Episode 226: Red Dirt Rangers

hello my friends! i hope you're all doing well out there. well, i've got some solo shows booked! they're early and they're in austin. as soon as i get some shows under my belt, i'll head out to some other places. anyway, i'll be playing december 21st at 6 pm at the one-to-one bar. i'll announce the other one as soon as i know what's going on. other than that... i got hbo. that's exciting. my guests for episode 226 are stillwater, oklahoma red dirt country band, celebrating their 25th anniversary, the red dirt rangers! they've just released a new album, lone chimney. i caught-up with them while they were in austin on a promotional tour for lone chimney. they guys stopped by and we talked about everything, living in oklahoma, what's red dirt music?, a near-death helicopter crash, touring, maintaining a band for 25 years and much, much more. special thanks to becky lynn and david sanger for setting this up. i hope you enjoy getting to know the red dirt rangers. 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 200: Highlights

hello my friends! wow! we made it to 200 episodes! can you believe it? well, i don't really know where to start... i'd like to thank sheboygan for the theme song. they have an album coming out this month and they'll finally be guests very soon. i would like to thank all of the guests that have taken time out to meet with me and have a conversation. these last 100 shows were very fun and exciting. if you haven't heard them, check out this episode, you'll get a taste of them. most of all, i'd like to thank YOU, the listener for listening. you make this show possible. THANK YOU. i'm looking forward to the next 100 episodes. are you?episode 200: highlights is the "best of" the last 100 episodes. in this episode, you'll hear from bob schneider on cleaning up, ian mclagan on groupies in the 70's, producer, c.j. eiricksson talks about working with hanson, glen phillips talks about a new album from toad the wet sprocket, lance keltner talks about giving rod stewart a suggestion and getting fired for it, steve poltz talks about laughing at really bad news, elizabeth mcqueen talks about the beatles, joanna barbera talks about being out of place in arizona, nakia and a.j. vallejo talk about racism in the south and the band death talk about their next move.... all good stuff! thank you again for listening. we couldn't do it without you. xoxo, jg

Episode 196: Lex Land

hello my fine, feathered friends! i hope you are al having the time of your life as you read this. things are going well here. i had a great music week last week and i'm preparing for another diverse/busy musical week. first off, thursday 8/15, i'll be playing a songwriter in the round with my friends, ryan holley and joseph king at 219 west at 7 pm. friday 8/16, i'll be pulling double-duty. i'll be playing solo at searsucker from 5-7 and the at 9:30 at cedar street courtyard with SKYROCKET!. sunday, 8/18 i'll be playing a solo set at the scoot inn along with joseph king and joanna barbera (both have been guests on the show). the show starts at 8:30!my guest for episode 196 is the extremely talented, lex land! i didn't know lex until my friend jake texted me from a show of hers and told me to look her up and have her on the show. i did. thanks jake. i really liked her music and thought i knew her story from her bio and other internet info, but felt like she opened up very honestly during our conversation and i learned a lot about her. we talked about everything, growing up in orange county, singing opera, moving to l.a., having a deal, making records, touring, the voice, depression, driving, getting it together, giving back through girl's rock camp and much, much more. it was great getting to know lex. enjoy!ciao! -jg

Episode 179: Chris Frenchie Smith

hello my friends! i hope you're all doing well and your life is going along as planned. i had a little wrinkle in my plan this weekend... skyrocket has a slow june so i booked 3 sunday brunch gigs that paid pretty well. check out the story on today's show. i want to remind you that next wednesday, june 19th at 7pm at strange brew in austin, texas, we have a live "how did i get here?" recording!!!! my guests will be nakia, jazz mills, aj vallejo and the boxing lesson (who's latest album was produced by today's guest,  frenchie smith).  there is no cover! we'll be giving away some gifts! and... the we'll be taking some questions from the audience. come out. let's get down!
my guest for episode 179 is producer/guitar hero, chris "frenchie" smith! you might know frenchie from the bands he's been in, sixteen deluxe and you heart attack. you might also know him from one of the 200 albums he's produced including, and you will now us by the trail of dead, the toadies, the meat puppets, built to spill, jet and many, many more. i've been friends with frenchie since 1991 when were both employees at whole foods, so it was great to sit down and talk to him about everything including growing up in oklahoma, moving to austin, glaze, producing, sixteen deluxe, young heart attack,the bubble, frenchie smith records, shopping with justin from the darkness and much, much more. i had a great time catching up with him. i bet you will too.
ciao! -jg

Episode 160: Paula Nelson

hello my friends! happy birthday to cory glaeser! he is the guy who wrote our theme song, "needle hits the groove". i just love that dude.  i hope you're all doing well and you're enjoying the month of april. i am. my allergies are a bit rough right now, but i'm making it. i'm getting ready to head out to head out to houston for a couple of days for a couple of shows with skyrocket. we'll be at the houston pavilion on thursday april 4th at 7 pm and at the continental club on friday april 5th at 10 pm. what's up?!?!?
my guest for episode 160 is the extremely talented and cool, paula nelson. i've heard about paula for years from friends of mine who play and have played with her. they've all told me how cool she is. so, last week when i went to my friend, todd wolfson's monkeynest show, i got to see paula and her her band perform. i just loved it. she is a great singer, writes great songs and her band is incredible. the show made my night, so invited her over for a chat. she came over and we talked about siblings, writing songs, issues, san diego, being willie nelson's daughter, animals and so much more. i really loved getting to sit down and talk to her. she has an amazing soul and she is super-cool. meet my new friend, paula nelson.
ciao! -jg

Episode 154: SXSW 2013 Part 1- The Parlotones, Zeale, Grace London

greetings from sxsw 2013! i hope you'r doing well. if you're in this madness, good luck. if you're not, i hope enjoy these tales of a music conference gone insane. i've seen a lot of music and i've met a lot of folks. there will be a part 2 next week and maybe a part 3. in the next episode, you'll get to hear my sit down chat with comedian/rapper, howard kremer a.k.a dragon boy suede. i'm meeting a pop duo in a minute called, no way josie from nyc. so things are busy. jake's been taking some pics with a nice camera and we'll be uploading them soon.
episode 154 is a sxsw mash-up with some of the festival's hottest tickets! first up, south africa's biggest rock band with 16 top-40 hits in their country, the parlotone's. the band stopped by during their hectic sxsw schedule to talk about their recent move to the u.s., touring the world, their new e.p., "shake it up" and much, much more... second, i met up with austin rapper, zeale. zeale's been on tour a lot for the past year with awol nation, he's been playing redbull events, hosting parties and making records. we had a good chat. my third guest for this episode is the incredibly talented teen rocker, grace london. grace came in from l.a. and came by the apt. to chat about her new album, "rocketship girl", writing songs, recording with brian beattie, playing with jonas wilson, being a teenage feminist and much more. i hope you enjoy these conversations. i did. now, off to the madness. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 125: Jody Denberg

when i moved to austin in 1991, i lived in a very busy recording studio called, the congress house. it's a studio owned by producer/musician, mark hallman.  people at the studio were talking about a new radio station called, kgsr. how they played stuff that you had always wished was on the radio. so, i started listening and i loved it. in fact, i first heard nirvana, the innocence mission and lucinda williams on the station. i would always listen when i was going to and from work at whole foods. sometimes my shift started in the afternoon and sometimes it ended in the afternoon. on those afternoon drives, i would listen to the station's program director, jody denberg. he became the dj that let me know what you should be listening to. not just for me, but for a lot of people in this city that cared about music. jody is a music fan and that's what he brought to his station.
my guest for episode 125 is said music fan and radio maverick, jody denberg. i went over to jody's house yesterday and he gave a tour of his beautiful home. i got to go to his "rec room" where he has tons of photos with beatles, tom petty, yoko, patty smith and more albums than you can imagine. then we sat down in his office and he told me his story. it's a music fan's journey into a career where he just followed his heart and it really made/makes a difference. he's about to go on the air full-time again on kutx. a station that starts in the new year. i loved our visit and i'm looking forward to hanging out a lot more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 110: The Calm Blue Sea

happy birthday to olga, jennifer and alexandra!!!
hello everyone! i hope you're well! i went on the charlie hodge show yesterday. it was great! i had a great time with charlie and and matt. they are funny people and if you now me, you know i love funny people. anyway, you can find it here http://www.charliehodgeshow.com/ you can also find it on itunes! charlie was a guest a few months back. i highly recommend his podcast. they're very funny and entertaining. also, he has a comedy show in austin called, "monkeyshine mondays" which has around 6 different comics a night, a live band and no cover! if you're ever in austin on a monday night, you should do this.
my guests for episode 110 are kyle robarge and chris patin from, the calm blue sea. to me, the band is part shoe gazer and part beautiful film score. they even released an original score they did for a silent movie from the 20's. their new album, "arrivals and departures" comes out today, (10/9/12) chris and kyle came by the apartment the other day and we sat down and they told me how the band got together, found it's vision and reincarnated itself a couple of times. they're great guys and love the band. their music is simply gorgeous. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 100: Highlights

hey everyone!!! welcome to episode 100! thank you so much to everyone who has helped, supported, come by and talked to me and listened! thank you so much for listening. i'm looking forward to the next 100!
this episode features highlights from the first 100 episodes and a quick talk with todd v. wolfson about my experience doing this. this show includes excerpts of my conversations with suzanna choffel, dony wynn, ian moore, fastball, dale dudley, kathy valentine, tim palmer, alpha rev, will sexton, alejandro escovedo, bodeans, billy harvey and david grissom. i hope you enjoy these these highlights as much as i do. thank you again.
ciao! -jg