Curious Goldfish Podcast artwork

Music Interviews · Jason English

Curious Goldfish Podcast

by Jason English

Curious Goldfish is a podcast about independent music and the people who make it. The name comes from two Ted Lasso episodes. In one, Ted tells a struggling player that the happiest animal on earth is a goldfish, because it has a 10-second memory. The lesson: forget the mistake and move forward. In another, Ted quotes Walt Whitman before a dart match: "Be curious, not judgmental." Both stuck with me. I can't sing. I don't play an instrument. But I've spent years being genuinely curious about people who write something honest and then perform it for strangers. How they do it. Why they keep doing it. What it costs. The guests are Americana, folk, roots, rock, and country artists who aren't on the radio and probably won't be. Some have 500 monthly listeners. Some have 100,000. The common thread is that they chose the independent path and they're figuring it out in real time. We cover songwriting, the business of music, the touring life, and the moments that made an artist who they are. The conversations keep getting better.

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Michael Rudd: He's Facing Cancer Head-On with Music & Gratitude

Michael Rudd went 30 years without writing a song. Then came four albums in three years. Get the stories behind the episodes -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=sig

Oct 5
46 min

Shannon Lay: Getting Dropped Saved Her

Sub Pop dropped her. That loss is exactly what made her new album possible. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity ( https://www.curiousgo

Oct 1
24 min

Chrissi Poland:A Soulful Journey to Muscle Shoals

What's in the Muscle Shoals water? A New York soul singer went to find out. Get the stories behind the episodes -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup ( https:/

Sep 28
38 min

Chris Pierce: He Can't Hear the Crowd He Sings For

He can't hear the crowd, and he calls every song he writes a love song. Get the stories behind the episodes → https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup ( https://www.

Sep 20
49 min

Abe Partridge: Immersed in Two Mysteries

One of American roots music's most singular voices, caught in a season of not knowing. Get the stories behind the episodes → ( https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=sign

Aug 23
29 min

The CEO Who Hid His Guitar: A Chat with George Barrett

He ran a Fortune 500 company and hid that he was a musician; He tells me why he returned to his first love. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of C

Aug 16
40 min

Voiceless No More: A Chat with Alicia Blue

She never sang a note in college. Now Shooter Jennings produces her. Get the stories behind the episodes -> Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity ( https://www.curiousgoldfish

Aug 13
34 min

50 Years & Still Building: A Chat with Garry Tallent of the E Street Band

A founding E Street Band bassist, fifty-five years in, still says he's no maestro. Get the stories behind the episodes -> https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup (

Aug 11
30 min

Quiet in the Chaos: A Chat with Anna May

She wrote her funniest song while crying in a grocery store. A songwriter with a PhD in breakups. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity (

Aug 5
25 min

17 Albums. Now What? A Chat with Michelle Malone

Seventeen records in, she is not sure the eighteenth is worth making. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity ( https://www.curiousgoldfish

Aug 2
30 min

From Pretty Boy Teen Folky to Lifetime Achievement: A Chat with Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller got the lifetime achievement award. He almost dreaded the speech. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity ( https://www.curiou

Jul 28
55 min

Three Records in Three Years After a Lifetime of Waiting: A Chat with Lance Cowan

He spent 38 years pitching Nashville's legends. Almost none of them knew he wrote songs too. Get the stories behind the episodes → Subscribe to Chords of Curiosity ( http

Jul 26
46 min

The Chorus Came in a Dream: A Chat with Dwight + Nicole

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.c

Jul 14
56 min

Chris Trapper: Twelve Albums, No Backup Plan

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 (

Jul 10
43 min

Emerging from the Wilderness: A Chat with Barns Courtney

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 ( https:/

Jun 26
39 min

Still Choosing Each Other: A Chat with Cicada Rhythm

A freight-train hopper and a Juilliard cellist on staying married by letting each other change. Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com ( https://www.cu

Jun 22
30 min

40 Years & Still Figuring It Out: A Chat With David Ryan Harris

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 ( https

Jun 15
39 min

Blue-Collar Cowboy: A Chat with Matthias Lamparter

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 ( https://ww

Jun 15
32 min

He's More Than a Clown in a Barrel: A Chat with Barrett Baber

A plane-crash survivor on loving something that hurts, and keeping AI out of his lyrics Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com ( https://www.curiousgol

Jun 14
1 h 14 min

On the Precipice: A Chat with Certainly So

Four friends from Mississippi State on the brink of going all-in on the band Get the stories behind the episodes → curiousgoldfish.com ( https://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?

Jun 14
36 min

Chart trend

Position in the Music Interviews chart (US), last 90 days.

#81
all-time peak
2
days in the top 100 since Jul 2026

Chart positions

Where Curious Goldfish Podcast ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 8, 2026).

#88 NEW Music Interviews US

More podcasts like Curious Goldfish Podcast

Popular shows in Music Interviews, for your next listen.

Browse charts by category

Daily updated Apple Podcasts rankings for the United States.

About Curious Goldfish Podcast on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Curious Goldfish Podcast, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

Contact

Questions or issues? Reach us at hello@reason.fm

0:000:00