van play and i've hung out with him from time-to-time. he's always been super nice and very supportive so i was glad when he agreed to do this show. i went out to his studio dubbed, "guitarland" and we sat down and talked about his journey from a young musician in lubbock to the texas music hall of fame and more! i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. ciao! -jg

Episode 213: Adrian Quesada

hello people! i hope this episode finds you well. i am doing well. i'm about to go see sheboygan's record release show. i've been looking forward to that for a long time. if you like our theme song, "needle hits the groove", you should check out their album, triple fantasy, available on itunes and vinyl available at cdbaby.com and waterloo records in austin. i've just been at the t-mobile store dealing with my new phone. it finally came in tonight! i've been off of instagram for five days....my guest for episode 213 is grammy award winning producer, adrian quesada! i met adrian a few months ago when i did the elliot smith tribute show. he was in the house band. i knew he was in grupo fantasma and brownout and the he was producing a lot of my friends, david' garza, suzanna choffel and jazz mills to name a few. anyway, he's a great guy, immensely talented and we hit it off at the elliot tribute, i asked him to come by and be on the show and he did. we talked about grupo fantasma, the echocentric, brownout, playing with prince, prince, producing, growing up skate punk in laredo, golden globe parties, gramyy's and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know adrian quesada. i did.ciao! -jg

Episode 212: Tessa Torrence

hello people! welcome to episode 212! i hope you are all doing splendidly in your lives. things are going well. i'm a bit hungover this morning. yesterday was my birthday and i had a party last night. it was great, but i got pretty drunk. no problem, i wasn't driving. i heard i was getting a kindle fire from my aunt and grandma and now i'm fantasizing about all the books i'll read. why would i read more because i had a kindle? i don't know, but i really think i will. i'll let you know. does anyone have any suggestions? we've gotten some new listeners. welcome to the show. i'm glad you've started tuning in. if you'd like to know what going on with all things "how did i get here?", please go "like" our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/How-Did-I-Get-Here/255200761176138 and you'll get updates, photos and nuggets of wisdom. my guest for episode 212, is my dear friend, singer/songwriter, tessa torrence. tessa just released her first album, feel no evil, in august. the album was produced and co-written by kurt neuman of the bodeans. (who is also her dad) she's gotten some radio support, made a couple of videos and she seems to be navigating this new music business with a calm and steady hand. tessa and i are good friends. we hang out, talk on the phone and i know her family. but i had no idea about her harrowing childhood. so, tessa came by a while back, and we sat down and talked about everything, what went into her new album, drugs, a crazy childhood, making an album with your dad, chris lord alge and much, much more. tessa made a great album, she has an interesting story and she's a great hang. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did. ciao! -jg

Episode 211: Sheboygan/ a Phone Call with Erin Ivey

hello friends of nature! i hope you are all doing well out there in podcast land. i'm doing well. i saw some friends play last night. it was a good time. i wanted to thank everyone who listened to the last episode (episode 210). i didn't think anyone would listen to it because the show was so different than what we normally do here.... boy, was i wrong! i will try to seize opportunities like that when they arise and bring you some different kinds of shows. i liked doing it. go back and listen. on this episode, i call former guest erin ivey and check-in with her about her new album. she recorded it live in front of an audience with the tosca string quartet. she's releasing an album/dvd combo and she started a kickstarter campaign to fund it's manufacturing and release.our guest for episode 211 is the incredible rock band, sheboygan! you might know sheboygan as the band that wrote and performs our theme song, "needle hits the groove"! i was glad they were able to stop by together, they're some of my best friends and we had a great time talking. we talked about their writing process, recording the album, benjamin hotchkiss' genius advice, motivational speeches, the music business, paul english and his pedals and much, much more. they've just released a new album, triple fantasy . the album is available on vynil online at cdbaby and comes with a download. here's a link to their album http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sheboygan3 also,they have a record release show coming up on october 17th at the one-to-one bar in austin, tx here's a link https://www.facebook.com/events/161648904029488/ i love these guys! they're a great band and they've made a great record. buy it! i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.ciao! -jg