CNBC may not have known it, but last week, the financial news network ran one of the greatest Phish shows in recent memory.

The band itself was nowhere to be seen. But Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Company and an occasional commentator on CNBC, gave fans of the jam band Phish a thrill when he appeared on “The Kudlow Report” on Jan. 24 to discuss the effect that global inflation might have on the American economy.

Mr. Greenhaus has become a folk hero among fans of the band for slyly working in references to its music during his media appearances. And that one was a standout performance.

In seven minutes, Mr. Greenhaus ticked off references to Phish songs like “Backwards Down the Number Line,” “Fast Enough for You” and “Free,” each fitting enough to the conversation to glide right over the head of Mr. Kudlow. For example, Mr. Greenhaus characterized inflation as “going backwards down the number line for the better part of two years now.”

Reached in his office on Thursday morning, Mr. Greenhaus, who has seen more than 80 Phish concerts since 1995, said the references were just his natural way of speaking. Since 2009, he has surreptitiously quoted Phish on Bloomberg Radio, Fox Business Network and CNBC. “It’s second nature to a large degree,” he said. “It’s just part of my vernacular.”

But that does not mean it is not premeditated. Moments before appearing on CNBC, Mr. Greenhaus posted a thread on Phantasy Tour, an online forum for jam band fans where he is a regular, titled “Put on CNBC Now.”

CNBC declined to comment.

Thinly veiled musical references among the financial set are hardly unheard-of. Just one day after Mr. Greenhaus’s CNBC appearance, Bernie McSherry of Cuttone & Company wrote a 500-word note about recent stock market gains titled “Is She Buying the Stairway to Heaven?”