Episode 821: Como Las Movies

Hello friends! Nelson Valente Aguilar from cumbia-pop band, Como Las Movies is my guest for episode 821! Their latest EP, Nuevo Wave and new single and video for their song, "Una Vuelta Mas" are all available now. Go to comolasmovies.com for music, videos, show dates and more. If you live in Austin you can see Como Las Movies tomorrow, Wednesday, July 17th at Blues on the Green where they'll be opening for Ben Kweller. Nelson and I have a great conversation about growing in a Texas border town, the "situation" in McAllen, TX, listening to Kraftwerk courtesy of his cool older cousin who turned him on to good music, seeing wrestler, Roddy Rowdy Piper do stand-up comedy, working with Beto martinez and much more! I had a great time getting to know Nelson. I'm sure you will too. Let's get down!
Attention musicians! Need a short run of vinyl? Check out our friends at Austin Signal! Click HERE for 10% Discount on Vinyl Cuts for Podcast Listeners. 1-50 copies, No Minimum. Enter code HDIGH
Ciao! -JG

Episode 765: Tiarra Girls

Hello gang! Tori, Sophia and Tiffany Beltierra, better known as Austin sister trio, Tiarra Girls are my guests for episode 765! Their latest single, the empowering, "Leave It To The People" is available now where ever you stream and download your jams. Go to tiarragirls.com for music, videos tour dates and more. If you live in Austin, you can see them tonight, Friday, January 4th, for a "free week" show at Stubb's. We have a great conversation about becoming a band of sisters, writing songs, staying up on the political front, the bands they like and much more!. I had a great time getting to know these fine young ladies. I'm sure you will too. Let's get down!
Ciao! -JG

Episode 666: John Spiece / Adam Sultan Stops By!

Hello friends! Drummer/percussionist extraordinaire, John Spiece is my guest for episode 666! You might know John from Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, Brown Sabbath, Money Chicha, Golden Dawn Arkestra, Kalu James & The Electric Joint and many, many more. Grupo Fantasma just finished recording new music at Sonic Ranch out in Tornillo, TX, Brownout is playing some dates and Kalu James is about to head out on the road, so John has a busy February. John and i have a great conversation about heading to Denton to learn percussion, touring with Hairy Apes BMX, the magical music scene of North Texas in the early 90's, doing the Brown Sabbath thing for Ozzy himself and much, much more! Plus, Adam Sultan stops by to talk about his brilliant, new podcast, "Friends With Deficits" where he has candid conversations with friends that have rare dideases. Adam's intelligence, big heart and phenomenal sense of humor make this show a great listen. Check it out here friendswithdeficitspodcast.com Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 632: Ley Line / The Butcher's Ball

I'm gonna miss you, Tom Petty.
Hello friends! Kate Robberson, Emilie Basez, Madeleine Froncek, Lydia Froncek from the world music/folk, multilingual band, Ley Line are my guests for episode 632! Their latest release, Field Notes is available wherever you stream your jams. You can find the album, their tour dates, videos and more at leylinesound.com We have a great conversation about their three month tour of Brazil, learning talking drum in Africa, the influence of folk music from all around the world on the music they make, they perform a gorgeous a cappella song and much, much more! I had a great time getting to know these amazingly talented women. I'm sure you will too. Plus, the founders of The Butcher's Ball check in via Skype. The Butcher's Ball is a food and drink event that highlights local ranchers, farmers and chefs dedicated to ethical and sustainable farming and ranching practices. The Butcher's Ball takes place Sunday, October 15th at Rockin' Star Ranch in Brenham, TX. Go to butchersball.com for tickets and information. Let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 498: Arthur Yoria

hello friends! i hope you're all doing well. i want to invite those of you who live in austin to our live podcast recording of episode 500 at the townsend on monday, june 20th at 8 pm. my guests will be taylor muse (quiet company), suzanna choffel, kathy valentine, a.j. vallejo and nakia. go to our facebook event page for more info. come out and celebrate 500 episodes of "how did i get here?". plus, there's no cover!
see you on monday!
my guest for episode 498 is singer/songwriter, arthur yoria! arthur and i go back a few years and he's always been one of my favorite people to play shows with because i'm such a fan of him and his music. arthur has a new single and video out for the beautiful song, "ruff life" and is currently working on a new album for splice records. find out all about where he's playing and how to get his music by going to arthuryoria.com. arthur came by a few weeks ago. i hadn't seen him in a few years and we had a great conversation about taking a break from from the grind of the biz, meeting his dog rita, working on new music for a new album, dealing with medications and much, much more! i had a great time catching up with my old friend. enjoy! let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 408: David Pulkingham / Utopiafest

hello friends! i hope you're all handling the insane stock market fluctuations with a cool hand like e.f. hutton. things are good here. i've been practicing with pal amy edwards and yates hagen for a show we have at the gibson showroom for the austin film society in a couple of weeks. it's been fun working on songs and changing them up to accommodate our stripped down band. speaking of a coupe of weeks... we have a live podcast coming up on wednesday, sept. 9th at the townsend from 8-10 pm. my guests will be kathy valentine, miles zuniga, emily bell and amy edwards. these live shows are really fun and there is no cover. come out and say hi. my guest for episode 408 is one of austin's most "in demand" guitar players, david pulkingham. you might know david through his work as a sideman with such notable artists as, alejandro escovedo, robert plant, patty griffin and many more. well, david has stepped out of his sideman role for his gorgeous new album, little pearl. just released last friday, little pearl features patty griffin, lloyd maines, the tosca string quartet and many more. david stopped by a couple of weeks ago and we had a great talk about growing up in a commune, music school, taking part in the latin explosion, learning rock and roll from alejandro escovedo, playing with robert plant and much, much more. i've always liked david. he's an exceptional musician and great hang. also, travis sutherland from utopiafest (sept. 4th0 sept. 6th) stops and tells what to expect at the 7th annual utopiafest this labor day weekend. more info on utopiafest at utopiafest.com. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 388: Tapes / Texas Music Water Returns!

hello friends! i hope this episode finds you slaying the dragons of life. i'm doing well. i'm running around, doing laundry, getting this show together before i leave to corpus christi to play with skyrocket tonight. i'm hustling back tomorrow to make it back in time to cover the solstice festival going on here in austin tomorrow, sat. june 20th at pan-am park from noon to 10 pm. a lot of great artists on the bill including, ringo deathstarr, jazz mills, money chicha, zeale, dead love club and more! find out all about it at solticeatx.com . my guests for episode 388 are the incredibly dreamy, electro-instrumental band, tapes! i came across these guys about a month ago and freaked out. they're a new band that just released two gorgeous albums. they're both available on itunes, spotify, soundcloud and of course, bandcamp go HERE to hear and buy these amazing albums! i got to see the band on friday and it was amazing. they make the most beautiful music. anyway, carlos and sergio came by the other night and w had a great chat about growing up in laredo, crazy high school bands, film school, forming tapes, you get a free lesson in spanglish, a peek into how they're gonna make their next record and much, much more. i hope you enjoy getting to know these guys and their music. i sure did. plus, dean wolfe from texas music water and american music water stops by again and tells us how we can support our community through music non-profits like SIMS, HAAM and more by just drinking water find out more at texasmusicwater.com and americanmusicwater.com "you hydrate. we donate" let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 367: Gina Chavez & Mother Falcon

hello friends! i hope you all had a wonderful passover/easter weekend. i did. i got to spend some quality time with my grand mother and aunts on sunday morning for breakfast and a general hang. i love hanging out with them. i haven't done an "easter thing" for a long time. in fact, i can't remember when. in my culture you get gifts on easter. isn't that weird? i always thought it was weird. not that i wasn't thankful or grateful, i just always thought it was weird. anyway, episode of "drinking/cooking with johnny & aj" is up! this time we have a guest, emmy robbin and we make her mom's famous king ranch casserole! check it out here the link.my guests for episode 367 are 2014/2015 austin chronicle music poll's "musician of the year", gina chavez and mother falcon's nick gregg! gina has a video release party and big show this saturday, april 11th at the stateside theater in austin, tx with special guests, mother falcon, elizabeth mcqueen. riders against the storm are hosting the show. the show benefits the non-profit, ninas arribas college fund. so, we have a great conversation about what it takes to put a show on in a theater, gina's sweep of the awards, how mother falcon makes it work with such a big group and much, much more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i sure did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 303: Joe Reyes

hello friends! i hope you're out there successfully getting your nuts like crazy, rabid squirrels. i'm just getting in from a session for a song i'm producing for an artist named, daniel eyes. we cut drums at SPACE with this guy cruz playing and it turned out fantastic! it's a great room, a great studio, that's why i'm glad they're sponsors of this show. quality, great staff and of course, air conditioning. i'll be playing my tuesday residency tonight at strange brew. my guests will be the incredibly talented chris taylor and the phenomenal, little brave. it starts at 8. if you're in austin, come see what it's all about. my guest for episode 303 is ultra-talented/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter, joe reyes! you might know joe from the many musical projects he's been involved in like, freddy fender, billy harvey, salim nourallah and many more. or, the many bands he's played/plays in like, lara & reyes, buttercup, demitasse and many more. joe was in town from san antonio a couple of weeks ago and we got together and had a great conversation about his interesting musical journey, san antonio, buttercup, demitasse, freddy fender and much, much more. i love joe. he's an amazing talent and total sweetheart. i hope you enjoy getting to know him as much as i did. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 246: Gina Chavez

hello friends! i hope you're all winning the gold in your lives today. things are going well here. the weather keeps changing every day and now it's emergency cold with schools starting a couple of hours later for the 3rd time in in a month. not to talk about the weather, but man, it's weird when it changes from a high of 34 to a high of 77 to freezing  to sunny and 75 all in one week. weird. i've been busy working on a lot of different things lately. i'll keep you posted.  my guest for episode 246 is the talented and enchanting, gina chavez! gina's new album, UP. ROOTED comes out today, tuesday, february 11th 2014! the album is loaded with all the bad-ass latin jams you would expect from austin's "best latin artist". anyway, i had a great time getting to know gina through this podcast. i never knew about her charitable work, her 8 months in el salvador teaching young girls, nina arriba, a college fund that chavez co-founded for impoverished you women in el salvador. gina and i have a great conversation. we get to know what makes her tick and where all of that beautiful music comes from. i hope you enjoy getting to know gina. i sure did.ciao!