Emerging from the Wilderness: A Chat with Barns Courtney

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://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup] 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 [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 → Subscribe here [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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/32ATtPM2gIVh2SeLFLNZnY] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-goldfish-podcast/id6783386839] 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/curiousgoldfishpodcast]

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.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup] 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 [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, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe [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 [https://www.curiousgoldfish.com] 🎧 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/32ATtPM2gIVh2SeLFLNZnY] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-goldfish-podcast/id6783386839] 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/curiousgoldfishpodcast]

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://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup] 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 [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, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe [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 [https://www.curiousgoldfish.com] 🎧 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/32ATtPM2gIVh2SeLFLNZnY] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-goldfish-podcast/id6783386839] 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/curiousgoldfishpodcast]

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://www.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup] 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 [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, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe [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 [https://www.curiousgoldfish.com] 🎧 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/32ATtPM2gIVh2SeLFLNZnY] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-goldfish-podcast/id6783386839] 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/curiousgoldfishpodcast]

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.curiousgoldfish.com/?modal=signup] 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 [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, and one curiosity prompt each issue. → Subscribe [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 [https://www.curiousgoldfish.com] 🎧 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/32ATtPM2gIVh2SeLFLNZnY] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-goldfish-podcast/id6783386839] 📸 @curiousgoldfishpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/curiousgoldfishpodcast]