Episode 356: Tommy Mack & The Lifters

hello my friends! i hope you're all heading into the weekend with awesome plans. maybe you're going to see some music. maybe some music needs you to come see it. i say you look up your favorite local entertainment guide, be it online or even analog newsprint, find yourself a band to see. if you like them, buy their album, cd, download card, t-shirt, sweatshirt or any other merch they have. like their facebook page, follow them on twitter and instagram. what i'm saying is, get out there this weekend and see some music. if you like it, support it. get involved. my guest for episode 356 is the talented and always entertaining, tommy mack! tommy mack & the lifters have ben playing around for a while. they have a couple of rocking albums out. you can find them, their music and when they're playing at thelifetrs.net. i've known tommy for over 20 years and we've been trying to do this podcast for the last two years. we finally got it together and had a great conversation about the hard rock scene in the 80's, the a.r.c. (austin rehearsal complex), the backroom, continental club and much, much more. i hope you enjoy my conversation with tommy mack. i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 339: Bang Feather Bang

happy new year friends!!! i hope you're all ready for it. i'm not. i am sick. i have some chest thing. it's awful and when i cough it's gross. i had a good NYE playing with skyrocket in houston. we had a great show and we played, "bohemian rhapsody".... in it's entirety. i think it went well. it was a lot of work for us, but we did it. i'm glad we have the weekend off so i can get better... happy new year! let's do some crazy shit in 2015!my guests for episode 339 are los angeles/austin based blues rock duo, bang feather bang! esther and chili stopped by a couple of weeks ago before chili headed back home to australia and they took a little break. they've been a band for only a year. during that year esther discovered a tumor in her chest, has been treated for cancer all year and had a collapsed lung. all the while, writing songs, developing a sound, touring, recording and being a non-stop bad ass. i had a great time talking to esther and chili, they're great people and they've started something really cool and just run with it. it's raw and it's powerful. i really enjoyed getting to know bang feather bang. i'm sure you will too. 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 330: A Giant Dog

hello friends! i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving! i had a mellow one. stayed home. my friend, jake cam by and we did the intro together after some thanksgiving drinks. hey! if you're in austin tonight, friday, november 28th and want to see skyrocket!, we'll be playing at the one-2-one bar tonight at 10. also, if you're in houston tomorrow, saturday, november 29th, we'll be at the house of blues bronze peacock room. come out and say hi. good luck with your christmas shopping!my guests for episode 330 are sabrina and andrew from a giant dog! a giant dog will be opening for spoon starting in a week! sabrina and andrew stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we talked about their upcoming tour with spoon, being a sexy barista, making fun of famous headliners they open for, crazy homelessness in new york and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know andrew and sabrina. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 327: The Bluebonnets

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. keeping warm. enjoying the cold, not fighting it. i'm deep in battle right now... with myself. it's awful. it's like the civil war, i'm the only one losing. i'm quitting smoking. this is day 4. day 4 sucks my ass. ultimately, i'm glad i'm quitting, but it just sucks to go through days where all you're thinking is, "i wanna smoke! don't smoke! I wanna smoke! don't smoke!" all day long. ugh! i'm smoking this blu vapor cig that stephen dorff endorses.... is he cool? anyway, wish me luck. my guests for episode 327 are one of my favorite rock and roll bands around, the bluebonnets!!! the bluebonnets have just released a new album last week, play loud, and it is awesome! it's the kind of album i've been waiting for and lucky for me, my friends made it! they just got back from an east coast tour with jane lee hooker, they've been playing release shows all week and doing press, and they're doing one last instore today (tues. 11/18/14) at waterloo records in austin at 5 pm1 anyway, i love the bluebonnets. i've gotten to play with them. i have a band with kathy and dominique. kathy and i write songs together and we get along fantastically. they're an amazing band and some of my favorite people. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 320: Chris Frenchie Smith Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i've had a busy week... i played with SKYROCKET!, recorded with kimmie rhodes, did a couple of podcasts and went to a party. it's been a good week. i'm about to hit the road to houston for a show tonight. so yeah. busy times. speaking of busy times, i have a couple of solo shows this week. tomorrow, sunday october 26th, i'll be playing a fundraiser at the spider house ballroom at 4 pm. come out and support the children. on tuesday, october 28th, i'll be playing a celebration of the volstead act at the volstead here in austin. i play at 8:30. also on the bill, nathan harlan! come out and say hi.my guest for episode 320 is musician/producer/label owner and now manager, chris frenchy smith! you might know frenchy as the musician behind sixteen deluxe and young heart attack or as producer or as owner of the bubble. this is frenchy's second appearance on the show. he was on in the summer of 2013. anyway, we got together last week and caught we talked about everything from the foo fighters vs. U2 and the way they're releasing their albums, spotify, buying music, his new adventure as co-manager of the band purple, frenchy smith records and much, much more. frenchy and i have been friends for 23 years and i always have a great time talking to him. i hope you enjoy it. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg i did. 

Episode 318: Penny Jo Pullus

hello friends! it's fall and i'm loving it! i'm taking a break from working on a song for the new kimmie rhodes album. i'm going into the studio on monday to play on the basic tracks for the album. i did some songs earlier this year and it was a blast. her son, gabe is producing and playing on the album and the rest of the band is amazing. anyway, i'm looking forward to doing that on monday. this weekend, i'll be playing with skyrocket. we're playing in fredericksburg on saturday and playing a wedding in san antonio on sunday. busy, busy. you'll hear all about it on the show on tuesday.my guest for episode 318 is singer and songwriter, penny jo pullus! i've known penny jo and we've been friends for nearly 20 years. she's an amazing singer who was born to sing. i sang with her at a show a couple of months ago with john bush and i was curious about her story. although we've been friends for years, i didn't really know her whole story. well, she cam over and we talked about her growing up in syracuse, ny doing musical theater, then broke off into punk rock and eventually found her way to austin and the singer/songwriter scene. i had a great time getting to know penny jo. i know you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 305: Hooka Hey

hello friends! i hope you all had an amazing labor day weekend. closed the door on another successful summer. i labored the whole weekend. i played thursday, friday, saturday and sunday. i played at the house of blues in houston on saturday and i took zuri. we stopped on the way into town to see my grandmother and my aunts and cousin. we had a nice visit and a fun trip. i got one of my grandfather's backgammon boards and zuri and i broke it out last night and played 6 games in a row! i love backgammon. hey! if you're in austin tonight i will be playing at strange brew lounge side for my tuesday residency, "johnny goudie & friends". sadly, this is the 2nd to last one. i'm gonna miss it. come out tonight, my guests are the amazing erin ivey and the legendary, kimmie rhodes who will be playing with her ultra-talented son, gabe. music starts at 8. do it!my guest for episode 305 is french rocker, hugo de saint-quentin from the band, hooka hey! i had the pleasure of sharing the bill with hooka hey on a balcony tv taping on sunday. the band is a raw rock and roll band. the kind you feel might be missing from today's mainstream landscape. i know i do. well, hugo and i talk about that and much, much more. he just moved here from paris, put a band together, recorded an e.p. at two of austin's best studios and they're playing shows al over the state. look or hooka hey coming to a town near you. i had a great time getting to know hugo. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 292: GOBI / Löwin

hello friends! i'm just waking up to some crazy reports of flash flooding overnight here in austin. i'm gonna go survey the damage when i go running in a bit. apparently, there was SEVEN inches of rain on the east side where i live. anyway, i hope you guys are all doing well wherever you are.  i want to remind you guys that my tuesday night residency at strange brew in austin continues this coming tuesday, 7/22. i have great guests who have both been on the show, jason blum and salim nourallah. here's the facebook event for it https://www.facebook.com/events/1455990667987885/ i think all of my guests have been on the podcast... ha ha. am i really just realizing that now?episode 292 is a double-header! first up, pop group, GOBI (i'm wearing the shirt they gave me as i'm writing this. thanks guys!). there's not much dance/pop music going on in austin, but i'm happy to report that what is happening is great! the guys from GOBI stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we chatted about what they do, what they're up to and the release show they're having for their single, "born to dance" at stubb's in austin on july 25th. great guys, great conversation. our next guest is sara houser from the rock band, löwin. sara has been on the show before with her old band, the couch, but they have since split up and she has narrowed her focus, written some great songs, put a great band together and is out there kicking ass as we speak. they're actually playing a show TONIGHT friday, july 18th at the mohawk in austin, tx. anyway, sara and i have a great conversation about her journey and the new band, löwin. i had a great time talking to these two bands and it's nice to know that there is such diversity in this crazy little music scene. let's get down!ciao!

Episode 276: Steve Poltz Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i am. i'm up early today doing laundry and running some errands before i leave town for a couple of days of shows with SKYROCKET!. in fact, if you live in houston, we'll be playing at comic-palooza tomorrow, may 24th 2014. it takes place in the george r. brown convention center. check it out. also, we have a line-up for our live podcast on tuesday, june 3rd at strange brew in austin, tx... we have suzanna choffel, trish murphy, elizabeth mcqueen and jazz mills! it starts at 8 pm and you can find out more about it here, https://www.facebook.com/events/680060505377188/ come out and be a part of our show! my guest for episode 176 is the one and only, steve poltz! steve is one of the most amazing performers/songwirters i have ever seen. hanging out with gets you fired up to do creative things. we got together last year during sxsw and had an amazing conversation that got a lot of response from you listeners. well, steve and i got together again a couple of days ago and went for a walk around the lake and recorded it! we had a great conversation about losing loved ones, not having kids, what it takes to write a song, what to do after gigs, his new album, the accident, his amazing new song, "folk singer" and much, much more. theres some ambient trail and road noise sometimes, but it's like you're on a walk with steve and i. i hope you enjoy our walk as much as i did.ciao! -jg