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Bunnie XO and Jessie Murph just had a far-out conversation about their first times taking shrooms, with the former revealing she once tripped so hard, she thought she was Michael Jackson.
In a clip from a recent episode Dumb Blonde, the podcaster asked the 20-year-old singer-songwriter to recount giving the psychedelics a try just a few weeks prior at Coachella. “I took them right before y’all’s party, actually,” Murph said, referring to Bunnie and her famous husband, Jelly Roll.
“It was so great,” the “High Road” singer recalled. “I was always apprehensive to try them … because they say it can mentally get you in a weird place.”
“But I had the time of my life,” Murph added. “I just was smiling, it made me really happy. But I’m gonna try not to do them a lot.”
One of Bunnie’s experiences with the drug, however, was a lot less serene. “I thought I was Michael Jackson one time,” she told Murph as both of them laughed. “I was in the snow making snow angels and then I cooked, like, a five-course meal … I did a big dose and it was phenomenal — that’s when I thought I was Michael Jackson.”
“And then I did a microdose and s–t got weird,” Bunnie added. “I started thinking about my childhood.”
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, shrooms — aka magic mushrooms — are consumed for their hallucinogenic effects caused by key ingredient psilocybin. The psychedelics can alter “a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions,” an ideally pleasant experience that can sometimes lead to anxiety or paranoia instead.
Bunnie and Murph — who recently earned her highest peak to date on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Blue Strips” reaching No. 15 earlier in May — have been friends for a while. In 2023, the Alabama native teamed up with Jelly for a duet titled “Wild Ones,” reaching No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and all three of the stars recently walked the red carpet together at the Academy of Country Music Awards — where Murph’s piglet, Wilbur, stole the show.
In June 2024, Bunnie defended Murph against social media trolls who took issue with the latter being featured on Koe Wetzel’s “High Road,” which would reach No. 22 on the Hot 100. “All you grown ADULTS being mean to a beautiful 19-year-old girl who’s pursuing her dreams & has already accomplished so much in her career, more than some of y’all,” the social media star wrote at the time, sharing a video of herself hugging Murph on Instagram. “Don’t play w me or baby girl.”
Watch Bunnie and Murph discuss shrooms below.
This is partner content. Billboard has put together a prediction list for the Song of the Summer, and we’re breaking it down for you. Could KATSEYE, Drake or Alex Warren have the Song of the Summer? Keep watching to see who else may be in the top 10! Who do you think will have the […]
I recently had the opportunity to testify before Congress about the NO FAKES Act of 2025 — a landmark effort to protect human voices and likenesses from being cloned by artificial intelligence without consent.
I started singing when I was four years old and have used my voice throughout my career to amplify lyrics that I believe in. Each recording reflects pieces of my individuality and artistry that have evolved throughout my life.
My recordings reflect my human experience, and I am honored that they are a part of people’s lives — from wedding vows to breakups, to celebrating milestones and even the special relationship between a mother and daughter.
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But today, my voice and likeness, along with so many others, are at risk. AI technology is amazing and can be used for so many wonderful purposes. But like all great technologies, it can also be abused when it is harnessed to steal people’s voices and likenesses to defraud families, manipulate the images of young girls, impersonate government officials or pose as artists like me.
It’s mind-blowing that we must even question that our voices and likenesses should be our own to control. It’s scary and unquestionably wrong.
I was so gratified with the commitment of the bipartisan group of Senators I testified before last week in DC to deal with deepfake images by supporting the NO FAKES Act, which would prevent the theft of someone’s voice or likeness to harm, harass, bully or defraud them or others, and damage our careers, reputations and values.
The NO FAKES Act gives every person the power to say “yes” or “no” about how their most personal human attributes are used.
In Congress, I was asked about the impact of unauthorized deepfakes on the careers and livelihoods of young artists — and that impact can be immense. Every performer in our business must establish early in their career who they are and what they stand for, creatively, artistically and personally. That is how we build connections with our fans. But if bad actors can invade that artist-fan bond and distort the story a young artist tells the world about who they are, many careers could be lost before they truly get started. And that’s a problem that goes beyond the arts — unconsented deepfakes and voice clones rob every person of the ability to speak their own truth and tell their own story.
The NO FAKES Act also supports innovation by providing a roadmap for how these powerful tools can be developed responsibly. And it doesn’t stand in the way of protected uses like news, parodies, or criticism. Thanks to technology companies like OpenAI and Google who support this bill, as well as the legions of creators who have worked so hard to advocate for it (nearly 400 of us last week endorsed it here), and the child protection and anti-sex-trafficking and exploitation groups who support it and continue to fight for those who are most vulnerable, we have a real chance of it becoming law this year.
It has been a special honor to record songs that shine a light on the battles many women fight, especially domestic violence. Fans have shared with me that “Independence Day” has given them strength, and in some cases, the song has been the catalyst that has made them realize they need to leave an abusive situation.
Imagine the harm an AI deepfake could do breaching that trust, using my voice in songs that belittle or justify abuse. Or the devastation of a fan, scammed by a deepfake voice clone impersonating me or any artist they trust, into handing over their hard-earned money to a fraudster. Or my voice and/or likeness being used to promote a product that may be subpar at best, and harmful at worst. And while this isn’t the part that I am an expert on, knowing AI is being used to deepfake and manipulate young girls in ways that can devastate and ruin their lives is especially troubling. As a mother, an artist and a human being who cares about others — I ask you to join in the fight to stop that kind of betrayal.
Passing the NO FAKES Act will set us on the right path to develop the world’s best AI while preserving the sacred qualities that make our country so special — authenticity, integrity, humanity and our endlessly inspiring spirit.
Martina McBride is an award-winning country music singer who has charted seven top 10s on the Billboard 200 and landed 21 songs on the Hot 100 in her career, and been nominated for 14 Grammys. She’s also a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and three-time ACM Top Female Vocalist winner, and in 2019 was honored with the ACM’s Icon Award.
Beéle was 12 years old when he discovered “Aye” by Nigerian-American artist Davido — a song he says immediately connected him with the Afrobeat genre.
“I felt the vibe and started writing notes and poems,” he tells Billboard. “It was my way of disconnecting from the world. I preferred doing that and practicing my guitar to going out and playing with my friends.”
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His native Barranquilla — located on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, and which is also home to Shakira and Joe Arroyo — has also influenced the Latin Afrobeat and pop-dancehall sound he’s known for today.
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“I grew up in a family where salsa, champeta, and African music from the 80s and 90s were heavily influenced,” he explains. “I grew up surrounded by that culture and by a working-class neighborhood in Barranquilla, where I found my place over time. I understood that everything that made me proud of where I come from and the freedom to express myself perfectly reflects my personality and who I truly am.”
At 16, the artist born Brandon de Jesús López Orozco (Beéle is the pronunciation of his initials BL), released his debut single “Loco” under Hear This Music — a feel-good, suave Afrobeats groove backed by his deep, melodic vocals. Its remix, featuring Farruko, Natti Natasha, and Manuel Turizo — and released in the midst of the 2020 pandemic — earned the emerging act his first Billboard chart entry, reaching No. 18 on the Latin Digital Song Sales chart.
Since then, the Colombian artist has carved his sound path in the industry by teaming up with artists such as Feid, Rauw Alejandro, Myke Towers, Maluma and Piso 21. His 2023 collaboration with Sebastian Yatra and Manuel Turizo, “Vagabundo,” marked his first No. 1 hit on both the Latin Airplay and Latin Pop Airplay charts. This year, “Mi Refe” with Ovy on the Drums peaked at No. 8 on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart and “La Plena (W Sound 05)” with W Sound and Ovy on the Drums gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart.
“One day in the studio, I stopped, looked in the mirror to see who I was, and from there I said, I love this,” he expresses. “What I wanted to show the world is that beyond being an artist, I want them to feel what I feel. From then on, my career has been created by that musical and diverse explosion that defines me. All along, I’ve tried not to look like anyone else.”
Earlier this month, Beéle released his debut studio album Borondo (5020 Records), home to 26 tracks, including “Dios Me Oyó” with Marc Anthony. The set marked the artist’s debut on the Billboard album charts, bowing at No. 10 on Top Latin Albums and No. 4 on Top Latin Rhythm Albums on the lists dated May 31.
“My encounter with music has always been unexpected,” he says. “For me, music is a connection to my everyday life. I’ve had to live the way I live to be able to make the songs I’m making. I express myself. My heart speaks, my emotions speak, and they connect with the audience. I don’t just make music, I make art.”
Below, learn more about May’s Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise:
Name: Brandon de Jesús López Orozco
Age: 22
Recommended Song: “Mi Refe”
Biggest Accomplishment: “Since I started making music, I’ve achieved everything I’ve wanted, in my own way. My greatest achievement, truly, professionally speaking, has been making my first album, because I’ve always prayed for it and asked God that my music would connect with hearts the way his words connect with mine. I’ve been able to achieve something in this life that would make my children proud.”
What’s Next: “People think that after making this album, I’m going to stop for a while, but there are some really beautiful collaborations coming this summer. That way people can continue enjoying Beéle.”
Growing up in rural Minnesota, Stacy Vee didn’t have particularly lofty ambitions. While attending St. Cloud State University, she says, “my dream job was maybe I could be a special events planner at this hotel on the freeway one day and do weddings and conferences.”
Vee did end up planning events — just on a far larger scale than that highway-adjacent hotel. Now she’s executive vp of Goldenvoice/AEG, where she has been in charge of the world’s largest country music festival, Stagecoach, since 2015, greatly expanding the three-day, Indio, Calif.-based event that launched in 2007 — and altering perceptions of country music in the process. Attendance at the late-April festival, capped at 85,000 per day, rivals its eclectic cousin, Coachella, which Goldenvoice holds on the same grounds the previous two weekends each year (and which Vee is also involved in booking).
On the day Billboard meets with her, Vee is sentimental, sad, elated and tired. It’s the last day of Stagecoach and she’s sitting in her trailer in the artist compound, which she has made cozy with a bowl of fresh nectarines, macrame pillows strewn on the sofa, vintage lamps, Christmas lights and cowboy boots and hats.
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After all these years, she still gets pre-festival jitters. “On the night before day one of Stagecoach, I woke up at one and I just couldn’t get back to sleep,” she says. “It’s excitement and nerves and we’ve been working on the show for so long.” In fact, she adds, “I’ve been working on 2026 for a year already. It’s 80% booked.”
Vee, who is 48, has her hand in every facet of the festival. She smiles as the clock strikes 1 p.m. and Quiet Riot’s “Cum on Feel the Noize” blasts through the loudspeakers, signaling that the grounds are open for another day. “Heck, yes. I pick the song that plays when gates open for Stagecoach!” she says. The first day’s choice was AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and day two was Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” but high winds delayed the opening, so no song was played. “I was feeling a little metal this year,” Vee says. “I very seriously don’t take myself and Stagecoach too seriously.”
When Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett started Stagecoach eight years after he had co-founded Coachella with the late Rick Van Santen in 1999, Vee would’ve seemed an unlikely choice to be his successor to helm the festival, given how little she followed country music.
“I listened to a little Mavericks, a little Dwight Yoakam, a little Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks in high school,” she says. “But then after that, I was really into indie and alternative and college rock.”
Stacy Vee
Ashley Osborn
So much so that after graduation, Vee worked as promotion director at a Minneapolis alternative radio station for two years before moving to Los Angeles in 2000. She became an agent’s assistant at WME before shifting in 2002 to Goldenvoice (which AEG had acquired the previous year), where she started as former Concerts West co-CEO Paul Gongaware’s assistant and quickly joined Tollett’s team as well.
“I had noticed [Tollett] didn’t have an assistant and Coachella was coming up, so I asked if I could also assist him. Paul Gongaware’s response was, ‘Well, if you want to work twice as hard for the same money… go for it!’ I said, ‘Thank you!,’ thinking it was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me, professionally,” she says.
That willingness to step in wherever needed made Vee stand out, says Tollett, to whom she still reports. “She was organized from the beginning and could always follow the conversation. That’s what I love about Stacy,” he says.
The two worked hand in hand on Coachella and then Stagecoach. Though her indie and alternative rock tastes were more aligned with Coachella, she learned country through osmosis. “Over the years, I began anticipating needs, studying and putting ideas in front of him,” she says. “Paul graciously allowed me the opportunity to run with the ball, make decisions and get my feet wet booking.”
Vee took on increasing responsibility until, in 2015, Tollett told her, “You’re ready,” and handed her the Stagecoach reins.
“You could turn over anything to Stacy. That’s the key,” he says. “It turned out to be Stagecoach, but it could have been anything. When you’re someone like her, where success is where you just want to be, she’s going to work toward it, no matter the challenge or the hurdle.”
Plus, by then, country was shifting; edgy country-rock artists like Nikki Lane and Sturgill Simpson had come onto the scene. “The first time I heard those two, it was a switch that kicked on for me,” Vee says. “I was like, ‘OK, this s–t is cool.’ It always was, but I just really identified with it.”
From left: Nikki Lane, Stacy Vee, Diplo, and Sierra Ferrell backstage at Stagecoach Festival on April 25, 2025 in Indio, Calif.
Julian Bajsel
Just as Coachella’s aesthetic reflects Tollett, Stagecoach’s now reflects Vee. She has made country cool again by, paradoxically, expanding Stagecoach’s purview beyond the genre’s strict musical parameters. That’s especially evident on the Palomino Stage, a tent that has far less capacity than the Mane Stage but is viewed as the hippest spot to play. At Palomino, Vee books acts that, if not country, are compatible and share fans with core country artists; legends like Tom Jones, Smokey Robinson and, this year, Lana Del Rey have appeared there.
Regardless of the stage, Vee says, “I think my stamp on Stagecoach is looking just outside of country and bringing these artists in. Nelly toured with Florida Georgia Line, so he belongs at Stagecoach. Post [Malone], he’s Texan. During the pandemic, he was doing at-home performances, and I saw him cover a Sturgill Simpson song. I was like, ‘That man has to come play Stagecoach.’ ” In 2024, Post Malone performed a full set of country covers on the Mane Stage months before the release of his star-studded country album, F-1 Trillion. “I keep my eyes and ears peeled for people who just belong in the space,” she says. This year, that also included rapper BigXthaPlug, who has a collection of country collaborations coming out.
She has learned that veteran acts of all genres — in addition to Nelly, this year’s Palomino roster included Backstreet Boys, Goo Goo Dolls, Creed, Crystal Gayle, Sammy Hagar and Tommy James & The Shondells — pack the tent. “All bets are off in there, and I can get as creative as any person ever could at a festival,” she says. “People just love to sing some of these iconic anthems and songs where everyone just puts their arms around each other.”
Still, Vee knows she can impose her personal tastes only so far: “I still have to sell 85,000 tickets, so I have to get the biggest headliners. I have a job to do, but I can put some of myself in there, too.”
Vee is always looking for ways to enhance the experience for festivalgoers, such as Stageshop Marketplace, a vintage clothing store run for several years by Lane that also included its own performance space. That’s also how both Diplo and Guy Fieri ended up as cornerstones of the festival. Fieri’s Stagecoach Smokehouse, which serves barbecue and holds cooking demonstrations with music guests, debuted in 2018 and has become a popular hangout. “This was Stacy’s idea,” Fieri says. “If you’re going to bring people here and you’re going to set this environment around country music, you have to give them all the senses. Stagecoach is Stagecoach because of Stacy Vee.”
Even before Diplo put out his first country album in 2020, he wanted a platform at Stagecoach, but Vee, protective of her patrons, had to be convinced he was coming for the right reasons. “Diplo’s managers really wanted him to come and play Stagecoach,” she says. “I was like, ‘I don’t think so. He can’t come here and make fun of people.’ They said, ‘He wants to respectfully come into this space. He wants to collaborate with these artists. He wants to write.’ His managers came to Stagecoach [in 2018], and each of them were wearing T-shirts that had Diplo wearing a cowboy hat.”
Diplo played a late-night set in 2019 and now curates the Honky Tonk Tent, which programs during the day as well. The tent has become so popular that even members of the Backstreet Boys were left waiting in line late one afternoon this year when Paris Hilton’s DJ set, with special guest Lizzo, packed the tent so tightly that security quit letting people in.
“Stacy is a superstar. She took a random idea me and my managers cooked up in a trailer backstage at Coachella and turned it into a full-blown tent at Stagecoach with my name on it,” Diplo says. “She saw the trend of country taking over pop light-years before anyone else and has built such an amazing festival with something for everyone — old school, new school, outlaw and pop. Stagecoach is my favorite show every single year… Stacy truly is the queen of Stagecoach, and I always look forward to seeing her, even though, somehow, she always manages to have better outfits than me.”
Stacy Vee
Miranda McDonald
Vee considers Fieri and Diplo part of her brain trust. “I find it fascinating — other people’s interpretation of Stagecoach, other people’s interpretation of country music,” she says. “I want to know what draws Guy in. I want what Diplo is excited about. A way for me to keep learning and to keep expanding is to have this trusted posse of people that we work with and see what ideas they bring in.”
In addition to Stagecoach, Vee is in charge of Morgan Wallen’s new festival, Sand in My Boots, which took over the Gulf Shores, Ala., grounds and mid-May calendar slot of former all-genre Goldenvoice fest Hangout. She also runs June’s Buckeye Country Superfest in Columbus, Ohio, and is on AEG’s touring team for Zach Bryan, who this year headlined Stagecoach alongside Jelly Roll and Luke Combs. “Anything high level for country music domestically, or even internationally, I have my hand in,” she says.
Beyond country, she runs Goldenvoice’s Just Like Heaven, a May indie-rock festival in Pasadena, Calif., and is on Coachella’s five-person booking committee. “We lock ourselves in a conference room a lot and just discuss ideas,” she says of the Coachella booking process. “We throw up a lot of grids, throw up a lot of stats. Take a look at playlists. Just all the things.”
Her future seems limitless, bolstered by a team, including Tollett and AEG Presents chairman/CEO Jay Marciano, that supports and empowers her. And unlike the college kid whose goal was to work at the local hotel, her aspirations have greatly expanded, especially when it comes to her role in building country music.
“[I want to] pull people into our community because it is such a loving, vibrant, supportive, artistic, fulfilling community,” Vee says. “I want to not let people underestimate the genre or the fans. I want to grow the genre. I want to change country music. That’s my dream.”
This story appears in the May 31, 2025, issue of Billboard.
The Grammy Museum announced the guest artists who will participate in this year’s Grammy Camp, which is expanding to Miami and New York, in addition to its flagship Los Angeles program.
Cimafunk, DARUMAS and GALE will be this year’s guest artists in Miami; Alexander Stewart, Aly & AJ, Daniel Seavey, D’Mile, India Shawn and Reneé Rapp will be guest artists in Los Angeles; and Braxton Cook, Chloe Flower, and Renée Elise Goldsberry will be guest artists in New York.
They will discuss their career paths and help students prepare for the music industry. The signature music industry camp for U.S. high school students will take place at the following locations:
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Art House Studios, Miami – June 8–14
Evergreen Enterprise Experience, Los Angeles – July 13–19
Engine Room Audio, New York – July 27–Aug. 2
“For more than 20 years, Grammy Camp has been a vital launching pad for high-school students chasing their dreams in music, providing a real-world glimpse into the industry and the journey that comes with it,” said Michael Sticka, president and CEO of the Grammy Museum, in a statement. “This summer, we’re thrilled to expand that mission even further, welcoming rising talent to our Grammy Camp community in Los Angeles, Miami and New York.”
Several of this year’s guest artists have won major awards. D’Mile is the only songwriter in Grammy history to win back-to-back awards for song of the year, for co-writing H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” He also won an Oscar for co-writing “I Can’t Breathe” from Judas and the Black Messiah. Renée Elise Goldsberry won both a Grammy and a Tony for Hamilton. Darumas was nominated for at Latin Grammy for best new artist. Alexander Stewart was nominated for two Juno Awards this year.
The Grammy Museum also announced that 172 talented high-school students from 126 U.S. cities across 25 states have been selected as participants in this year’s program.
Now in its 21st year, Grammy Camp focuses on all aspects of commercial music and will feature various career tracks in all three locations: music business, instrumental performance, electronic music audio production, songwriting and vocal performance will be at each location. Each location will incorporate a curriculum tailored to its unique musical heritage, offering specialized tracks such as musical theater, screen scoring, music production with a DJ emphasis, and instrumental performance surrounding jazz music. Each track is taught by Grammy-winning and -nominated professionals, Recording Academy members, industry experts and notable guest artists, offering participants an exclusive glimpse into real-world music career pathways. Students are selected for one career track but have the opportunity to collaborate with all students.
Applications for Grammy Camp 2026 will be available online in September on its website.
The Clipse is back. Pusha T and No Malice officially announced the first Clipse album in more than 15 years on Thursday (May 29) with Let God Sort Em Out. The project is set to make it snow in the summertime with a July 11 release date. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See […]
A billion-dollar lawsuit over music piracy must be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justice Department now says, warning that a “sweeping” ruling won by the record labels could force internet providers to cut off service to many Americans.The massive copyright case – in which Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group won a $1 billion verdict in 2019 – saw a lower court hold Cox Communications itself liable for widespread illegal downloading by its users.
But in a brief filed Tuesday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer says the justices must consider overturning that ruling – telling the high court that the “sweeping” decision conflicts with legal precedent and has “broad practical implications” for how Americans use the internet.
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“Losing internet access is a serious consequence, as the internet has become an essential feature of modern life,” the solicitor general writes. “And because a single internet connection might be used by an entire family—or, in the case of coffee shops, hospitals, universities, and the like, by hundreds of downstream users—the decision below could cause numerous non-infringing users to lose their internet access.”
The central problem with the ruling against Cox, the feds say, is that it imposes costly liability on an internet service providers (ISPs) simply because “the music industry sends notices alleging past instances of infringement by those subscribers.” They say that approach could force IPSs to take aggressive measures out of fear of billion-dollar verdicts.
“Given the breadth of that liability, the decision below might encourage providers to avoid substantial monetary liability by terminating subscribers after receiving a single notice of alleged infringement,” Sauer writes.
An attorney for the labels did not immediately return a request for comment. In previous filings, lawyers for the music companies have rejected such dire warnings, calling them “contrived” and “disingenuous” efforts to avoid legal liability.
UMG, Warner and Sony all sued Cox in 2018, seeking to hold the internet giant itself liable for alleged wrongdoing committed by its users. The labels said Cox had ignored hundreds of thousands of infringement notices and had never permanently terminated a single subscriber accused of stealing music.
ISPs like Cox are often shielded from such lawsuits by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. But a judge ruled that Cox had forfeited that protection by failing to terminate people who were repeatedly accused of violating copyright law. Stripped of that immunity, jurors held Cox liable in December 2019 for the infringement of 10,017 separate songs and awarded the labels more than $99,000 for each song — adding up to a whopping $1 billion.
Earlier this year, a federal appeals court ordered the award recalculated earlier this year, ruling that aspects of the verdict were improper. But the appeals court also upheld other parts, and Cox is still facing the potential of a very large penalty when it is re-issued.
So Cox took the case to the Supreme Court in August, warning that the “draconian” approach to copyright law “threatens mass disruption” for internet users: “This court should grant certiorari to prevent these cases from creating confusion, disruption, and chaos on the internet. Innovation, privacy, and competition depend on it.”
Those same arguments are echoed by the solicitor general’s Tuesday brief to the justices, albeit in more subdued terms.
The appellate court ruling against Cox “departs from this court’s contributory-infringement precedents,” Sauer writes, including the landmark 2005 ruling that shuttered filesharing websites like Grokster. The feds say it also conflicts with a more recent ruling that said Twitter didn’t aid a terrorist attack simply because ISIS used the social media site.
“Adoption of Sony’s rule would … threaten liability for other service providers (e.g., an electric utility) that might be asked to cut off service to identified customers who had previously used the service for unlawful purposes,” Tuesday’s filing.
Attorneys for the labels will have a chance to file their own brief responding to the government’s arguments. In their own motion asking the Supreme Court to reject Cox’s appeal, the music companies said the ISP was exaggerating such warnings to help its legal case.
“Cox has no problem severing the internet lifeline for tens of thousands of homes and businesses when its own revenue is on the line,” the labels wrote in a November response. “Cox terminated over 600,000 subscribers for failure to pay their bills during the two-year period relevant here. During that same period, it terminated 32 subscribers for copyright infringement.”
Chris Stapleton‘s signature bluesy-rock guitar licks might be fiery, but his hot chicken order? Perhaps not so much. As part of a cover story for Billboard‘s Country Power Players issue, Stapleton and actor Josh Brolin spent time at the musician’s studio in Nashville, but also took time to eat at Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, one […]
Country music has a long lineage of female familial acts, including The Carter Sisters, The Judds, SheDaisy, The Mandrell Sisters, The Pointer Sisters, Tigirlily Gold and Chapel Hart.
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Now, Georgia-born sister trio The Castellows is fast making its own modern mark on the genre, blending ethereal harmonies with acoustic-driven, rootsy instrumentation and lyrics informed by the siblings’ rural upbringing. The Balkcom sisters — lead singer/bassist and guitarist Lily, banjoist Powell and guitarist Ellie—will release their seven-song EP, Homecoming, Friday (May 30). The set builds upon their 2024 debut EP A Little Goes a Long Way and their three-song EP Alabama Stone, which also released that year.
The trio’s brand of folk-country comes at a time when roots-oriented sounds from artists such as Tyler Childers, Noah Kahan, Zach Bryan and Sam Barber are again in the limelight.
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“That’s just the kind of stuff we love — and if we had to do anything different, we probably wouldn’t be doing this,” Lily says.
The sisters, who were homeschooled, grew up on a cattle farm in rural Georgetown, Georgia and discovered their affinity for music early.
“Music was our extracurricular activity,” Ellie says. “I played piano first and we started picking up instruments. We were a glorified Mumford and Sons cover band. Lots of random folk songs, lots of Tyler Childers.”
They performed at churches and hometown events, but had no plans to pursue music professionally. While attending the University of Georgia, Ellie earned a degree in information management systems and Powell a degree in agriculture business.
Lily followed her dreams by earning a pilot’s license. “I had my pilot’s license when I was 17 and I was working on my instrument commercial [license] when I moved up to Nashville, but I’ve been flying since I was 16. I want my own plane one day,” she says.
They took on their great-grandmother’s maiden name as their group name, and in 2022 began posting covers of hits such as Tyler Halverson’s “Beer Garden Baby” and Childers’ “Universal Sound” on Instagram and TikTok. Labels soon came calling. They signed a deal with Warner Records and Warner Music Nashville in May 2023, then moved to Nashville in July of that year, signing with Luke Combs’ manager, Chris Kappy.
They have focused on songs that lean on imagery derived from their rural Georgia roots, such as on their debut song “No. 7 Road,” about strolling down the same dirt road their grandfather walked down, or the shimmering “Sheltered” from their new Homecoming EP.
“I feel like the way we grew up has had such an impact on our songs and what we write about,” Lily says. “We grew up homeschooled on a farm, so farm life and family are something that is so familiar to us. It’s something that we love and that we always want to write about, and it’s a lot of who we are and our identity. I love being able to tie our background in agriculture and the farm and where we come from with our music and our career.”
Along the way, they’ve also teamed with Wyatt Flores for the song “Sober Sundays,” and with Colby Acuff for “How Do I Feel Alive.” The Castellows co-wrote every song on the Homecoming EP, working with fellow writers Erik Dylan, Daniel Tashian and Casey Beathard, among others.
“We know how special this town is, with the writing community here,” Ellie says of Nashville. “It’s unlike any music town in the whole world. Just knowing the pool of talent here, we feel like we’ve become better writers by surrounding ourselves with top writers — kind of the whole iron-sharpens-iron thing. We just love the writing community here, and some of our sweetest friends are writers who we met when we first moved to town.”
Coming up, they will open for Thomas Rhett on his Better in Boots tour, in addition to spearheading their own The Homecoming Tour. “We actually have a tour bus for this upcoming Thomas Rhett tour, which is our first ever bus,” Ellie says.
The Castellows, Billboard’s May Country Rookie of the Month, open up about the Homecoming EP, recording with Flatland Cavalry and more below.
“Homecoming” is the title track. Why do you feel like that song encapsulates the feel of this EP?
Lily: We’ve been playing it live for almost two years now, so that song has really become part of our identity. To me, this project is songs about us being on tour, songs about the world and how you view the past, present and future. “Homecoming” captured it best. And it’s funny because the word “homecoming” is nowhere in the song “Homecoming.”
Why did you include your version of Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”?
Powell: You almost don’t even want to dare touch her work, because it’s just perfect as it is. But we were in our hometown shooting some videos in a silo, and I was like, “The acoustics here are really good. Do y’all want to try to sing a chorus of ‘You Don’t Even Know Who I Am’?” I feel like the first time we heard it in that silo, we were like, “Oh, this is meant to be sung with harmony.”
And there’s a male singing harmony under Patty in her version. It’s obviously beautiful, but I feel like with this song, it’s almost a bit more powerful when there’s three women singing it. And I feel like our generation hasn’t really heard this song, so we wanted to hopefully introduce it to younger people.
You also bring in Flatland Cavalry, whom you share a management company with, for “Place They Call Home.” What was it like working with them?
Ellie: That was one of the most special moments we’ve ever had, because [Powell] and I saw Flatland our freshman year of college, before we had ever even written our first song. We were the first ones in line, and we’ve been fans of them for so long. When we had the opportunity to write with [Flatland Cavalry frontman] Cleto Cordero — we were freaking out because we are such fans of them. We could have maybe just gotten Cleto on it, but it felt like the song had the Flatland Cavalry spirit in it, so we waited to line up everyone’s schedules so we could go to Austin and record it with all of them.
It’s been two years since you signed your label deal. What has been the best career advice you’ve gotten from other artists?
Lily: We are big fans of the Avett Brothers, and we ended up opening for them at their annual New Year’s Eve Show. When we met them, they were like, “Don’t take yourself too seriously” — which was good advice because as female artists, you can get caught up in how you look onstage and what you’re wearing. You can kind of break yourself down pretty easily, and at the end of the day, we’re playing music for a living and this is the music business. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.
What is a song you wish you had written?
Lily: We have a playlist called “Songs I Wish I Had Written.” Some of the hotspots on it are “Russell County Line” by 49 Winchester, “Boulder to Birmingham” by Emmylou Harris, “Bluebird” by Miranda Lambert, “Heart of Gold” by Neil Young and Turnpike Troubadours’ “Diamonds and Gasoline.”
Who are the songwriters on your co-writing bucket list?
Ellie: We had a great write last week with a bucket-list writer. We wrote with Ashley Gorley. That was very cool. Writing with some of the legacy heroes like Robert Earl Keen or Steve Earle would be cool.
What is a book or podcast you are into right now?
Lily: I’m trying to read all of the Brontë Sisters books this year.
Powell: I’m reading the Count of Monte Cristo, but I have an Ag [agriculture] business degree, so I listen to Cattle Chat podcasts, too.
