Episode 407: Penelope Spheeris & Anna Fox / The Peterson Brothers

hello friends! i hope you're all finding yourselves enjoying your summer. i am. it just cooled off a bit which is nice. i have a great show for you guys today! a double-header, if you will. fist up i have legendary director, penelope spheeris and her daughter/ business partner, anna fox. you might know penelope from the big hollywood movies like "wayne's world" and "black sheep", but you might also know her from her "decline of western civilization" parts 1-3 documentaries. i came up watching part 1: the punk years and part 2: the metal years and loved them. the austin film society is presenting a ver special screening of all three parts plus, penelope's 1983 film, "suburbia" at the marchesa theater on friday, august 28th and saturday, august 29th. penelope and anna will be on hand for a "q & a" after the movies. tickets and more info on the event are available at https://www.austinfilm.org/decline so we have a great phone conversation where we find out what happened to the bands, odin and london from part 2: the metal years, why paul stanley was in bed with three girls during his interview and much more. if you want to own the new decline of western civilization box set, go here shout! factory.my second guests for episode 407 are austin's new generation of blues musicians, the peterson brothers! glenn and alex peterson stopped by to talk to me about their debut, self-titled album that came out earlier this month, being professional working musicians by night and high-school students by day, keeping their weekly continental club residency (mondays @ 6:30 fresh), where they want to take the blues and much, much more. i really enjoyed getting to know these fine, young, talented gentlemen. i'm sure you will too. find out more about the peterson brothers at petersonbrothersband.com let's get down!ciao! -jg  

Episode 406: Mike Flanigin Returns!

hello friends! i hope this episode of "how did i get here?" finds you happy, healthy and sexually active. things are good here. i'm putting out 3 shows this week. this is the 2nd of the week. i've also been doing a lot of podcasts... i've already done 2 today. anyway, i wanted to let you guys know that if you live in austin, my band, skyrocket! will be playing at the one-2-one bar on friday, august 21st at 10 pm. it's a good time. come out and say hello. i also want to remind you that we're doing a live podcast recording on wednesday, september, 9th from 8-10 pm at the townsend right here in austin. my guests will be, kathy valentine, miles zuniga (fastball), amy edwards and emily bell. here's a link to the facebook event page. come out and get involved!my guest for episode 406 is one of my favorite musicians around, the amazing, mike flanigin! mike has spent the last couple of years touring and playing with the likes of jimmie vaughan, billy gibbons and playing with his own organ trio almost every weekend at the continental club gallery. the whole time he was doing that, he was also making an album, the drifter, (available friday 8/21) where he wrote the songs and found an awesome cast of artists to collaborate with including gary clark jr., billy gibbons, jimmie vaughan, kat edmonson, stephen barber, alejandro escovedo, dominique davalos, clem burke and more! since each song tells it's own story and has a different collaborator, i decided to go through the album song-by-song with mike and have him tell us how each song and collaboration came about. the drifter is an amazing musical statement and mike is a truly talented man. i had a blast hanging out and talking to him about this brilliant album. i'm sure you will too. his release show is at the paramount theater in austinand features special guests, kat edmonson, billy gibbons and more. get your tickets here! 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 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 381: Mark Proct

hello friends! i hope you all had a good memorial day weekend. there was crazy rain, flooding and general old-testament-style devastation here in austin. i want to tell you guys about some solo shows i have coming up this week. tonight, tuesday, may 26th i'll be playing at the volstead in austin. i'll be playing at 10 right after last friday's guest, the big fix and right before one of my favorite people, kayce laine from nyc. thursday, may 28th, i'll be playing at 502 bar in san antonio at 9pm opening for one of my best friends, joseph king from nyc. and friday, 5/29, SKYROCKET! will be rocking hanover's in pflugerville at 10 pm. my guest for episode 381 is music business veteran, mark proct! mark shares his journey through 40 years in this business working as a roadie, soundman, tour manager, manager and everything in between with the likes of willie nelson, asleep at the wheel, jerry jeff walker, the fabulous thunderbirds, stevie ray vaughan, the vaughan brothers, the arc angels, storyville, vallejo and more. that whole time, mark had a camera and was documenting his exciting trip with all of these legendary musicians and has just put out an amazing and gorgeous book, "home today gone tomorrow", which is a collection of candid photos and stories spanning a 40 year career in this crazy business. mark and i sat down last week and went through the book and his life for 2 whole hours and here it is. i hope you enjoy it. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 377: Ray Prim Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all happy and healthy. things are good here. i wanted to tell you about a solo show i'm playing tomorrow, wed, may 13th at the hole in the wall here in austin. i'll be playing from 7-8 pm right after my friends, ethan azarian and jeff johnston. there's no cover and the hole in the wall is a good time. come out and say hi!my guest for episode 377 is signer/songwriter, ray prim! you might know ray from his band, 7 stones in the late 90's, or maybe his "soulwriter" songwriter series at flipnotics that he had for years. you might also know him from the webseries i'm in, "cooking/drinking with johnny & aj". he was also a guest in the early days of this show. ray has spent the last two years making his new album, still here on loungeside records. it's a fantastic album! he has a release show in austin this saturday, may 16th at strange brew loungeside at 9 pm. he'll be playing with a full-band right down to a horn section. we have a great conversation about being in a songwriting group, making still here on his own and learning how to record and mix and all that jazz, the maywether/pacquio fight, learning all aspects of making an album including photoshop and much, much more. i always have a great time talking to ray. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 365: Laura Reed

hello friends! i hope this episode of our crazy little podcast finds you happy, healthy and actively making love while you listen to it. i'm doing well. i got to see my pal, paco estrada play last night. he had a record release show last night here in austin. was a great show. the album, bedtime stories is out now. you should go get. plus, i'm on it. i just watched that hbo scientology documentary, "going clear"... what a great movie and a freaky fucking cult. i recommend seeing this documentary.my guest for episode 365 is the talented and entertaining, laura reed! someone on twitter reached out to laura and me and suggested we do a podcast while she was in town for sxsw, so i checked out her music, thought she was great and invited her to be on the show. we had a great conversation about going from south africa to north carolina, making music and writing nashville, touring with george clinton, working with producer, shannon sanders and much, much more. laura is a powerhouse of talent and energy and i really had a great time getting to know her. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 361: Beats Delicious Festival 2015 Wild Adriatic / Angela Perley & The Howlin' Moons / Topher Mohr / Skinny Lister

congratulations to our sponsor, strange brew loungeside for taking "best venue to play", "best club sound" and "best live music venue" in the 2014/2015 austin music poll!hello friends! welcome to the first sxsw show of the season. on sunday, march 15th i got to go to the beats delicious festival at the stonehouse villa in driftwood, texas! i got to watch and talk to wild adriatic, angela perley & the howlin' moons, topher mohr and skinny lister. my friend amy and her crew at beats delicious pulled together a great festival showcasing all these great bands from all over, with local vendors promoting all their wares from make-overs to photo booths, a gin and juice bar, local brewries, food and more. the stonehouse villa was a gorgeous location and we got to do our interviews in the bridal suite. i was joined by kristi olberding who shot some gorgeous photos which i will post on our facebook page. if you'd like to see kristi's work, check out her website www.kristiolberding.com i hope you enjoy my conversations with these great bands as much as i did. i had a blast at the festival and i'm looking forward to next year. thanks beats delicious! let's get down!ciao! -jgwildadriatic.comangelaperley.comtophermohr.comskinnylister.com

Episode 357: Extreme Heat

hello friends! i hope the world is treating you well. i'm good. i have a frantic week of rehearsals with multiple bands, shows with different bands, podcast stuff, dinner with rockers and more. i'm glad because this weather makes it easy to NOT go outside. to NOT got do stuff. and i've had kind of a cold since saturday. woke up this morning feeling much better and i'm ready to rock. are you?my guests for episode 357 are austin soul/funk institution, extreme heat! after 40 years of playing together, bruce spelman and mike barnes stopped by with a box of memorabilia, a quilt made of shirts from venues they've played, vinyl albums and their memories to tell the story of of their band, extreme heat. i've been seeing them for 30 of those 40 years. i still share the bill with them both, solo and with skyrocket and i still love seeing them play. this is a great story. mike and bruce came by and laid it all out, playing the armadillo, the crazy 80's, touring, taking a break, on stage heart attacks and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these legendary cats. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 354: Roxy Roca Returns!

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i'm feeling good. i've been busy as shit. for one, skyrocket played a show on tuesday in houston also, we have a big corporate show coming up the first week in march that we have to learn a bunch of songs for. the night before that i'm playing my first show back with johnny in the ladies room where i'm re-learning songs for that and i've been doing podcasts every day and booking sxsw.... things are crazy. no gig this weekend, but i'll be at the quiet company release show at empire control room on saturday. if you're going to that show, you should come out early and see wild adriatic. they play at 7:30. make a night out of it.my guests for episode 354 are full-on funk pushers, roxy roca! errol and taye make their second appearance on the show. they have big news, their debut album, ain't nothin' fancy, comes out next tuesday, 2/24/2015! if you live in austin, they have a record release next wednesday, 2/25/2015 at c-boys on south congress. they're also heading out on tour so look them up at www.roxyroca.com    anyway, errol and taye came by and we got to talk about recording ain't nothin' fancy completely live, getting a new bus, how they use tito's vodka to get the funk out of their suits, their view on spotify and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg