An Orlando songwriter making the case for joy when everyone else writes sad songs

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Cat Ridgeway, out of Orlando, makes a case for joy when everyone else is writing sad songs. She tells stories from a career full of odd coincidences, including a connection to the Grateful Dead's former publicist, her Colorado adventures, an upcoming record, and the coffee-roasting habit that's become its own thing. It's a long, funny, generous conversation. What happens when an artist decides joy is worth writing about?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Coincidences
4:17 Meet Cat Ridgeway
6:16 Live Shows and Fans
7:26 Festival Dream Lineup
13:21 Colorado Adventures
19:24 Unexpected Connections
27:16 Coffee Roasting
40:16 The Grateful Dead Connection
45:10 The Music Industry
51:50 The New Record
1:09:11 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

Two teachers who quit to tour full-time, on the road and the songs it makes.

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

Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B both left steady jobs to play music full-time, and now they tour the country as a high-energy Americana duo. They talk about building a sound as a pair, writing on the road, the song "Little Change," and what it took to leave the classroom behind. They close with "Little Change" and a cover of "Midnight Rider." What does it cost to trade a steady paycheck for the thing you love?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 From Teaching to Music
1:32 Meet Cousin Curtiss & Harrison B
3:23 Touring Life
5:17 The Art of Being a Duo
7:28 Rockin' Americana
11:34 Writing on the Road
17:17 Two Paths, One Journey
21:42 Home Life and Road Life
31:22 The Story of "Little Change"
33:30 60 Seconds of Curiosity
36:04 Live Performance: "Little Change" + "Midnight Rider"

📊 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 → State of Music summary

📬 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 free

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

Inside a Muscle Shoals studio for Davin McCoy's first album in a decade

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

This one goes inside the studio at Ivy Manor in Muscle Shoals, where Davin McCoy is cutting his first album in a decade with producer Dan Hannon. Hannon talks about his career, his fight with throat cancer, and how he draws a vision out of an artist. Davin walks through the nerves and the layers of tracking a record. It's a look at how the work actually gets made, geese, ping pong, and all. What does it take to finally finish the record you've put off for ten years?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Podcast Intro
2:47 Meet Producer Dan Hannon
4:39 Hannon's Journey and the Studio
5:14 Making Davin McCoy's Album
35:06 Song Selection
36:37 Anticipation for the Album
39:54 The Mystique of Muscle Shoals
48:31 Final Thoughts
53:18 Ping Pong and Camaraderie

📊 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

He backed Patti Smith and Robert Plant for decades before making a record of his own

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

James Mastro spent a long career playing alongside Robert Plant, Patti Smith, and Ian Hunter, and with "Dawn of a New Error" he finally made a record of his own. He talks about why he waited, what he picked up in all those rooms, and the risk of stepping out front. Religion, COVID, and not taking yourself too seriously all come up. What pulls a lifelong sideman to the center of the stage?

🎵 James Mastro's latest: Dawn of a New Error (2024)

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Embracing Mistakes and New Beginnings
1:45 From Hoboken to Athens
2:28 The Man Behind the Music
3:29 On Tour
10:36 Religion, Optimism, Connection
17:23 Playing with the Greats
26:09 The Journey of a Solo Album
28:06 60 Seconds of Curiosity
34:11 Closing Thoughts

📊 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 young hip-hop artist and a 60-something surgeon, making R&B together.

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

EyeAM is a young hip-hop and R&B artist. Joel Hoffman is a surgeon in his sixties who loves to write hooks. Together they make something they call alternative R&B, and the partnership works better than it has any right to. They talk about how they met, the Ari Collective label they're building, and what music does across a 40-year age gap. They close with two songs. What makes an unlikely collaboration click?

🎵 Building: the Ari Collective label

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 The Creative Process
1:36 An Unlikely Duo
3:18 Making Music in Alpharetta
4:03 The Origin Story
4:51 Crafting a Sound
6:37 Music Across Generations
12:21 Their Musical Backgrounds
17:29 The Ari Collective
23:51 Music and Mentorship
26:29 Goals and Upcoming Projects
28:31 Live Performance

📊 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 → State of Music summary

📬 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 free

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 SteelDrivers Grammy, then addiction nearly took everything, then the way back

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Gary Nichols won a Grammy with the SteelDrivers, the band he joined after Chris Stapleton left, and then addiction nearly ended everything. He's open about hitting bottom more than once, the moment in jail that turned him toward recovery, and how songwriting kept him moving through it and after. He talks about Muscle Shoals, fatherhood, and what redemption actually feels like day to day. What does it take to decide to live?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 The Depths of Addiction
2:44 From Grammy Glory to Survival
6:16 Muscle Shoals
15:14 The Fall and the Turn
32:36 A Life-Changing Moment in Jail
34:52 A Second Chance
36:28 Redemption Through Music
47:17 Love and Life After Recovery
1:02:00 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

Part two: how one piece of odd feedback led him to write his saddest song.

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

Part two with Mike Kinnebrew gets into sentiment, the thing a lot of writers run from. He talks about how a strange bit of feedback pushed him to write his saddest song, why reflection matters in a fast-scrolling world, and the narrative depth of his upcoming album. There's a lakeside performance with an uninvited choir of geese. What does a songwriter gain by leaning into sentiment instead of avoiding it?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Positivity in Songwriting
1:20 Sentiment and Songwriting
2:19 Country Music and Reflection
3:27 Emotion, Authenticity, Connection
8:51 The Creative Process
17:05 Covering Classics and Permissions
19:32 60 Seconds of Curiosity
21:33 Live Performance

📊 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 → State of Music summary

📬 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 free

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 songwriter on quitting drinking, and the song he wrote two months later

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Mike Kinnebrew uses songwriting to face the things he'd rather not. In part one he talks about deciding to quit drinking and what sobriety has meant for his family, his creativity, and his daily life. He traces a childhood spent moving for his father's ministry, the role of faith, and the Nashville community he found. He closes with "What's Left of Me," a single written two months after he quit. What changes in the work when you stop numbing the hard parts?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Vulnerability in Music
1:40 Meet Mike Kinnebrew
2:17 Songwriting as a Way Through
5:43 Faith and Family
11:53 From Church Camp to Music
17:33 Balancing Family, Faith, Career
22:56 Roots to Nashville
30:39 Choosing Sobriety
39:26 Songwriting Through Struggle
44:05 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

Part two: a tribute to Rich Mullins and the faith we both had to question

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Part two with Jacob Furr turns into a tribute to Rich Mullins, the Christian songwriter whose depth and honesty cut against the genre's polish. Jacob and I trade stories about Mullins' influence, our own conservative-Christian upbringings, and what it means to keep questioning a faith you were handed. He also previews a project rooted in his family's history on an Arkansas poor farm. What stays with you from the music that shaped your faith, even after the faith changes?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Musical Influences
1:42 Jacob's Spiritual Turn
2:06 A Tribute to Rich Mullins
5:53 A Conservative Christian Camp
7:29 Family History in Song
11:12 The Art of Storytelling
17:31 Rich Mullins' Legacy
23:01 Deconstructing a Faith
26:40 A Beacon for the Questioning
32:24 Future Projects
33:24 Closing Thoughts

📊 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

He lost his wife to brain cancer in his twenties, then kept writing through it

Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com

Jacob Furr, a singer-songwriter out of Fort Worth, lost his wife to brain cancer in his twenties, and he's spent years writing through it. In part one he talks about his album "Turning," a record about hope after grief, the Fort Worth scene he's fighting to put on the map, and the Townes Van Zandt lineage he writes within. He's honest about the hustle of staying independent. How does grief change shape when you keep writing through it?

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Grief and Life's Freshness
1:45 Meet Jacob Furr
2:36 The Fort Worth Music Scene
4:59 The Legacy of Townes Van Zandt
8:15 The Independent Artist's Life
12:53 Turning: Grief, Growth, New Beginnings
17:44 Songwriting as Therapy
23:47 Finding Love After Loss
27:15 Teaching and the Hustle
32:05 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