He spent 38 years pitching Nashville's legends. Almost none of them knew he wrote songs too.

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Lance Cowan spent close to four decades as a Nashville publicist for Joe Ely, Guy Clark, and Nanci Griffith, and kept his own songwriting so quiet that most of his clients never knew about it. Now he is three albums into a late chapter, with a new record, The Air That You Breathe, out this summer. He tells Jason English about the night Janis Ian pulled him into a co-write, the morning he stopped going to the church he grew up in, and the two-word piece of advice Joe Ely gave him about a hostile critic. The episode closes, like every one, with Jason's question about what Lance is most curious about. So what makes a man who pitched everyone else finally bet on himself?

🎵 Lance Cowan's latest: The Air That You Breathe (2026)

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Staying curious, and three chords and the truth
2:40 The Air That You Breathe
4:27 From journalism to Nashville PR
5:11 Setting the bar at Dylan and Jackson Browne
6:56 Writing the emotional truth
10:31 The encouragement that kept him going
13:32 Keeping his songs separate from his clients
16:50 The writers he still represents
18:18 Co-writing "When He Was Here" with Janis Ian
25:20 A crisis of faith
27:50 The morning he stopped going to church
30:14 Joe Ely and "bake him a pie"
36:00 Writing "William Cooper Smith"
41:45 Suno, and where he draws the AI line
44:37 60 Seconds of Curiosity

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. Get the State of Music survey summary free → curiousgoldfish.com/state-of-music-summary-signup

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, what I'm learning running this show, and one curiosity prompt every issue → Subscribe here

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

They turned down the record deals their families begged them to sign. Twenty years later, still here.

Get the stories behind the episodes -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup

Dwight Ritscher and Nicole Nelson are a married duo from Burlington, Vermont, twenty years into an independent career they built by refusing to pick a lane. They came up in the blues and roots clubs of New York and New England, moved through jazz and country and punk, and brought their fans along for all of it. Their new album, Day or Night, produced by Joel Hamilton, started as roughly 163 songs and ended as twelve. The chorus of one of those twelve arrived in a dream Nicole had the night her grandmother died, and she tells that story here in full. We also get into how a married band keeps its fights off the stage, the real economics of steering what Nicole calls a very small boat, and why, after two decades, she still calls herself a beginner.

🎵 Dwight + Nicole's latest: Day or Night (2026)

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold Open: "It's Impossible Not to Have a Spark"
1:00 Welcome to Curious Goldfish
2:55 Burlington, Vermont, and a New Album
4:41 Married, In a Band, and Still Speaking
6:22 "No Weird Business": Leaving the Fight Offstage
12:44 The Origin Story and the First Spark
15:45 The Small Boat: The Math of Twenty Years Independent
18:20 Social Media, Superfans, and Who Actually Shows Up
24:19 Turning Down the Record Contracts
26:10 The Eras: Blues, Jazz, Country, Punk, Roots
29:03 Working with Producer Joel Hamilton
30:54 163 Songs Down to Twelve
32:38 "Beautiful": The Chorus That Came in a Dream
37:22 "One Morning" and Watching the World Come Apart
42:05 Still a Beginner After Twenty Years
44:51 Grammys, SNL, and What Dwight Actually Wants
48:21 Nicole on The Voice
51:38 60 Seconds of Curiosity

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. Get the State of Music survey summary free -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/state-of-music-summary-signup

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, what I'm learning running this show, and one curiosity prompt every issue -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH

A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

He wrote a song about loss. Months later, his brother died. The song already knew.

Get the stories behind the episodes -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup

Chris Trapper grew up the sixth of six kids in Buffalo, got his identity from a fifth-grade school musical, and has spent thirty years making a career out of what his father told him to chase. At the 30A Songwriters Festival in January, host Jason English sits down with the Boston-based singer-songwriter for a conversation that covers mailbox money, sync licensing, a duet with Pat Benatar, and the album opener he wrote months before his brother died. Watching Sparks Fly By is his twelfth record, and "Campfire Symphony," its first track, is the one that made him understand he had been grieving before the loss arrived. The question the conversation leaves open: what does it take to keep going when the thing that saved you is the same thing everyone told you not to count on?

🎵 Chris Trapper's latest: Watching Sparks Fly By (2025)

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold Open
1:02 Welcome to Curious Goldfish
3:32 First Time at 30A Songwriters Festival
8:00 Watching Sparks Fly By and Sync Licensing
14:30 The Call From His Father
17:00 No Backup Plan
19:48 Touring With Pat Benatar
21:57 Stuttering and the Stage
25:12 Losing a Brother to Addiction
29:02 Writing "Keg on My Coffin"
31:00 Twelve Albums and What's Next
34:23 60 Seconds of Curiosity
36:00 Live Performance: "Toast to Us" / "Campfire Symphony"

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. Get the State of Music survey summary free -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/state-of-music-summary-signup

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, what I'm learning running this show, and one curiosity prompt every issue -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

A billion streams behind him, and it's the fan dinners that keep the tour out of the red.

Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity

Barns Courtney expected his North American acoustic run to be a respectable listening-room evening. Instead, 30 fans stormed a New York stage with kazoos and a guy did a striptease in a horse mask. With a billion streams behind him, Barns is candid about the math underneath it: ticket sales that break even on a good night, years of Instagram that never converted, and a recurring VIP dinner series with super fans that actually funds the tour. He gets into the dark years after losing his first record deal, the daily gratitude practice that pulled him out, and where he stands on AI by way of a David Bowie interview about the early internet, all ahead of his first live album. What does a working artist owe the platforms that mostly reach the fans least likely to buy a ticket?

🎵 Barns Courtney's latest: Live and Wired (2026)

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold Open & Welcome
4:38 When the Acoustic Show Turns to Chaos
6:11 Backing Band vs. Just a Guitar
9:00 The Super Fan Economy and the Content Trap
11:55 Money, Aging, and Missing the Crew
15:00 The Dark Forest and a Daily Gratitude Practice
19:11 60 Seconds of Curiosity
21:00 Rare Air: A Billion Streams
23:36 Where He Stands on AI in Music
26:26 Twitch, Discord, and Real-Time Fans
29:53 The VIP Dinners That Fund the Tour
34:11 The Songwriting Process
36:52 Live and Wired and the Next Record

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. Get the State of Music survey summary free → curiousgoldfish.com/state-of-music-summary-signup

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, what I'm learning running this show, and one curiosity prompt every issue → Subscribe here

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH

A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

Barns Courtney on Chaotic Acoustic Shows, Superfans, and the Real Tour Economy

Curious Goldfish host Jason English introduces guest Barns Courtney, speaking from a hotel in Ireland as he kicks off a three-week European tour after an unexpectedly chaotic North American acoustic run featuring kazoo-wielding fans, a horse-mask striptease, and a stinkbug that became part of the show. Courtney contrasts full-band performances with stripped-down shows, discusses the financial realities of touring despite a billion streams, and explains how recurring VIP dinner parties with superfans help fund tours more reliably than social media content. He reflects on losing his first record deal, years of hated jobs, and how optimism and a daily gratitude practice helped him recover and write an honest debut album. Courtney shares career curiosity about reaching idol-level artistry, views AI as another tool like Auto-Tune, credits Twitch and Discord for real-time community, and previews a live album plus a mostly finished introspective studio record.

00:00 Hard Times to Honesty
01:11 Podcast Intro and Guest Setup
04:05 Tour Kickoff in Ireland
04:41 Acoustic Shows Gone Wild
06:12 Band vs Acoustic Energy
08:30 Touring Money and Superfans
11:56 Aging Road Life and Family
14:50 Dark Forest and Gratitude
19:11 Curiosity and Living Well
21:22 Ambition and Perspective
23:38 AI and Authenticity
26:26 Twitch Community and Chaos
29:53 VIP Dinners with Fans
34:15 Songwriting Discipline
36:54 Live Album and Next Record
38:22 Thanks and Tour Economics

A freight-train hopper and a Juilliard cellist on staying married by letting each other change.

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Dave and Andrea of Cicada Rhythm met when he stepped off a freight train in Athens, covered in soot. Fifteen years and a marriage later, they're still making music together, most recently on Magic State (2025), recorded in an old farmhouse in Madison, Georgia. They get into the mixtape that started it all, a proposal involving a metal detector, and why two people who came up from opposite worlds keep choosing the same hard things. What does it take to let the person you love keep changing?

🎵 Cicada Rhythm's latest: Magic State (2025)

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Changing Together
0:58 Podcast Intro
3:21 Meet Cicada Rhythm
4:25 Magic State Album
6:29 Genre-Free Sound
9:00 Train-Hop Love Story
13:14 The Mixtape Moment
15:35 Metal Detector Proposal
17:18 Music & Love Intertwined
17:57 Choosing Hard Together
20:02 60 Seconds of Curiosity
22:08 Ham Radio Rabbit Hole
26:14 Farm Shows & Community
27:16 Live Performance

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. → State of Music survey summary

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

A guitarist's guitarist on chasing craft over fame, and writing a song a week to outrun his inner critic

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

David Ryan Harris is the kind of musician other musicians revere, and at 30A he makes the case for craft over fame. He treats guitar and songwriting like puzzles, and writes weekly from prompts to keep his inner critic quiet and his angles fresh. He gets into "Still Be Loving You," written for his mom, and "Coldplay," and how sobriety and therapy deepened his communication. He debuts a new song, "Weekend Werewolves." What keeps a forty-year veteran chasing the next puzzle?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Writing Women Honestly
4:07 Why 30A Keeps Calling
4:39 Small Rooms Over Stadiums
5:51 Playing the Big House
7:29 Craft Over Fame
10:20 Song Prompts and Deadlines
15:35 Editing vs. Inspiration
19:45 The "Coldplay" Chorus
21:16 Songs About Women
26:11 A Song for Mom
26:45 Communication and Sobriety
28:59 Producing and Growth
32:36 60 Seconds of Curiosity
33:30 Live Performance

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. → State of Music survey summary

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

A blue-collar cowboy who spent a decade and his own money to earn a debut called 15 Seconds of Fame

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Matthias Lamparter took ten self-funded years to make his debut album, "15 Seconds of Fame," recorded with top players and Grammy-winning engineers. He talks about the failed early attempts, refusing to release work he didn't believe in, and funding it all through long cover sets and private gigs. He makes the case that fans get built on stage, not on social media, and gets into the single "Concrete Cowboy" and the past trouble that taught him discipline. What does a decade of paying your own way buy you?

🎵 Matthias Lamparter's latest: 15 Seconds of Fame

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 The Long-Set Reality Check
2:15 A Ten-Year Journey
3:40 Early Recording Attempts
6:32 Why "15 Seconds of Fame"
9:55 The "Why Not Me" Mindset
11:29 Superfans and a Live-First Strategy
17:24 The Bar and Fair Circuit
23:13 "Concrete Cowboy"
26:04 Getting Jammed Up and Rebuilding
28:35 Where He Is Now
30:39 60 Seconds of Curiosity
32:24 Closing

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. → State of Music survey summary

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

A plane-crash survivor on loving something that hurts, and keeping AI out of his lyrics

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Barrett Baber built the album "Crittenden County" out of his upbringing near West Memphis, Arkansas, where Memphis soul and '90s rock both soaked in. He talks about "Clown in a Barrel" and loving something that keeps hurting you, often the music business itself, and why he keeps showing up against the math of streaming. He gets into co-writing as something close to holy, surviving a 1999 plane crash, and drawing a hard line against AI writing lyrics. What makes you keep loving the thing that keeps breaking your heart?

🎵 Barrett Baber's latest: Crittenden County

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Chasing the Dream
5:03 Crittenden County Roots
10:33 River Delta Inspiration
13:35 Grown-Up Album Themes
16:27 "Clown in a Barrel"
18:52 Showing Up Anyway
24:11 Indie Release Strategy
29:33 The Magic of the Writing Room
35:51 "West of Memphis"
49:23 American Idol vs. The Voice
53:35 Surviving a Plane Crash
59:53 AI vs. Human Art
1:09:37 60 Seconds of Curiosity

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. → State of Music survey summary

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast

Four friends from Mississippi State on the brink of going all-in on the band

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Certainly So, Colby, Tanner, Zach, and Chase, came together through Mississippi State and local jam sessions, and they are right on the edge of going full-time. They talk about the slow grind of independent music, the Southern and church-band roots in their sound, and prepping for a big slot at Bourbon & Beyond. Vulnerability, they have learned, makes their best songs. They close with "Alabama Blues" and "Foreign Ties." What does it take to finally jump from side jobs to all-in?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Chasing the Magic
1:52 Meet Certainly So
4:51 Bourbon & Beyond Prep
7:35 How the Band Formed
10:07 Southern Roots and Church Gigs
12:10 Songwriting and the Next Release
17:07 Going Full-Time
21:11 Dating on the Road
25:07 60 Seconds of Curiosity
29:22 Live Performance

📊 FREE REPORT: What 573 fans and artists told us about streaming, AI, and where the money in music actually goes. → State of Music survey summary

📬 NEWSLETTER: Chords of Curiosity goes deeper on every episode. The moments that didn't make the clips, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe

ABOUT CURIOUS GOLDFISH
A music podcast about more than music. Inspired by Ted Lasso. I talk with singer-songwriters and bands in Americana, folk, roots, and country about the lives behind the songs: resilience, faith, marriage, the business of music, and what keeps an artist going. Every episode ends with the same question about curiosity, and no two answers are alike.

New episodes every other week.

🌐 curiousgoldfish.com 🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast