Family Harmony: The Castellows on Their Rise in Country Music and Staying True to Their Roots

People will always tell you to be careful when working with your family since it strains relationships.  Powell, Lily & Ellie Balkcom, known as The Castellows, prove that working with family can be very rewarding and fun.  They started making waves on social media in 2023, garnering views and gaining momentum. Their debut EP, “A Little Goes A Long Way,” was released worldwide on February 9, 2024.  They recently moved from their family farm in Georgia to Nashville and have a vibrant tour schedule.  Yet another career milestone, they made their Grand Ole Opry debut on August 20th.

Q: What did your big break look like into the music industry and what has the journey been like so far?

Ellie: I was in the deer stand with one of my friends and he said that we should start posting our stuff on social media.

Powell: We’re so thankful. I was talking to the girls the other day, thinking we all had different career paths and never thought we’d be doing this. We feel thankful and blessed to be here even though it’s not what we thought or had intended for our lives. 

Q: What were your career paths going to be if you hadn’t gone down the music path? 

Ellie: I studied management information systems and international business in college. 

Lily: I got my pilot’s license when I was 17 and just wanted to fly planes.

Powell: I studied agriculture in college and have a family farm back home. 

Q: Did you grow up playing music?

Powell: We grew up singing and playing in church.

Lily: Our grandmother is the musical one in the family.

Powell: She has been leading worship in her church ever since she was 15, and she still is.

Q: What do you each like to do for fun?

Ellie: I like to read a lot. I just finished Sense and Sensibility. I have already read Pride and Prejudice, but I aim to read all of Jane Austen’s books by the end of the year.

Lily: I’m a big movie watcher, the best movie ever is Smokey & The Bandit.  I watched Twilight last night. 

Q: You are experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity, what are your career goals?

Ellie: We did our first headlining tour this spring. Our goals are to keep consistently writing songs and getting better as singers and players. We play on all our records. We want to play bigger shows, write better, and play for more people.

Q: Who would you want to either tour with or open for? 

Lily: It’d be cool to open for The Chicks. That’d be fun. I’ve heard they put on a great show. Chris Stapleton or Dirks Bentley would be fun. 

Ellie: The little amount of traveling we’ve done for being touring musicians. We’ve come to realize the country is countrywide.  There are country people everywhere! And it’s super cool to go to some random place you’ve never met before and be like, these are my people!

Q: Do you look at yourselves as role models? 

Ellie: Absolutely. Anyone with a platform should look at themselves as a role model whether they want to be one or not. We take that very seriously. We want to be role models for young girls. 

Powell: And our faith is important to us. Like, we want to be good role models of our faith. It’s encouraging when we play shows and there’s sisters in the crowd. They’re encouraged by us, working together and playing together. So it’s just really important for us.

Lily: Or mothers who have daughters. They want their daughters to be encouraged by us. I think that is super sweet. 

Powell: It is very humbling. It motivates you to want to do better and be better and grow our relationship as sisters. There’s something to that. We need to be held to a high standard, even though our platform is not huge.

Visit the website thecastellowsmusic.com to see their tour schedule, hear their music, and learn more about them. 

This article was originally written for the Fall 2024 Issue of Modern Cowboy Magazine. Catch more stories from this issue below!