Episode 457: KP and the Boom Boom

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. things are good here. i got to play the new antone's here in austin last night. i really like that place. it looks and sounds beautiful. great sound on stage, great location and great people. i'm very happy antone's is back. i missed it. if you're in houston tonight, friday, jan. 22nd, skyrocket will be at the continental club. we go on at 10. it's a great time.my guests for episode 457 are kate and nick from austin euro/soul/pop kp and the boom boom! if you live in austin, you can see them tomorrow, saturday, january 23rd at geraldine's in the new van zant hotel. they have two e.p.'s out now and are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length in a few months. you can find them online at kpbbmusic.com. nick and kate came by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great conversation about living in the u.k., india and guatamala, having an indian singing guru, euro/soul, having natural charisma, opening for snoop dogg, the writing and recording process and much, much more! i had a great time getting to know kate and nick. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 451: Kev Bev and the Woodland Creatures

happy new year everyone! welcome to 2016! i hope you all had a safe and happy new years eve and spent it with loved ones. i am about to head to houston as i write this to play a new years eve party. should be fun. i'll be with my friends. i have some resolutions i'm going to try to stick to: quit sugar drinks and cookies, eventually quit smoking, be a better person. what are yours? my first guests for 2016 are kevin and candace collins from the 9-piece, soul/funk/reggae/hip-hop extravaganza known as, kev bev and the woodland creatures! their new album, domesticated is out TODAY, jan 1 2016! you can find it and all about them at kevbevandthewc.com domesticated is a celebration of life much like their idols, sly and the family stone. i thought this would be a great way to start out 2016. candace and kevin came a few weeks ago and had a great conversation about handling a 9-piece band, life in a small east coast town, music scenes, kickstarter, vinyl is the hotdog of music?, being a couple on a band and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know candace and kevin as much as i did. let's get down! happy new year!ciao! -jg

Episode 450: Paco Estrada

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you well. it's the last week of he year. are you okay with this year? did you have a good one? i think i had a good one. things are going well. i'm healthy and happy and in love. did you have a good christmas? i had a good one. no matter how weird it got, i was still surrounded by my loving family and i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. my guest for episode 450 is talented and beloved singer/songwriter/bandleader, paco estrada! paco and i have been trying to get together for a podcast since i started the show. well, we finally did it! i went out to orb recording studios a few weeks ago, tucked away in one of their gorgeous cutting rooms and had this great conversation. we talk about growing up a preacher's son, learning songs for dual cassette recordings, making e-books along with records, his newest album, bedtime stories, the uncertainty of labels and managers, the two corys and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know paco as much as i did. let's get down! ciao! -jg

Episode 441: Eve & The Exiles

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm on the mend. i was feeling awful yesterday with a nasty cold. you can hear it in the intro. i feel and sound a lot better this morning which is good because i'm moderating a panel on local, regional and national booking tonight (wed. 12/2) for the austin music foundation. if you would like to go, here's a link "expand you horizons" booking panel artists charlie faye, einar pedersen (kelly clarkson) and booking agent, laura thomas (combo plate booking) will be discussing booking strategies and taking questions. the whole thing takes place tonight! wednesday, 12/2 at 7 pm at st. elmo's soundstage in austin, tx.my guests for episode 441 are two of my favorite musicians/people, eve monsees and mike buck from eve & the exiles! they are releasing their newest album, you know she did, THIS friday 12/4. they're playing an instore at antone's records here in austin on sunday, 12/6 at 3 pm and they're doing a release show at c-boys heart and soul on friday, 12/11. go to eveandtheexiles.com and find out how to get the album if you're not in austin. eve and mike came by almost 2 months ago and we had an amazing conversation about their new album, you know she did, owning antone's record store, growing up on "guitar hero" street, mike's amazingly educational and entertaining sun radio show (mondays 7-9pm 100.1 sun radio) and much, much more! i hope you enjoy getting to know eve and mike. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 439: Dan Dyer

hello friends! i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving! i had a really good one. my girlfriend zuri and i went to her family's house and had a great dinner. of course, i ate too much, tried not to fall asleep watching football after dinner then played a trivia game. good times. today is black friday. i hope you're having a successful one if you're one of the millions that go out and try to get the "super-deals". skyrocket is playing a show tonight (fri. 11/27) in austin at the one-2-one bar. we go on at 10. come out and celebrate the holiday with us! (i just made "black friday" a holiday)my guest for episode 439 is the amazing singer/songwriter, dan dyer! dan and i have known each other for over 20 years. he's a phenomenal talent and a super sweet and real cat. he's a black fret nominee and has the honor of performing at their black ball gala at the paramount theater in austin, tx next friday, december 4th along with a host of other nominees. you can find out all about it at black fret info dan has a new e,p,, singing river sessions available now. go to dandyer.com to find out where to get it and when you can see dan live. dan and i have a fantastic conversation about his journey from breedlove to working with lenny kravitz, jingle singing in new york city, getting into working with his hands and much, much more. i hope you all had a great thanksgiving. i am very grateful for you. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 438: The SIMS Foundation Turns 20!

happy thanksgiving everyone! i hope you all have plenty to be thankful for. i'l be missing my family this thanksgiving, but i'll be with my girlfriend's family here in austin and that should be a good time. are you thinking of frying a turkey for thanksgiving? well, my pal, aj vallejo and i have a special thanksgiving edition of "cooking/drinking with johnny and aj" where fry a turkey cajun-style and teach you how to make this delicious and quick way to make your thanksgiving turkey go to our youtube page and learn how to make a fried turkey! i hope you all have a happy thanksgiving!my guests for this very special episode are heather alden, jennifer vocelka and kyle ellison from the SIMS foundation. for 20 years now, the SIMS foundation has provided support for austin musicians and their families. to find out more or just get involved go to simsfoundation.org.  along with the KGSR "live broadcast # 23" release this friday, kyle ellison has produced "friends of SIMS" an album of some of austin's best artists playing some of their favorite covers including, charlie sexton, alejandro escovedo, doyle bramhall ll and many more. we have a great and insightful conversation about mental health care, how SIMS can help and much, much more. i'm thankful for the SIMS foundation. they were there for me when i needed them. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. happy thanksgiving! ciao! -jg

Episode 431: LOLO

hello friends! i hope you all had an enjoyable halloween weekend. if you live in austin, i hope that you made it through the floods on friday. i had a pretty harrowing 6 1/2 hour trip to houston on friday getting around closed highways etc. i hope all that were affected by the floods are okay. hey gang! tomorrow, tuesday 11/3 at the townsend here in austin, i'll be playing with my rock band, ladyband johnson along with the bluebonnets, eve & the exiles and more. we'll be celebrating dominique davalos' birthday. she plays bass in ladyband johnson and in the bluebonnets and i love her. the shindig starts at 7:30. come out and party on a tuesday!my guest for episode 431 is singer/songwriter/actor and force to be reckoned with, LOLO. you might know her as lauren pritchard star of the hit broadway show, "spring awakening".  she's written the songs for an off broadway play called "songbird". she's just released an e.p., comeback queen on DCD2 records and is currently on "the wilderness politics tour" with andrew mcmahon in the wilderness, new politics and the griswolds. i caught up with LOLO when the tour stopped in austin at emo's last night and we had a great conversation in the backstage courtyard. her e.p. comeback queen is absolutely amazing. and i suggest you go to her website, weaponforsaturday.com and see when she's coming to a town near you. i hope you enjoy getting to know LOLO as much as i did. 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 428: Autumn

hello friends! i hope you're all living it up this weekend. i'm good. i'm playing an F1 party with skyrocket tonight here in austin. i guess the town is gearing up for this huge car race. there's a special event in austin every weekend isn't there? wild. this is a giant worldwide car race and i hear it's very exciting. maybe someday i'll go. my guest for episode 428 is jazz/soul/funk singer, autumn! autumn just released her self-titled, debut album in september. she is also a vocalist in the nightowls who play out around austin a lot. i heard about autumn through my friends at the austin music foundation. she was their artist of the month for september. anyway, autumn came by and we had a fantastic conversation about growing in oklahoma in a conservative family, growing up singing in church, dating, making music with someone you're involved then not involved with, working in the oil business, beyonce'-esque outfits and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know autumn. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

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