Titus writes:
I’m sure that all of you statisticians out there
will remember that on 14 April this year, I wrote about Country Music
and specifically about Laura Cantrell. Well, I’ve covered many genres
before & since, but this blog returns to Country Music now, and I’m
greatly enthusiastic about a new band called The Castellows, who I
have been listening to a great deal this week. As I said in the
Spring, Country Music has really encountered a twenty first century
upsurge, yet has always been true to its roots, and none more so than
with The Castellows. The membership is made up of Eleanor and Powell
Balkom, who are two of triplets, and younger sister Lily.
Interestingly, Powell plays banjo, which has always been a feature of
Country Music. They originate from Georgetown, Quitman County,
Georgia, and grew up on a cattle farm. However, since signing a record
deal with Warner Brothers and Warner Music collectively, they decided
to move to Nashville around a year ago.
How
do you come up with a band name like The Castellows? Well, not a lot
of people know that Castellow was the sisters’ great grandmother’s
maiden name. The surname came to Ireland, and specifically County Mayo
via the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1172. As I’m sure you know, Ireland
experienced a dramatic decrease in its population during the nineteenth
century, with many problems such as famine and disease. Many Irish
folk emigrated to North America, with a promise of work & freedom,
and this Castellow family followed this trend. The Castellow motto was
‘Ne te quaesiviris extra’ meaning ‘Seek nothing beyond your sphere’ –
I’m sure most of us will not have come across that motto before!
The
Castellows released their first EP in February 2024 and called it ’A
little goes a long way’. This record was released on CD, streaming and
digital download. The track ‘I know it will never end’ was nominated
for Country Music Television’s digital-first performance of the year at
the CMT Music Awards. Prior to that, after posting cover songs to
their Instagram and Tik Tok accounts, they released their debut single
‘No. 7 Road’ which, along with five other tunes on the EP was penned
by the sisters. Ironically, the one tune that the band recorded as a
cover version (‘Hurricane’) was the most successful single released
from the EP. Going back even further, the trio had never considered a
career in music, but decided to give it a go following considerable
interest from the music media and industry.
I
think you’ll find that The Castellows music is traditional but modern,
and when on tour they employ various touring session musicians such as
Justin Maynard on backing fiddle and guitar,.. The common thread
(apart from their DNA) is their three part harmonies which IMO tend to
blend, in order to create one voice, if that doesn’t sound too crazy!
The band are currently touring their own country, and next year will
venture further afield into Canada, Panama, Berlin, London, Rotterdam
& Belfast amongst other places. Being a new group, they haven’t
yet made an album, but on the previously mentioned EP, there are as
many as seven tracks, and the one that I have requested Lex to play
this week is a live version of ‘No. 7 Road’, recorded via Red Bull
Jukebox, Nashville. This can be found here.