Episode 293: Zak Loy

hello jive turkeys! i hope this super-sized episode finds you healthy, happy and enjoying the summer. i am. i got out and saw a couple of bands on friday. i saw löwin and casual strangers at the mohawk on friday. great times. skyrocket played on saturday at the roost. also, a very good time. tonight, my solo residency at strange brew continues. my guests will be salim nourallah from dallas and jason blum from nyc. the madness starts at 8 come out and say hi. here's the lowdown, the lowdown my guest for episode 293 is the amazingly talented guitar player and incredible hang, zak loy! zak is currently the guitar player in ed kowalczyk's touring band and alpha rev. i first met him in like 1999 when he was co-leader of the teen-pop-rock band, dames violet with his brother beaux. he was just 15 and he was talented, humble, fearless, sweet and incredibly ambitious. 15 years later he's only more of the same. we have a lengthy and entertaining conversation that goes from having guitars made for him, managers, record companies and huge gigs as a teenager, his love and respect for the scene he came up in, playing with alpha rev, dames violet, mother's anthem and ed kowalczyk, touring the world with kowalczyk, opening for and meeting the rolling stones and much, much more. this guy is a class act. i had a great time catching up with him. i'm sure you will too. let's get down!ciao! -jg

Episode 260: Leopold and His Fiction return with Bone Fur and Feathers

hello swingers! i hope you're all flying high and laying low. i'm good. i had a blast playing with sweat and lotion at the charlie hodge show at cap city comedy club here in austin last night. it was hilarious and i just love playing with that band. if you see him doing this again, i suggest you go. there are great comics, really funny skits and a lot of effort put in to it to make it a real show. get out there people! there's brilliant stuff going on!speaking of brilliant stuff going on... episode 260 is a conversation with two bands at once. my guests are lulu from bone fur and feathers/ thievery corporation and daniel from leopold and his fiction returns to the show. they have a show coming up this saturday, april 5th 2014 in austin at cheer up charlie's. lulu's band, bone fur and feathers has released a song called, "someday" and she's going out on tour this spring and summer with thievery corporation. i had never met her before, she is incredibly cool and talented and easily one of the most beautiful women i've met. she's great! daniel's band, leopold and his fiction, are hitting the road hard this week and playing across the entire united states until june. i suggest you go to leopoldandhisfiction.com and see when they're coming to your town or a town near you. they're one of my favorite bands and daniel is one of my favorite people. i hope you enjoy our scattered, crazy and heartfelt conversation. i did. 

Episode 250: Scorpion Child

hello friends of nature and rock and roll! i hope you're all doing well. i am. i've had a good week so far and it's only tuesday. i have a solo show this week on thursday 2/27 at stubb's in austin, tx. i'll be playing a songwriter in the round with ryan holley, paco estrada and a few other folks. should be fun. if you are in houston, skyrocket will be playing there on friday 2/28 at rockefeller hall. i believe that place is going to be closing in the next few months so, if you like seeing us there, which i know many people do, we're only doing two more shows there before it closes down. i know. it's sad. i saw a lot of great shows there... dr. john, the bodeans, the neville bros. the ohio players and many, many more. goodbye rockefeller hall. you had  a great run!my guest for episode 250 is aryn jonanthan black from the full-throttle rock and roll band, scorpion child! you might have seen him on VH1's that metal show this past saturday (2/22/14). that show also named their debut, self-titled album as one of the top 5 albums of 2013. the album is amazing and the rock world and european rock world have embraced the band and they're returning to the u.k. next month. if you live there look them up. i've known aryn for a few years, he's always seemed like a real rockstar to me and he is. he's a genuine 24 carrot rocker. so is scorpion child. i hope you enjoy my conversation with aryn. i did! ciao! -jg

Episode 239: Jessica Leigh Graves

hello friends! i hope you're all out there enjoying your worlds. i'm enjoying mine. i had fun recoding my friends, sheridan and mallory last night. sheridan is an old friend with a new batch of songs that we cut with her bass player/harmony singing partner, mallory. good songs. good times. right now i'm getting my shit together to run out the door to play a show with SKYROCKET! in houston. we haven't been playing as much as normally do, but it's been nice to have some weekend nights to do things. or not do things. our website is updated. you can check it out at www.skyrockettheband.com my guest for episode 239 is the "love leigh" and talented, jessica leigh graves! jessica was on a live show we did last summer with her partner from the love leighs, raina, when she told me about a very special project she was putting together... an e.p. of queen songs done on ukulele with a portion of the proceeds going to the grass roots AIDS organization, mercury phoenix trust. i am a huge queen fan and i flipped out and invited her on the show when she was ready to talk more about it. anyway, i heard from her a few weeks ago and she told me she was starting a fan donation campaign to finish out the album. you can donate and find out all about that at www.ukulelequeen.com . jessica and i have a great conversation about everything that goes into making an album like this from licensing to picking out songs and much, much more. she even showed up for the show wearing a freddie mercury mustache! (you can see that pic on our facebook page) i hope you enjoy my conversation with the ever-entertaining jessica leigh graves. i sure did.ciao! -jg