THE CASTELLOWS

By R.CALIGARIS

Sisters Ellie, Powell and Lily Balkcom of the band, The Castellows, have made their talents known across social media by delivering their own take on covers of popular songs. They will be performing at the Columbus Botanical Garden Gala on September 14th.

The Castellows are the guest performers at this year's Columbus botanical Gala. The trio hails from a small town on the border of Alabama known as Georgetown, GA. They’ve proudly embraced their family name “Castellow,” which stems from their great-grandmother’s maiden name. They spoke to SVM about their musical upbringing, and how being from Georgetown, Georgia, shaped the music they create.

The Castellows are the guest performers at this year’s Columbus Botanical Garden Gala. What can you tell us about your musical upbringing? Ellie: My grandmother taught me how to play piano when I was 8 years old which started my musical interest. Every Sunday we lead worship at our church and we grew up singing as a family. We had a lot of musical upbringing as kids because most of our family members are singers and taught us a lot.

You started singing and writing songs at an early age, but when did you first realize you wanted to make it your career? The moment we wanted to make music into our career was when we played our original songs at the Georgia Theatre and saw how much they resonated with the fans. We always said no one makes it, why would we be the ones to make it? But that moment was our realization that it is possible.

Do you think being sisters gives you a special intuition as musicians? Yes, since we know each other so well we know which parts each one is strongest with and can work together to make our sound as strong as possible.

What best describes your sound to others? Secondly, as songwriters, where do you find your inspirations? We would describe our sound as Southern Gothic and Southern Rock meets Americana Nashville.

How do you balance your life between being a music artist, and spending time with family and friends? We put family first so we block out time in our calendar to prioritize family and not book anything music related during that time. Then, since we’re living in Nashville together, we can focus on being artists and songwriters while advancing our careers.

Being from Georgetown, Georgia, how have your roots shaped the music you create? We were always listening to country radio growing up before we ever had streaming platforms. This is where we got our taste in music and that has shaped our songwriting and sound today.

Finish this sentence: The best thing about living in the South is: Experiencing the freedom of living in a smaller town with people you know and trust because you have grown up with them your whole lives.