Goose guitarists/vocalists Rick Mitarotonda and Pete Anspach broke out their acoustic guitars when they sat down to talk songwriting with Phish lyricist Tom Marshall and his Osiris Media co-founder RJ Bee on Thursday night. Roughly 100 people gathered in The Bell House, an intimate venue tucked between Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens and Park Slope neighborhoods, for the Brooklyn Podcast Festival event. Following a brief introduction by Marshall and Bee, the four began to discuss various elements of songwriting. Throughout the evening, an extremely impressed Tom Marshall questioned the duo about the approach, methodology, and inspiration behind their songwriting.

Related: Goose Plays Surprise Tuesday Night Set At Dead & Company’s Playing In The Sand

Marshall began by dissecting the lyrics and interesting song structure from the 2016 Moon Cabin track, “Arcadia”, which contains some of Mitarotonda’s most heartfelt lyrics (“I stumble every time you do it/Ain’t never gonna get used to it/Hanging on a garden rose/Untamed, the way that my love grows/Oh lord I didn’t see it coming/Arcadia’s got me running/Just trying not to lose my breath/’Cause hell I’m gonna take that step”). Following a brief conversation about the song, Mitarotonda, and Anspach—along with their longtime friend Jeffrey Arevalo on the upright bass—launched into a cerebral acoustic rendition of the track. Watch a clip from the performance below.

Goose – “Arcadia”

The next topic of discussion was the Anspach-penned “Time To Flee”. Marshall likened it to Phish’s “Stash”. Both are songs about failing relationships, but even more important to Tom, both are poems that are made whole by the music behind them. They continued to discuss the songwriting process, how Anspach found his way to Goose, and what the addition of Anspach meant for the group’s sound. After highlighting their ability to harmonize, both vocally and on guitar, Marshall took a crack at singing lead vocals on a cover of Phish’s “Brian and Robert”. Mitarotonda and Anspach strummed their six-strings and provided vocal harmonizations on the Phish ballad. Watch a clip from the performance below:

Goose w/ Tom Marshall – “Brian and Robert”

More conversations followed in between performances of Goose’s “A Western Sun” and “Jive II” before a Q&A from the audience. Here, the duo took an opportunity to highlight how important their home state of Connecticut was in their growth. Finally, at the request of Marshall, they ended the show with a cover of Phish’s “Birds of a Feather”. Watch a fan-shot video of the song below.

Goose – “Birds of a Feather” [Phish cover]

[Video: Kel Kws]

Head to Osiris Media’s website to listen to the podcast when it becomes available.

Click here for a full list of upcoming Goose tour dates.


On March 21st at Brooklyn Comes Alive at Brooklyn, NY’s Avant Gardner, members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Goose will join forces for a special, collaborative set billed as Birds of a Feather for the first time ever.

Birds of a Feather will feature Goose’s Rick MitarotondaPeter Anspach, and Trevor Weekz alongside PPPP’s Jeremy Schon and Alex “Gator” Petropulos.

Other exciting artists and collaborations set to take the stage at Brooklyn Comes Alive include Oteil Burbridge & Friends with Jeff ChimentiEric KrasnoJason CrosbyScott MetzgerJohn KimockAlfreda GeraldLamar Williams Jr.Weedie BraimahEric “Benny” BloomRyan Zoidis, and Tom GuaranaTurkuaz with special guests Cory HenryRobert Sput Searight, and Nate WerthThe Motet with Shira Elias, Nate Werth, and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer; and more. Check out the full lineup below.

GA and VIP tickets are now available via the Brooklyn Comes Alive website.