From Teaching to Touring: The Musical Journey of Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B

In this episode of Curious Goldfish, hosted by Jason English, Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B discuss their transition from stable careers to full-time musicians. They share insights on their nationwide tour, from their unique sound blending rock, Americana, and high-energy performances to the inspiration behind their songs, like 'Little Change.' The episode also explores their songwriting process, life on the road, and the impact of their backgrounds and geographical locations on their music careers. The episode concludes with a live performance of "Little Change" and a cover of "Midnight Rider."

00:00 The Leap from Teaching to Music: A Personal Journey

00:52 Introducing Curious Goldfish: A Musical Podcast Adventure

01:32 Discovering Musical Gems: The Rise of Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B.

03:23 On the Road: Touring Life and Musical Collaborations

05:17 Crafting a Unique Sound: The Art of Being a Duo

07:28 Defining a Genre: Rockin' Americana with a Twist

11:34 The Songwriting Process: Collaboration and Creativity on the Road

14:38 Life on Tour: Golf, Silence, and Creative Musings

17:17 Individual Paths to a Shared Musical Journey

18:53 Discovering a Passion for Music

19:51 The Journey from Music Festivals to Professional Musician

20:13 Evolving Through Musical Eras: College to Telluride

21:10 Navigating a Music Career from Colorado

21:42 Balancing Home Life and Road Life

23:53 Exploring Personal and Musical Growth

24:52 The Shift from Teaching to Full-Time Music

26:42 Reflecting on Musical Influences and Career Choices

28:43 The Impact of Location on a Music Career

31:22 Songwriting Insights: 'Little Change'

33:30 Looking Ahead: Plans and Curiosities

36:04 Closing Thoughts and Musical Performance

I think one of the biggest turning points for me was leaving.

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A teaching career,

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to

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be a full time musician.

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And that was, that was eye opening.

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And I was like, okay, cool.

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Well, now you're living your dreams

and you're doing this, but like, how,

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like, what are you going to write about?

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And then it was being on the road and.

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Knowing that there was a greener pasture

quote unquote to like go back to to go

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back to teaching I could always do that.

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I like got my license I could do that

but purposefully not because this

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thing felt more important It felt

more impactful um, and it was so hard

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Jason English (Host): Welcome to

curious goldfish, a podcast community

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where music and curiosity come together

through interesting conversations

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with the music makers of our world.

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I'm your host, Jason English.

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You can find curious goldfish and all the

major podcast and social media platforms.

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And of course, we have all of

our content on our website.

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Curious goldfish.

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com.

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Imagine being in the audience

for one of Billy strings.

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First performances.

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Imagine being a student at the

university of Virginia in Charlottesville

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in the mid 1990s to witness

some of Dave Matthews for shows.

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I'm sure there was a sense of both wonder

and curiosity during those early days,

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wonder at their raw talent and curiosity,

but just how far they might get to go.

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Well, that's the sentiment felt by my

friends and me when we first saw Cousin

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Curtiss at a music festival in early 2024.

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The talent was obvious, the joy was

contagious, and with each performance

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we witnessed, we left longing for more.

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Cousin Curtiss and his musical

collaborator Harrison B.

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are touring the United States in 2024.

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from Colorado to New England, Georgia to

Indiana, Back to Colorado and then again,

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the Southeast, They are crisscrossing

the country, hoping to spread the

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gospel of a unique musical blend

infused with happiness and gratefulness.

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You can sense they're about to

bust a wide open with opportunities

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to open for Blackberry Smoke

and Los Lobos on the horizon.

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Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B are one

of those acts that will undoubtedly

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leave people wanting to see them again.

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Maybe even more so than the

bands they are opening for.

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Their music is unique as is their story,

both hailing from the American West.

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They connected in Alaska of all places.

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I was fortunate to connect with them

while they came through Atlanta.

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I got to spend an afternoon with

them on the golf course with

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my good friend, Jeremy Fort.

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And we later hosted the duo for a

special backyard show at Jeremy's house.

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A couple of songs from that

performance round out this episode.

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And I caught up with cousin

Curtiss and Harrison B in between

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golf and the red stool session.

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You'll soon be able to watch

the entire performance from

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Roswell, Georgia on YouTube.

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It's quite the setting and it

was another standout performance.

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So here's Harrison B

from Seattle, Washington.

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And from Montrose, Colorado,

here's cousin Curtiss.

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Let's dive in.

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What's up fellas?

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Cousin Curtiss: are we doing today?

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Jason English (Host):

Welcome to Roswell, Georgia.

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It's good to

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Cousin Curtiss: It's good to be here.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Jason English (Host): You guys are

in the middle of a crazy First off,

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it's Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B.

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Live in the, uh, in preparation

for a show here in Atlanta.

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But, uh, yeah, you guys are

in the middle of a crazy tour.

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Is this like the biggest

tour you guys have done

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Harrison B: It's

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Cousin Curtiss: One of the longer ones

consecutively tour you guys have done?

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You're based in Colorado, Curtiss,

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Harrison B: But this is, this

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Cousin Curtiss: And

Harrison, you're based in

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Jason English (Host): you're, you're,

you're based in Colorado Curtiss, right?

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And then, uh, Harrison,

you're based in Seattle.

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So you guys.

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Packed up and drove this like

a road trip for you guys.

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It's basically up and

down the eastern seaboard,

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Cousin Curtiss: Pretty much, yeah.

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Yeah, that and like the heartland of

America and then going back out west.

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Jason English (Host):

Yeah, no, that's exciting.

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Have you do you typically tour

when you tour is it typically?

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Yeah, it's a good question.

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It's all over

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Cousin Curtiss: it's a good question.

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It's all over the place.

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So it's, um, we go as far as Alaska,

Maine, California, the pack Northwest,

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all the way down to florida.

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It's just kind of how best to do it.

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Um, you know,

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Harrison B: cohesively

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Cousin Curtiss: And then a lot of

this, uh, this, this whole tour has

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been kind of, I don't know, there's,

there were the landmarks that were the

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cornerstones of the shows and then, um,

filling in the blanks here and there have

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happened a little bit, uh, last minute

more so than some of the other tours,

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but in like the best way imaginable.

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And

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Jason English (Host): you're, you're able

to like fill in spots that are kind of on

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Cousin Curtiss: that's right.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Yep.

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Jason English (Host): No, that's great.

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So, uh, I'm going to, I want to ask

about your backgrounds individually,

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but let's start with like the,

like you guys coming together.

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When did that happen

and how did that happen?

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Cousin Curtiss: That

happened many years ago.

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Um, probably like five, six years ago.

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We met for the first time in Alaska.

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We both have ties up there.

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Um, and, uh, went to a show that

Harrison B was playing with his bands.

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And just fell in love with the

sound, the style, the music.

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And then we continued to be in the

same scene together, meet up at

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festivals, started playing together.

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And then it just kind of took off.

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We had some really great opportunities.

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We kept chasing it and now it's full

time and we're four feet apart from one

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another for a 90 percent of the year,

every year for the last three years.

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Harrison B: Amen to that

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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So it's been about three years then.

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All right.

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That's interesting.

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So it was Alaska, right?

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Um,

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Harrison B: You

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Jason English (Host): were you guys,

so you, were you in a band Harrison?

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Harrison B: Yeah, I was just frontin

the Power Trio that I did for a

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number of years, kinda me and Curtiss

really started runnin real hard.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Okay.

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Um, so it's, you know, you guys

both play guitar, then you have

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a kick drum and a harmonica.

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Cousin Curtiss: Nice.

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Jason English (Host): I've seen you a

couple of times at the 30th festival.

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You guys sound like

you're like a five piece,

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Cousin Curtiss: five piece.

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Thanks, man.

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Jason English (Host): I bet

that's intentional, right?

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Cousin Curtiss: is, yeah.

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Yeah.

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And we've, we've been very, uh,

deliberate about how do we do this?

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How can we cover all of the, like, the

spectrums dynamic wise of the EQ, you

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know, from the low end of kick drum,

bass guitar, all the way up to the highs

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of acoustic harmonica, vocals, etc.

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And it's been a journey.

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It didn't start like that.

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So it's been fun to, like,

get done playing the show and

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being like, There's room here.

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We can, we can fill something here.

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How do we do that?

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And going so far as to

like nerd out on ways.

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And I feel like you should take over on

this part, especially with the electric

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guitar, but like finding ways to do

something that we, we are not seeing other

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people do, and that doesn't mean that it's

not happening, but it's fun to believe

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in the pioneership, if that's a word of,

of what we're doing as a two piece band,

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Jason English (Host): Right.

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If someone was to ask, cause I, you know,

when you guys are coming to town, people

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are like, well, what kind of music is it?

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And I, I kind of struggled there.

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Describe it.

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Cause I don't know if there's a,

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Cousin Curtiss: Ha ha

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Jason English (Host): yeah, I don't know

if there's a good description, right?

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I was like, he's kind of rock.

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It's kind of country.

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I don't know.

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It's like jam country.

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I don't know.

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Cousin Curtiss: it used to be like

the tagline phrase was like blues

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at bluegrass speeds, and now it's

really, uh, gravitated towards

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more of like a rock Americana.

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High energy vibe.

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I don't know if, yeah, there's been

some other words that like people

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have, you know, taking creative

license with a bio that we send them

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and then they doctor it up some way

and it's like, Hey, that's not bad.

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That's a good way to put it.

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Um, yeah, yeah.

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It's been fun.

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Harrison B: fun.

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Yeah, I would say, you know, in

terms of standard words, rockin

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Americana, get thrown out there a lot.

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But ultimately, you know, everything

that either you or Curtiss or

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anyone else is using to describe it,

probably accurate, because it's so

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many different things kind of blended

up into a sound that, um, you know,

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depending on what song it is, it's what

influences we're actually chasing, so.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah, that's neat.

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So I mentioned the 38 singer

songwriter festival and you guys are

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playing a bunch of festivals, but

also back to Opelika, which is, uh,

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also a singer songwriter festival.

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Do you consider yourself

a singer songwriter?

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Cousin Curtiss: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I think it's, it's, I think it's, it might

be a little bit different in some people's

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eyes cause they might hear us and be

like, well, that's not singer songwriter,

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but it's like, well, we are singers

and we are songwriters by definition.

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So it is, it just might

be a little bit different.

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Um, and that's not, it's

neither good nor bad.

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It's just that we are doing that job.

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Um, So to speak, and it's just happens

to be in a very high energy and we kind

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of in your face way of like presence.

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Yeah.

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Harrison B: because

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Jason English (Host): Well, cause

I think most, you know, the, I love

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singer songwriters, but you know,

sometimes you want to go jump off a

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bridge, you know, after listening,

like for you guys, it is the opposite.

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I mean, I, I think the, the big thing

with you, uh, with you all, when we

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saw you, me and my friends saw you in

January, and I think I told you this

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when I saw you, there's so much joy.

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When, when, when you're performing,

I mean, it's actually like you exude

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it at the beginning, the middle

and the end, you know, and, and

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everyone can't help but feel joyful

when you, when they listen to you.

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So it's, it's kind of like the opposite

of, you know, traditional singer

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Harrison B: sing a song right now.

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Right on

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Cousin Curtiss: Yeah, well, thank you.

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Yeah.

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Appreciate

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Cousin Curtiss: Um, I think there's,

there's elements there where if you dig

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into the lyrics, uh, and if it were played

in a certain way, then, you know, you

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would have that, um, that internal look

of what you're listening to and where did

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the song come and the stories behind it.

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But I think for us, it's just

so much fun to just, uh, I

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don't know, go hard, I guess.

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guess.

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Yeah.

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You know,

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Jason English (Host): way I

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Cousin Curtiss: kind of see it, um,

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Harrison B: You can only get

so far with an acoustic guitar.

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And so at the core of it,

everything that we do on that stage,

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everything that we play could be

easily represented with just such.

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But kind of what we bring to the table is,

you know, more of a fleshing out of that.

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And with just two dudes, you know,

it's, it can fit into some of these

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festivals that otherwise a band

might not be able to come into.

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But we've got a footprint that

is consistent with a singer

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songwriter for the most part.

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So, uh, it just kind of seems to work.

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Yeah.

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Jason English (Host): That's really good.

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Where the joy comes from?

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It's genuine.

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It's, it's truly fun.

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Cousin Curtiss: no, there's

like, it's not faked.

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It's genuine.

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It's, it's truly fun.

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And at the beginning of every show,

like this is kind of like a peek into

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my brain, but like I'm looking around at

where we are and trying to take it in.

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Are we outside?

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Are we inside?

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Are there lights?

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Is there haze?

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Are people here?

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Are they not here?

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Does it matter?

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Who cares?

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And I'm trying to just enjoy the room and

it's, and that's, that's where I start.

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And then from there, the

rest of the night is gone.

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It's great because now we're

just, we're just playing music

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and we're doing what we love.

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Um, and yeah, some nights are harder,

some nights we're tired or whatever, but

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in that moment that, that is pure joy.

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And so it's fun to be able to share that.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah, no,

it's it completely comes across.

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So do you, do you all both write songs?

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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I think you mentioned before we

started, uh, started the show that

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you're working on a studio album.

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Is that, is that something where you're

both going to have songs that you've

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co written or each written separately?

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Or is it mostly Curtiss

or is mostly Harrison?

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Uh,

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Cousin Curtiss: hoping for

the best of both worlds.

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I feel like we both have backgrounds

that, um, started in something

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similar, but we've lived completely

different lives and playing to each

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other's strengths is really what we're

working towards and leaning on one

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another to be like, what do you think?

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And, and trusting one another and

having, you know, that safety net.

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Um, During the creative writing process,

because I like, I don't, I don't know

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before we started playing together,

um, what your background was with like

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co writing, but I did not have one.

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And so it's very scary and very vulnerable

to be like, I have an idea and it

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wouldn't be with just anybody where I'd

be like, I have a, I have a loose idea.

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What do you think of these things so far?

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I wouldn't even share that with like

my family or like, you know, dear

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friends from childhood, but we sit

down and I'm like, I got like 18 words.

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Cool.

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What do you think about the kid?

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Take a listen to this

ham fisted guitar part.

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What do you think?

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Harrison B: You know, it's,

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is?

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Defining what objectively that looks

like in terms of a co writing experience

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kind of moving forward really getting

it streamlined But what I think Curtiss

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is really really good at is just pumping

out cool songs and he's really good at

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you know, he's he's either hook laden and

He's very lyrically driven and oriented.

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So it's all gonna be together

kind of what I'm excited about

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is, you know, bringing in

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uh, uh,

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Repetition format Uh, the ability to

just give him a bird's eye perspective

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on some ideas he already has and help

chop it down into kind of digestible

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chunks that are single songs.

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And sometimes, uh, it just

takes a second set of eyes and

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ears to get the wrap around it.

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And that's kind of what I'm hoping

to bring to the table for the most

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part, man, because he's, he knows

exactly what he wants to hear.

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I think that's cool.

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So just help him in when I can.

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Jason English (Host): so you mentioned

you are spending every sleeping

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waking moment together does the

songwriting happen on the road?

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when you guys are driving along or do

you save that for a different time?

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Harrison B: It, yeah.

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For the most

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Cousin Curtiss: for the real

like getting down to it.

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Here's an idea.

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Let's flesh it out and see what happens.

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Yeah, on like the day to day

basis on the road, like constantly

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making notes and writing things.

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Some of it is probably trash

and some of it could be good.

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Harrison B: Don't judge, bud,

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Cousin Curtiss: I know.

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Harrison B: Um,

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Cousin Curtiss: So yeah, that's, there's

like every night so far last, I think

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like four or five nights I'm writing

something and then I don't look at it

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until there's enough time to look at it

with like fresh eyes to see what's there.

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Um, and, and, and go from there or

be like, no, this was at two o'clock

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in the morning and you don't remember

writing it, like throw it away.

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Yeah.

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Jason English (Host): Well, how

do you guys kill time on the road?

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What do you listen to?

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Harrison B: Well,

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Cousin Curtiss: Well, two different

questions, I think, there.

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Yeah.

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Jason English (Host): right.

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Well, yeah.

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All right.

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You can answer them separately.

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right.

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Cool.

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Um, time,

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Cousin Curtiss: Time killing time on

the road and I, well, we had a very

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unique experience today and it's going

to timestamp today, but we like to golf.

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Yeah.

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And there's other things

that we enjoy doing.

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Um, you know, uh, enjoying the local

foods or wherever we're at trying

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to find downtime and quiet spaces,

but yeah, golf's a great time.

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Um, cause you can make it wherever you

want to make it and, uh, Today it was

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great to be able to go out and just

shoot a good scratch round of golf

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at, uh, Atlanta National Golf Club.

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Um, and, uh, you know, get pretty

close to the course record.

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That was nice.

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Jason English (Host): The rumor has

it someone chipped in on 18 for a par.

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Harrison B: part, you know, for for

one of the scarcest parts of the day.

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But yeah, you did.

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I'm gonna take that.

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My man, it happened.

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It happened.

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Cousin Curtiss: they CCTV.

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I

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Harrison B: Oh, I hope they do.

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Cousin Curtiss: now.

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Jason English (Host): Do you guys?

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I think one, you know, there was

a, I was part of the foursome.

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I think one guy actually

had a birdie today.

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Do you guys remember who that

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Cousin Curtiss: There was, yeah, there was

a, yeah, yeah, there was a birdie today.

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Jason English (Host): Not to, you

know, not to, not to rub it in,

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Cousin Curtiss: no.

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Jason English (Host): fine.

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Harrison B: I did.

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Jason English (Host): Um, no, but like,

who do you all listen to, uh, on the road?

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Do you listen to music?

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Cousin Curtiss: We do occasionally,

but for the most part, it's silence.

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Jason English (Host): really?

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Yeah.

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Cousin Curtiss: yeah, and that's, and that

is, I don't know, shockingly comfortable,

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and, and sometimes weirds people out,

um, but it's great for us because

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there's usually a lot of noise that's

always surrounding what we're doing.

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Um, there's some sort

of stimulus that's, uh,

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Harrison B: van and

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Cousin Curtiss: So then we get in

the van and we drive and, I mean, we

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had a five and a half hour drive from

where we were in Florida to get to

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Atlanta and the radio never came on

until like maybe the last 15 minutes

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Jason English (Host): alright.

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Oh,

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Cousin Curtiss: it was like a

funny song that was stuck in our

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heads that we couldn't get out.

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So it was like, all right, no, we

have to play Rich Girl by Hall Oates.

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We just have to do this right now.

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Jason English (Host): that's good.

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Yeah.

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That's good.

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Uh, what are you guys thinking

about then when it's silent?

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Because that would drive me crazy.

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Yeah.

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Cousin Curtiss: Man, I don't, I mean,

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a

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lot.

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Yeah, like it's,

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Harrison B: think about anything

sometimes, you know, on purpose.

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Yeah,

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Cousin Curtiss: Keeping it between

the mayo and the mustard and

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just driving a straight line.

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And, and sometimes it's thoughts about it.

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Like, okay, well, you know, the, in my,

my mind is like logistically where we're

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going, what time do we have to be there

loading in, like getting the details

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oriented, advancing the next few shows.

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And then, you know, it's, you

know, random things, you know,

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Jason English (Host): It's hard

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Cousin Curtiss: It's hard to explain.

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I don't know.

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I feel like I'm giving a terrible answer.

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Yeah.

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We'll

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Harrison B: Yeah, like we'll,

we'll go through all that email

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stuff, kind of at interval

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Jason English (Host): So if I

could talk or ask you about kind

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of your backgrounds individually.

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So you live in Montrose, Colorado.

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Is that right?

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Harrison B: live in Montrose now.

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Yeah.

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Jason English (Host): Are

you from Colorado originally?

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Michigan.

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Okay.

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How long have

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Cousin Curtiss: been in Colorado?

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Okay.

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Jason English (Host): took you out there?

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Long story short.

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Cousin Curtiss: so long story short,

left Alaska, traveled around the

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country for a year, playing music

full time to see if I could do it.

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Ended up in Denver, Colorado.

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Wasn't a huge fan of that.

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Went on a tour out to California

and back playing shows and ended up

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passing through Telluride, Colorado.

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Harrison B: And, uh,

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Cousin Curtiss: Played a show where

there wasn't a lot of people there,

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but the ones that were there were very

helpful And in a spot where they could

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offer up a residency playing music at

Telluride ski resort So no, it was great.

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Yeah.

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I was terrible at bargaining.

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And so when they were like,

Hey, do you want to play music

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here during the wintertime?

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We've got two different venues, one's

on the mountain, one's down here.

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And I was like, Oh

yeah, that sounds great.

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Um, can I have a ski pass?

450

Like, I just

451

and they were like, Well, you

452

And they were like, Yeah.

453

And they were like, well, you

got to ride the chairlift up

454

to get to one of the venues.

455

So yeah, you're going to need a pass.

456

And I was like, I'm in.

457

So at that point in time, I'd, I'd had

that, that current winter coming up

458

was already booked out on the road.

459

Um, and, uh, so then afterwards I

came back and I played there for

460

four, um, winters and it was, you

know, 18 to 20 weeks straight,

461

uh, five to seven shows a week.

462

Um, And it was, it was

a cutting teeth moment.

463

Yeah.

464

It was one of those spots.

465

Jason English (Host): spots.

466

How early were, or how young were you

when, uh, you, you got into music?

467

Cousin Curtiss: Oh,

468

14

469

14 roughly.

470

I can't remember if I was 13 or 14,

but my parents took me to a music

471

festival in Marquette, Michigan

called Hiawatha music festival.

472

And, uh, they were super cool like that.

473

And I just fell in love with the late

night scene where, you know, in a kid's

474

eyes, imagine looking at a bonfire and.

475

There's complete strangers around it,

like let's say 15 folks or so, and

476

they're all playing the same song.

477

None of them hardly know anybody,

um, that they're playing the song

478

with, but they're all doing it.

479

And I just saw that and I was like, I

want in, I want to know how to do this.

480

Like I, even from that age,

I knew I wanted to travel.

481

I wanted to get around and, and

just see the world Then that seemed

482

like a pretty sweet way to like a

G chord to G chord, wherever you're

483

going, you know, go from there.

484

So I picked up the guitar, learned, um,

you know, a little bit there, put it back

485

down cause I was young and I wanted to

play football and all that kind of stuff.

486

And then picked it up about a year later

and haven't put it down since then.

487

Yeah, for sure.

488

There's probably like, yeah.

489

Harrison B: oh man,

490

Cousin Curtiss: Probably two

main, like, eras of doing that.

491

And one would have been in

college, and the other one

492

would have been in Telluride.

493

Um, playing that much,

and not having a choice.

494

Like, you don't get to play

30 minutes, it was four hours.

495

And that was like, Again, like

some days that we are some

496

weeks that was five days a week.

497

Um, and you know, if you were lucky

other days, it was three days a

498

Jason English (Host): a week.

499

And sometimes

500

Cousin Curtiss: you'd have

to fill in for somebody else.

501

And it was just like, okay, cool.

502

What do I do now?

503

Or do I just get really

hyper focused on it?

504

errorless playing

505

I've played this song a thousand times.

506

How do I do it without making

any mistakes whatsoever?

507

And then once you do that, all right,

now how do I make spontaneity fit in and

508

just continuing to try to stay engaged?

509

Um, but yeah, yeah, definitely.

510

That was, that was a good

spot to, to hone the craft.

511

Jason English (Host):

Yeah, that's awesome.

512

Um,

513

So

514

so being in Colorado and I'm sure you

have aspirations to take your talent

515

and your music to the next level.

516

To as many people that want

to hear it as possible, right?

517

Does being in Colorado, especially

like not just Denver, which is kind of

518

not isolated, but it's in the middle

of nowhere, you know, with Kansas

519

and Nebraska and Wyoming all around,

but Montrose is even more remote.

520

how have you thought through

that in terms of your career?

521

You know, do you think you'll be able to

do what you want to do based in Montrose?

522

Have you, or have you thought

about, you know, going to

523

Nashville or Austin or whatever?

524

Cousin Curtiss: I don't think I have at

this point in time, any desire to move.

525

I think there's some core principles.

526

core tenets of my happiness and

that's my home life and road life.

527

And I enjoy traveling.

528

I genuinely do.

529

And it's a lot, and there's a lot

of stressors that go along with

530

it, but I like being in Montrose.

531

Airports make it a little bit

easier to travel around if

532

we need to fly in, fly out.

533

Driving, you just kind of, you

get into that mind frame of like,

534

Okay, well, it's going to be a two

day drive before the tour starts.

535

Um, or you keep things local and you're

like, Well, we're going to hit Colorado

536

hard and then we're going to go to Utah.

537

And now our, our driving

radius is, 500 miles or less.

538

Um, there is sometimes like a little

bit of envy when I, like I'm following

539

bands on Instagram or whatever,

and I'm seeing their tour schedule

540

and they're based out of spots like

Atlanta, Nashville, like some of these

541

hubs where they can drive two hours.

542

Um, and they're never going to

oversaturate a market ever because

543

there's that many people, there's

that many towns and that many venues.

544

Yeah.

545

So there's, there's certainly.

546

certainly

547

situation with being in those areas.

548

con situation

549

Um, but yeah, I, I like my desert.

550

I like my mountains.

551

I like, yeah, my town.

552

It's, yeah, it's cool.

553

So

554

Jason English (Host): like,

I like, I like the mountains.

555

I like, yeah.

556

the most amazing In the country.

557

Right.

558

And then obviously the, I think Colorado

559

isn't, uh, okay.

560

Cousin Curtiss: You're doing great man.

561

You're doing great.

562

Harrison B: y'all didn't see was,

for the first half of this interview,

563

I've had a cat named Roxy in my lap.

564

She is, uh, she's the forbidden friend.

565

Uh, I love her so much,

but I'm very allergic.

566

So, I've been sneezing for

the last five minutes, folks.

567

But we're back, we're back in action.

568

Jason English (Host): Roxy.

569

All right.

570

All right.

571

Good, good segue.

572

No, but Colorado, the thing that people

don't understand about Colorado is

573

Colorado is Colorado in the summer.

574

Yeah.

575

Right.

576

I mean, sure, skiing's

great, but I don't know.

577

You can't beat it in the summer.

578

Cousin Curtiss: can't

beat it in the summer.

579

So, uh, now I want to ask

Harrison about your background.

580

I've talked to

581

Jason English (Host): no, that's good.

582

Well, so, uh, then I'll, I want

to ask about Harrison, about your

583

background, but, um, you know, I've

talked to a few singer songwriters

584

in the last few months, they all,

585

all, but they all tend to have something,

whether it's their childhood, something

586

that happened when they were adult

heartbreak, grief, you know, uh,

587

addiction, whatever that really has sort

of been their turning point in their life.

588

That's really inspired their music.

589

Hey.

590

Do you have something like that, you know,

with, like, that's part of your story?

591

Or is it just about the joy of music

and songwriting and performing?

592

Cousin Curtiss: Yeah.

593

Um, I mean, it's, it's all those things.

594

Um, and it's over

different periods of life.

595

And, uh, I think one of the biggest

turning points for me was leaving.

596

A teaching career,

597

to

598

be a full time musician.

599

And that was, that was eye opening.

600

And I was like, okay, cool.

601

Well, now you're living your dreams

and you're doing this, but like, how,

602

like, what are you going to write about?

603

And then it was being on the road and.

604

Knowing that there was a greener pasture

quote unquote to like go back to to go

605

back to teaching I could always do that.

606

I like got my license I could do that

but purposefully not because this

607

thing felt more important It felt

more impactful um, and it was so hard

608

do that.

609

Yeah.

610

So there's.

611

Harrison B: that

612

Cousin Curtiss: yeah, so there's some of

the earlier songs are definitely about

613

that of like that constant struggle And

then everywhere and in between of those

614

things Those, um, you know, categories

of songwriting that you listed there

615

from, uh, you know, it's just all

616

Jason English (Host): that.

617

All of it's in there, yeah.

618

Well, that's a big, I mean, that's

a big deal for you to, to kind of

619

leave something that's safe behind,

620

Cousin Curtiss: right?

621

Yeah.

622

Like

623

Jason English (Host): A regular

paycheck, you know, all, all the, the

624

consistency of life, you know, for you

to, like, pursue what, what you want to

625

Cousin Curtiss: everything and just

going and trying and seeing what happened

626

and like, uh, yeah, like my friends and

family thought I was crazy and it took

627

them a little while, understandably

so to be like, what are you doing?

628

When are you going back to teaching?

629

Like, this is a joke, that kind of thing.

630

And, and there was, you know, little by

little there was more support and love and

631

encouragement and I'm so very thankful.

632

Jason English (Host): What did you teach?

633

Cousin Curtiss: Middle school,

high school, English language arts.

634

Jason English (Host): Oh, I

bet you were a good teacher.

635

Cousin Curtiss: Well, I

was, yeah, it was fun.

636

Yeah.

637

I had a good time.

638

I'd like to think I was an all

right teacher, but I think I was a

639

bit more stern and strict than life

640

Jason English (Host): So was that in

Alaska or did you teach in Colorado?

641

Harrison B: No,

642

Cousin Curtiss: Taught in Alaska.

643

Jason English (Host): Nice.

644

All

645

Cousin Curtiss: Yeah.

646

Jason English (Host): All right.

647

So Harrison, did you grow up in Seattle?

648

Harrison B: I grew up in

Murfeesboro, Tennessee.

649

Oh, yeah.

650

Last cast is to be very specific.

651

Okay.

652

Yeah.

653

Cousin Curtiss: That's

654

Jason English (Host): Is that

East Tennessee or is that West

655

Harrison B: Dead center middle.

656

Jason English (Host): Alright.

657

Are you a Vols fan?

658

Harrison B: Oh, at this point, no, I

mean, if I see him on the TV, I'm not

659

rooting against him, you know, but I

don't wear the paraphernalia and I don't

660

really attest to watching every week,

661

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

662

Harrison B: wish him well.

663

Jason English (Host): How

soon did you get into music?

664

How early?

665

Harrison B: Um, You know, from a

serious perspective, kind of chasing

666

down what we do now, not till later

in life, not till I was kind of

667

getting towards the end of college.

668

Um, I was in chorus from the time

I remember leading singing when I

669

was real little, that sort of thing.

670

But, you know, playing guitar

and singing, writing songs,

671

Jason English (Host): playing guitar

672

Harrison B: somewhere in

673

Jason English (Host): and writing songs.

674

It worked in some way.

675

Um, a little bit less so.

676

Played baseball

677

Harrison B: So, um, played baseball

through college, got done with that

678

and, uh, had a degree in marketing

and management knew I didn't

679

want to go straight into that.

680

Although I flirted with it for a

little bit, went to Alaska was a

681

zip line tour guide for six months.

682

Um, around that time I'd started

playing like singer songwriter style

683

stuff in Nashville in particular.

684

So I was doing like the country scene.

685

Um, just didn't feel like it was a real

good fit was going around doing all

686

the rounds, all that sort of thing.

687

Uh, knew I was wanting to do

something a little different.

688

So moved to Alaska, quit playing for

about six months, picked it back up

689

there towards the end and kind of had

discovered things about maybe the South

690

and Tennessee and all those sounds that

I liked and, uh, maybe some of the things

691

I wanted to do a little differently.

692

Um, that space was the first time I kind

of got out of that environment from where

693

you hear country and the gas station

and the grocery store and everywhere.

694

That's it.

695

That's it.

696

So, you know, just gave me a

little bit of a chance to see

697

what I was really in it for.

698

So,

699

Jason English (Host): Okay.

700

Well, when you were in the

other room, sneezing your head

701

Harrison B: off I don't know

what you're talking about, dude.

702

I handled it like a pro.

703

Jason English (Host): the

704

Cousin Curtiss: gonna we're

gonna cut through we can keep

705

it we can cut it we can do

706

Harrison B: it.

707

We can do

708

Jason English (Host): no, it's all good.

709

I asked, I asked Curtiss about,

you know, has he thought through

710

just the reality of being based.

711

In a remote part of Colorado, right?

712

As it relates to the career and

aspirations and exposure, right?

713

So you've You've actually been, you've

done the Nashville thing, right?

714

You know what that is, and you're, you

live in Seattle, which it's not that

715

remote, but it's, you know, it's, it's

not known as music city other than,

716

you know, grunge rock from the 90s.

717

But do you, do you see that as a,

like, what's your perspective on that?

718

Having been in Nashville and now live

in Seattle, do you think it matters?

719

Harrison B: Like what your hometown is?

720

Jason English (Host): Well, not with

the hometown, but, uh, just from terms

721

of, you know, Growing your visibility,

growing your presence, and getting more

722

ears and eyes on your art, you know?

723

Harrison B: well Yes, and no and it

kind of depends on where you're at.

724

I feel like Kind of at our juncture

like where we're talking to you today

725

in this game where we live isn't

as Much of consequence because the

726

majority of our exposure, visibility

and touring are done on the road.

727

So home is home, which

could be anywhere for me.

728

The reason, I mean, when I was local

in Seattle, I enjoyed, there's a deep

729

scene, they're still alive very much.

730

So KEXP is one of the largest independent

stations, you know, just shout out them.

731

Um, but beyond that, even

like there's a great airport

732

there and we can go anywhere.

733

And when we're touring the country at

this point, pretty legitimately, you know,

734

That's just factual what's happening.

735

So it's like, as long as we can fly

somewhere that makes sense, as long as

736

you can get into Denver, get in the van,

that sort of thing, if we're on the West,

737

you know, we could live where we need to,

you know, kind of be wherever you want,

738

Right.

739

that's kind of what it

feels like at this point.

740

Um, there definitely is some credence

to, you know, if you, if you're

741

trying to just get your feet on the

ground and make some connections,

742

that sort of thing, Nashville is a big

743

a big deal for you.

744

Um,

745

You know, with those increased

numbers come, uh, more of a wave of

746

talent you need to fight through.

747

Um, and, uh, you just got to remain

authentic through that whole deal.

748

Um, I think would be the key there.

749

But other than that, once you, you know,

kind of established your tour and you're

750

doing your thing, home should be home.

751

And when you're there, you shouldn't be

worried about seeing eyeballs, I think.

752

But that's just my take,

753

Jason English (Host): It goes back to

754

Cousin Curtiss: goes back to

what I was saying about Montrose.

755

It's like, it is what it

is and it's where it's at.

756

And I love it.

757

So it's, it's go home and it's like,

that's that, that big deep breath sigh.

758

Now I'm home.

759

I'm not this.

760

Like there is a clear distinction

between, you know, always being

761

on when you're on the road.

762

And when you go home, you're

like, no, I just get to exist.

763

I just get to be me.

764

Harrison B: Yeah.

765

Jason English (Host): that's great.

766

All right.

767

Um, so just a couple more questions.

768

Uh, I want to talk about one of the songs.

769

So one of my favorites is Little Change.

770

Was that written in a period of, you know,

talking about the change of the career?

771

What, what, what inspired that song?

772

Cousin Curtiss: inspired that song?

773

Realizing that playing shows that don't

make you happy, um, should not be a thing

774

there's, you know, you can't just cut

everything and play shows that make you

775

happy and then forget you got to still

pay bills, but there's a mental shift,

776

a paradigm shift, um, that happened when

that song came out to where I said no

777

to one thing that I knew could be safe

forever and it wasn't the teaching career.

778

It was just like a consistency, um,

that, you know, it was always going to be

779

there and it wasn't what the end result.

780

It wasn't what I wanted.

781

So it was like, cool.

782

Then scrub it.

783

Cut it out with scissors.

784

It's done.

785

Move on.

786

And see what happens next.

787

And that was a very scary leap.

788

And that song is based on that.

789

I

790

Jason English (Host): love it.

791

I've seen a performance of that

when it was you and someone

792

else from a few years ago

793

Cousin Curtiss: Sure.

794

Yeah,

795

Jason English (Host): what happens

796

Cousin Curtiss: sky bonus tracks.

797

You guys

798

Jason English (Host): You know, it's

799

very scary.

800

So, you know, one of my friends bought

one of your CDs, like it was like a

801

live CD in Florida and he, you know,

he, he's listened to it and he's like,

802

is it, was it the guy that we saw him?

803

It was at the two guys we saw in Florida.

804

And I'm like, I don't think so.

805

And then I sent him that video

and he's like, it's, that

806

sounds way better now, you

807

Cousin Curtiss: It's different.

808

Yeah.

809

Jason English (Host): Even

that song, it's different,

810

Cousin Curtiss: Yeah.

811

Jason English (Host): Seriously.

812

I'm not trying to, I'm not

trying to like, you know,

813

Harrison B: was a

814

Cousin Curtiss: was a fun video shoot.

815

Yeah.

816

It was wild.

817

Big, the folks that run big

sky bonus track shout out like

818

they, they do a great job.

819

They run a tight ship, but yeah, we

were on the inside of a barn, like

820

next to a highway behind a bar.

821

And they, they, they were

like, all right, cool.

822

This is the plan.

823

We're like, sick.

824

We're in, we'd been on the road

for a couple of weeks and we

825

had covered some serious ground.

826

And then we got there

and yeah, it was a trip.

827

Jason English (Host): Oh, that's good.

828

That's good.

829

What do you, uh, so after the

tour, what do you guys have planned

830

for the rest of 2024 in terms of

releases and things like that?

831

Cousin Curtiss: in terms of releases,

um, that's going to be a TB, a TBD.

832

Yeah.

833

It's one of those things where

like we're on the road right now.

834

So it's hard to think about getting

back into the studio and, um, you

835

know, hammering down on some new tunes.

836

Cause we like touring.

837

That's, that's what we do.

838

That's what we're good at.

839

And so we do that and we schedule

like we were getting phone calls

840

today about exciting opportunities

happening in the coming months.

841

And our summer is absolutely jam packed.

842

So we're looking at it now as Like

these are the exciting things this

843

summer is like striking while the

iron is hot Opening up and supporting

844

for other bands headlining things on

our own that you know We've either

845

done in the past or it's new to us.

846

We're really riding that wave and

enjoying every moment of it Um, and

847

then we'll figure out a time to get

back in the studio The material is there

848

Jason English (Host): Oh, yeah

849

Cousin Curtiss: continue coming.

850

Um, and so we just need

Dedicated time to hammer it out.

851

But for now, we're having

a blast with what we're

852

Jason English (Host): time to do that.

853

No, that's good.

854

Alright.

855

Well, question for each of

856

Cousin Curtiss: today?

857

Most curious about today,

like in life, like,

858

Jason English (Host): where,

yeah, in life, yeah, yeah.

859

Cousin Curtiss: You

got a hot take on that?

860

I think I

861

Harrison B: I do I think it's

uh You I'm curious what Pete

862

Dye, you know, who hurt him?

863

Jason English (Host): that.

864

Okay.

865

Harrison B: curious who hurt Pete

Dye to make him stick bunkers on

866

the sides of 40 foot vertical grass

walls and then another one halfway

867

up the thing as well, you know?

868

So I'd love to ask him that.

869

I'm curious.

870

Who hurt Pete Dye?

871

Cousin Curtiss: beat, Doc.

872

We're gonna bring that to the

people, um, and get it out there.

873

We need an answer ASAP, just

so we can understand it.

874

What am I curious about, you know?

875

Jason English (Host): Uh,

876

Cousin Curtiss: I guess it's, uh

877

Jason English (Host): lot of lip syncing.

878

Cousin Curtiss: the van doing?

879

Uh,

880

Harrison B: I

881

Cousin Curtiss: mean, there's a

lot of like simple curiosities.

882

Like, uh, yeah.

883

Jason English (Host): just life.

884

Getting through the,

getting through the day.

885

Cousin Curtiss: Yeah, can I

go to space at some point?

886

I have a really nice NASA shirt.

887

I've been wearing it a lot.

888

Um, you know.

889

There's some other things, but yeah, those

are probably two that are on the top.

890

Harrison B: my list.

891

Curtiss,

892

Jason English (Host): can I just

tell you, as a former teacher,

893

as a former teacher, I would have

expected, I would have expected more,

894

Cousin Curtiss: I know just,

just dropping the ball on the hot

895

take with the curious curiosity.

896

Yeah.

897

I mean, no, I don't know

what I would say otherwise.

898

Yeah.

899

Jason English (Host): All right.

900

Well, I, I enjoyed spending

the day with you today

901

Cousin Curtiss: Hey

902

Harrison B: spending the day with you,

903

Jason English (Host): and, uh,

thanks for being here and thanks

904

for, uh, thanks for your time.

905

I, uh, I would love if you

guys played some music for us.

906

Harrison B: Heck yeah,

907

Cousin Curtiss: we're

stoked to play for you.

908

Thanks for everything.

909

Jason English (Host): Bye.

910

Harrison B: you, bud.

911

Jason English (Host): Thanks so

much for joining us for another

912

episode of Curious Goldfish.

913

Please follow and subscribe to

the podcast and on social media.

914

Also tell your music loving

friends about us too.

915

Until next time, stay curious.