Neo-Traditional Country music trio, The Castellows, are bringing a literal meaning to the phrase, “family tradition.” The band is comprised of sisters Ellie (lead guitar), Powell (banjo), and Lily (vocals), and hails from small rural Georgetown, Georgia. Their new EP ‘A Little Goes a Long Way’, produced by veteran producer Trina Shoemaker (known for work with Sheryl Crow, Nanci Griffith, Queens of the Stone Age), is a refreshing throwback in a modern country landscape, drawing us into more traditional sounds and drawing on lyrics and melodies rooted in folk and the roots music that were the foundation of country music. Could this be the palate cleanser you need in a sea of pop-country playlists?
Track number 1 on the EP is the title track, ‘A Little Goes a Long Way’. The first thing that strikes you as a listener is the natural sound of this record. The drums sound organic and warm, and through exceptional speakers or great headphones, you can really hear the sound of the room in which the drums were tracked. There’s no hype, no need for over-compressed energy. There’s very little augmentation here, just real, great old-fashioned Nashville musicianship between the band and session players that are supporting them, and that carries as a thread throughout the record.
In terms of the instrumentation, this track serves as a blueprint for the rest of the record with a focus on the bluegrass tradition carried forward into the modern country music landscape. There are no walls of synth and distorted guitars. The focus here is beautifully recorded acoustic instruments from banjo to mandolin, acoustic guitar to fiddle, all topped off with interesting effected electric guitar and soothing rich vocals with just enough air floating on top of the mix.
The songwriting throughout feels more towards the folky side with lyrics that reflect on elements of life more than specific situations, again a juxtaposition with the majority of modern country’s focus on capturing a scene in detail that, perhaps in real-time, only lasted a few hours. ‘A Little Goes a Long Way’ covers its own idiom, but really, I felt less drawn to the lyrics and much more to the overall melody and feel. It’s like the catchiest folk song you ever heard, without clichés of the genre and endless repetition. Sorry folk fans!
Track two, ‘Heartland Hill’, carries on this feel and overall vibe, throwing us back to a more traditional feel with a train beat on the drums. The elements from country music tradition really draw us back in time, and lyrics that focus on nature, talking about the ‘southern sky’, the ‘wind’, and ‘rain’ evoke that Americana & roots music feel. There’s definitely an element of Nickel Creek to the lyrics and melodies in this track. The harmonies shine and lift the chorus, and the hard-panned electric guitar and fiddle parts give us a refreshing break and hook between sections towards the end of the track.
Track three, ‘The Part Where You Break My Heart’, feels like it could be a tribute to the works of Fleetwood Mac, introducing a driving four to the floor kick drum, and the emphasised shaking tambourine in the choruses à la Stevie Nicks. The harmonies on the chorus further add to this 70s vibe, alongside the crunchy electric guitars. It has many of the tropes of modern country music, but wrapped up in that 70s sound, from chugging guitars to big stops. Another refreshing element is that the stops are a little messy – where overhangs would maybe cut in a modern production, these stops have delays lingering and aren’t perfect. That all adds up to emphasise both the live feel and throwback sound. This is definitely the most modern feeling on the record, and the songwriting with the hook line of ‘when you sold me on forever I guess you left out the part, where you break my heart’, could easily have featured on Taylor Swift’s ‘Red.’ In fact, modernise the production on this track and the parallels are there to be seen.
Track four, ‘No. 7 Road’, has a lot of parallels with ‘Heartland Hill’ and gives us a John Denver ‘Country Roads’ type narrative. Again, the lyrics are focused on natural imagery, talking about the “Georgia Pines” and asking the road, “Won’t you take me home”. The root-five bass, rolling banjo, and bright fiddle make this probably the most traditional sounding on the record.
Track five is ‘Cowboy Kind of Love’, which kicks off with a more modern feeling duo of electric guitar melodies and delays to hook us in. However, it is the 3rd song in a row to start with a four to the floor kick drum, and it does feel like there’s a limitation in the want to stay authentic with the instrumentation. At this point, we’ve heard all of the colours this record has to offer, and a modern listener is used to perhaps more change and variety between sections which it feels like this authenticity restrains. Despite this, on the writing side, this feels like one of the strongest songs, even though it draws on some of the tropes we may have heard before in the lexicon of cowboy country songs. The modern and fast delivery of the chorus and clever rhymes make this song, with lines like “Like wild horses running, running reckless, boy don’t wreck this” and encapsulating the song with the hook “I want something that’s as sweet as it is tough, a cowboy kinda love”.
Track six, “Hurricane”, is the darkest sounding on the record and evokes some parallels with Carrie Underwood’s ‘Two Black Cadillacs’ in terms of the mood and vibe. Of course, this has the Castellows’ recipe of being stronger on the acoustic side than a Carrie track, but the moodiness is definitely there. The breakdown chorus is of particular note with the dry bass guitar on its own matched up to some perfect harmonies from the sisters; this could easily be the opening title tune to the next huge streaming platform success.
The EP is rounded out with ‘I Know It Will Never End’, one of the singles that has already been released. The lyrics again emphasize nature and a sense of place in the traditional country style, harkening to “the fields of West Virginia” and the “‘Bama pines”. Again, this sees our four to the floor kick drum and root-five bass drive the song along from the outset. The vocal sound sitting centrally and on top of the mix is soothing once again with beautiful close harmonies, but I didn’t find myself drawn to the lyrics so much as enjoying the overall sound.
In its entirety, this EP is a beautiful sounding body of work, and one which washes over the ears with refreshing grace. It has Nashville polish, beautiful soothing vocals, and an organic quality that cuts through in an augmented sonic landscape. It’s exciting in its simplicity but also somewhat held back by that simplicity. The vocals are perfectly delivered, but I found little to connect with lyrically in the tracks. Additionally, the fact that four of the tracks also start with the same feel, and the instrumentation is limited to capturing an authentic studio sound circa 1973, means that to a more modern listener, there is perhaps not as much scene change as one may have come to expect as the tracks develop. Despite that, it’s a very likeable EP, and one which is uncontroversial in its delivery, as well as being somewhat comfortable, which suits a lot of listeners! If you like your country music more traditional and you’re looking for something new, this EP is more than worth your time to check out. It’s hard to imagine you not enjoying it.
Tracklist: 1. A Little Goes a Long Way 2. Heartland Hill 3. The Part Where You Break My Heart 4. No. 7 Road 5. Cowboy Kind of Love 6. Hurrican 7. I Know it Will Never End Release Date: February 9th Record Label: Warner Nashville Buy ‘A Little Goes a Long Way’ right here.
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