I sat down with Cecilia Castleman during her stop in Iowa City supporting Molly Tuttle. Born and raised in Nashville, Castleman has spent her life surrounded by music. After releasing her debut self-titled LP in January, this is only the beginning for the 24 year old singer/songwriter. We spoke about life on the road, the music that has shaped her, and her process for putting out her incredible tunes.
Logan Melia: Well, I’m here with Cecilia Castleman. How are you today?
Cecilia Castleman: I’m good, how are you?
Logan: I’m doing well. You mentioned it’s your fifth day on the road. So you’ve kind of set up a routine a little bit. How does your day look on tour right now?
Cecilia: Yeah, normally I get in late the night before from the show. And then my mom and I, we’ve just been traveling by ourselves with the dog and we get up early and drive to the next venue and then I get ready and we head to the venue for sound check and yeah, it’s been really fun. But yeah, it’s a lot. I’ll be ready to have a little time off tomorrow, but it’s been the best. It’ll be like 37 shows in total.
Logan: Is the dog on board for all 37 shows?
Cecilia: Yeah, she’s been with us the whole way.
Logan: What’s your dog’s name?
Cecilia: Toby, she’s a rescue.
Logan: How long have you had Toby?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, probably three years.
Logan: That’s very sweet. Toby, does she come on every tour you’ve done in the past three years?
Cecilia: No, she’s normally home.
Logan: Home’s in Nashville, right?
Cecilia: I was born in Nashville. Franklin, right outside of Nashville. And yeah, I’ve lived there all my life.
Logan: Okay, nice. And that’s obviously a huge scene for the kind of music you’re doing right there. Have there been any kind of out of the ordinary influences that maybe you’ve picked up on?
Cecilia: Gosh, I think just how you really have to have your chops up in Nashville because you never know who you’re going to write with or who you’re going to run into. And I think it definitely pushed me to be better at what I did. There’s definitely a lot of drive in Nashville and everyone’s really nice and encouraging, but that was the one thing. When you get into a room with people, you better know what you’re doing. So that was the one thing.
Logan: Have you ever had a moment where you’re like, okay, I actually do know what I’m doing. Has there ever been a switch that’s flipped for you?
Cecilia: Yeah, a little bit here and there. I feel like the minute I sort of get a grasp on it, something new like comes up that I need to learn. But I feel like I’m slowly getting better every day.
Logan: Now, big year for you. First, LP, and that came with a collection of songs that you’ve released on previous EPs. When you’re writing these songs, do they fall out of the sky for you or are they kind of a laborious process? Do you toil over them for a while?
Cecilia: Sure. Gosh, I mean, I write them pretty quickly. It’s just, for me, it’s like figuring out the time to get in the studio and get everyone together. But I made the record with Don Was, who has made a lot of my favorite records. And it was like the first LP I had so many songs, so there was a big catalog to choose from. But it was pretty easy picking the 13 or 14 that we did. The writing really wasn’t the hard part. It was more the executing and getting it how we wanted it and like the production and all that stuff.
Logan: What are your biggest inspirations when you’re writing? Are there things you kind of fall back on that are just like home runs that always make you write?
Cecilia: Sure. Right now it’s like Prince and I’ve really been into Oasis. They’ve had it such a comeback.
Logan: Did you see them?
Cecilia: I didn’t, no. But yeah, I listen to Fleetwood Mac, it’s a big one, Tom Petty, I love Mayer and all that kind of stuff. Those are like my mains.
Logan: Do you have a favorite Oasis song?
Cecilia: Slide Away.
Logan: It’s so good. Another artist that I saw that may have some influence on you. I saw you cover Bruce Springsteen’s “One Step Closer”.
Cecilia: Oh, yeah.
Logan: Give me your thoughts on The Boss, I love the guy.
Cecilia: Yeah, he’s awesome. There’s one of my songs, track number four on the record. I was listening to a lot of Springsteen, especially the “Streets of Philadelphia” song, just with all the synth pads and all that stuff. That was a big one for me. But yeah, he’s great. Especially traveling, you know, like we’ve been up north and, you know, to all the, you know, northeast cities and it’s been awesome.
Logan: When you’re writing these songs, do you feel like, oh my god, there’s a little Springsteen in this one. Oh my god, there’s a little Fleetwood Mac in this one?
Cecilia: Sure. Yeah, I think it’s like, there’s always that, even subconsciously. I don’t know, I listen to them so much. Of course, I’m gonna sort of, not copy what they do, but they definitely have a big influence on my music for sure.
Logan: You remember the first time you heard an artist and you’re like, this is magic, this is beautiful. Was there a song that you heard that hit you?
Cecilia: Yeah it was definitely, things started clicking for me music-wise. I started to feel a lot when I was around 11. Tom Petty, his song “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was in a movie. And I heard it, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen or heard. Definitely that. When I got my permit and I was driving down the road and I heard “Boys of Summer”, Don Henley. So like those kind of moments for sure.
Logan: Do you remember your first guitar?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, yeah, I still have it. It was an Epiphone, the Jim Croce Epiphone. Yeah, and my dad gave it to me and it had signatures. It had Neil Young’s signature and Neil Harris’s signature on it. I was so little, so when I would play, like my elbow would rub off the signatures, so they’re not there anymore. And he was not very happy about that. But don’t give a kid signed guitars.
Logan: I mean, it must have paid off now. You can get another Neil Young signature if you really want.
Cecilia: Maybe someday, yeah.
Logan: What guitars are you playing nowadays?
Cecilia: Two Fenders. I have a Fender Paramount up there and then a Fender Jazzmaster. A big Fender person, Fender Amp, everything’s Fender. They’ve been really nice to me and yeah, I like them a lot.
Logan: Do you have like a dream guitar?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, I’d really like an old 335 Gibson. Maybe someday. They’re a little out of the budget right now, but maybe someday I have a nice cherry, distressed red one.
Logan: The old Chuck Berry vibes a little bit. When you’re writing, do you start on acoustic always or do you sometimes pick up an electric first?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, both. It depends on the day. I don’t know, I never really have a rhyme or reason to it. It’s just normally whatever I pick first. Whatever’s in tune.
Logan: Do you play with any open tunings or anything like that? Do you fool around with those?
Cecilia: Yeah, I do it tonight. You’ll see me change tunings very fast. I love open, I’m in open D sharp, weirdly enough, a lot.
Logan: I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone play an open D sharp before.
Cecilia: Yeah, that’s my favorite.
Logan: Do you write the lyrics first a lot of time for these songs, or do you start with strumming a riff or a few chords?
Cecilia: Definitely, I start with like a definitely guitar bass chord kind of stuff. A lot of the time.
Logan: Now you’re the headliner of the tour part of me. Molly Tuttle just released a cover of Fairytale of New York by The Pogues, which great Christmas song. Are you listening to Christmas music yet? Are you doing it after Thanksgiving? Is it after Halloween?
Cecilia: Oh gosh. Probably after Thanksgiving. Yeah. I love Christmas. I don’t know, I like to save it for like the end of the year because it’s not Christmas yet.
Logan: To make it really special.
Cecilia: Yeah.
Logan: What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, probably “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is mine are “Blue Christmas”. All those, the classics.
Logan: The classics. A little Elvis there with Blue Christmas, do you listen to a lot, Elvis?
Cecilia: I do, I love Elvis. But not too recently, but… he’s Elvis.
Logan: What is going through your playlist nowadays.
Cecilia: A lot of Sam Fender.
Logan: I saw him cover Tom Petty in Chicago like a month ago. He was incredible.
Cecilia: Yeah, he’s amazing. The 1975, I love Molly’s new record. It’s like the coolest thing. Watchhouse. I feel like since I’ve been on this tour, I’ve been getting back into, you know, the Barr Brothers and more acoustic sort of folky sounding stuff. But even when I’m driving in the car, I love listening to Molly. She’s so incredible.
Logan: It’s a lot of different genres, but you’re kind of on the rise with all this great artists. You have Billy Strings selling out arenas. So you’ve got all these phenomenal, phenomenal artists like Molly and Sierra Farrell. How does it feel to be a part of that kind of movement?
Cecilia: Oh, gosh, I mean, it’s the coolest. All of them they work so hard and they’re such incredible just musicians, like Molly is like the most down to earth person I’ve ever met and it’s an all-female band so seeing girls like Sierra Ferrell and even Sierra Hall and Molly, it’s really empowering to me and because it’s not an easy industry right now and music is changing in a lot of ways right now with everything, but seeing Molly has really inspired me every night to just get better at my craft and that’s the goal for me. But live shows are the best. I’m going to hate to get off this tour and go home.
Logan: What’s your favorite gig you’ve ever played, and what’s your favorite gig you’ve ever seen?
Cecilia: Favorite gig I’ve ever played? Oh goodness.
Logan: You can give multiple.
Cecilia: Sure. I opened for Marcus King in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which is crazy. I love it out west. We did a whole out west run, those were incredible. We played Bozeman at The Elm with Molly. That was amazing. I opened for Sheryl Crow in Seattle, which is fun. And then I opened for this band Inhaler, they’re cool.
Logan: I love Inhaler.
Cecilia: They’re pretty good. And I opened for them a couple of times in Atlanta and in Nashville, but I’ve never had a bad show. I mean, you get tired, but I’ve been very grateful. I’m 24, I got such a long way to go, but I’ve been super grateful for everything that I’ve gotten so far. I don’t take any of it for granted.
Logan: What’s your favorite gig you’ve attend as a fan?
Cecilia: I just saw Paul McCartney at The Pinnacle in Nashville with my mom.
Logan: At the Pinnacle? Okay. A, Paul. B, how’s the Pinnacle as a venue?
Cecilia: It’s really nice, really new. It’s awesome and it sounds really good. But yeah, seeing Paul and like, obviously a more intimate setting than all the stadiums. But he was incredible. That’s probably my favorite. I saw Tom Petty. Gosh, they’re all good.
Logan: Was that your first time seeing Paul?
Cecilia: My first time seeing Paul.
Logan: Worth the wait?
Cecilia: Oh, of course, yeah.
Logan: I’m catching him next week for the first time and it’s been marked in my calendar for months. The Beatles, do you have a favorite Beatles record?
Cecilia: Gosh, I don’t know. They’re all great. I’ve been like into all The Wings stuff, like the Venus and Mars and all that kind of stuff.
Logan: Okay. With The Wings, it just made me think of “Wings Over America”, the live album. Are you a live album person? Or when you’re listening to stuff or do you like the studio recording?
Cecilia: Gosh, I don’t know. I think it probably depends on the bands for me. I mean, I don’t know. I love a record version.
Logan: Do you collect a lot of records?
Cecilia: Yeah, there’s a place in Nashville called Phonolux, they have like really affordable records and a really great selection, so I’m always there.
Logan: Have you stopped by Third Man Records in Nashville yet?
Cecilia: Yeah, I did my album release show at The Blue Room.
Logan: How was that?
Cecilia: It was really fun. So yeah, I did that. But yeah, Jack White is incredible. He has such a vision for how everything looks.
Logan: His Rock and Roll of Fame speech, so beautiful. I loved it and to see him in red again just tickled me. The White Stripes are obviously a bit of a different sound than what you’re playing. Do you have any, you know, are you listening to metal on the side? Is there anything beyond kind of your sound that reaches your ears a lot?
Cecilia: Sure, I love a little bit of everything. I mean, my sweet spot; I love like 60s, 70s rocks, you know, all the Eagle stuff and Cross, Stills, and Nash, like that’s what I love. But I also will definitely turn on the pop radio stations when I come back home. I think there’s a place, you can learn so much from all the different kinds of genres. I really love Britrock. My sound is a little bit softer, but I do. Not super heavy metal, but I like to jam, and I like to rock, and I love electric guitar and loud drums and all the things.
Logan: Do you have a lot of distortion pedals back home?
Cecilia: Not a ton. I like my blues driver, and I pretty much stick to that.
Logan: What does your pedal board look like? Is it just a blue driver?
Cecilia: There isn’t one. It’s a pedal board and a tuner.
Logan: That’s all you need though.
Cecilia: That is all you need.
Logan: Can you tune by ear?
Cecilia: I’m not gonna try.
Logan: Not there yet?
Cecilia: Not there.
Logan: When you’re on the road, do you write a lot or are you kind of just too busy playing all the time?
Cecilia: I have a lot of ideas on the road, surprisingly. You get a lot just seeing new things and everything. I definitely have ideas brewing, it’s just hard to finish them.
Logan: Do you have any huge ideas where you’re like, I want to do an orchestrated album one day, I want to do some sort of concept story. Is there any big castle on the hill that you want to accomplish one day like that?
Cecilia: I’d like to do instrumental records. I’d love to do an acoustic instrumental record, I’d love to score indie films someday. That kind of stuff I think would be really interesting, but I do have a lot of songs that I want to get out into the world.
Logan: How many instruments do you play?
Cecilia: Oh gosh mainly just guitars and keys. I can fiddle my way around bass and stuff but guitar is definitely my main.
Logan: Is there one instrument you really want to get good at like fiddle or you want to get really good at drums?
Cecilia: Probably drums I would kill to be able to play drums, maybe someday.
Logan: When you’re coming back home after the tour wraps up, are you taking a beat or are you hitting the ground running, trying to get more of these ideas off the ground?
Cecilia: Oh gosh, probably. I mean, December, January, even through March, the music industry sort of shuts down. So I write a lot during that time because I’m not getting the emails or nobody’s needing me to post on Instagram. So I feel like that’s my creative time when everyone’s off and home. And I feel like I can settle down and sort of get out what I’m feeling. I think I’ll have a lot of ideas, hopefully after this tour, and hopefully they’ll be good enough.
Logan: Thank you so much for taking chat with me.
Cecilia: Thanks for having me, this was so fun.
Logan: Anything you want to tell the people before you head on out.
Cecilia: I just put out a deluxe of the record, and yeah, just chugging away. Hit me up on Instagram.
Logan: Well thank you so much.
Cecilia: Thank you so much.
Cecilia opened the night playing “Waiting on You”, “Pick and Lose”, and more off her self titled debut album “Cecilia Castleman“. With her Jazzmaster and Paramount in hand, Cecilia welcomed in a sold out crowd to The Englert Theatre. Throwing in a cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown”, the audience was enamored, sparking clamorous applause that echoed as she finished her set with “It’s Alright”. I consider myself lucky to have caught Castleman so early in her career and I am eager to see the heights that she will reach. She will continue supporting Molly Tuttle until the 23rd of November on the Highway Knows Tour. The deluxe edition of her record just released in September with four new songs, and you can follow along for whats next on Cecilia’s Instagram.