Cecilia Castleman

Tennessee native Cecilia Castleman compares her writing process to sending envelopes to herself over and over again. “It’s reopening and sticking some stacked pile high in the corner of my room, just waiting for the letter of acceptance — the one that hits the feeling you’ve always been chasing,” she says. “That’s when you have a good song.”

Castleman was fed a steady diet of important music by her parents, both of them musicians. “My mom would take me to Best Buy and buy me CDs, show me documentaries, and take me to shows,” she says. “She brought to my attention a lot of what I listen to now” — like the Beatles, Brian Wilson, Fleetwood Mac, J.J. Cale, and Bonnie Raitt.