The band’s origin story, like many others, harks back to school days. In this case it was the early 2000’s when Mike Eli and James Young, two dorm mates at the University of North Texas, began writing songs together. The duo were shortly joined by fellow students Chris Thompson and Jon Jones on Drums and Bass, and thus The Eli Young Band were born.
The group released their debut eponymous album in 2002 whilst playing local shows, generating a fan base, due to their straightforward, traditional Nashville country rock sound. After opening shows for upcoming country star Miranda Lambert, the band were picked up by Carnival Records to release their second album, “Level” in 2005.
The group soon found their music videos broadcast on music channels such as Country Music Television, and began to perform at sell-out headline shows. After moving on to Universal South Records, and opening shows for country stars such as Jack Ingram and Pat Green, they released their third studio album “Jet Black & Jealous” in 2008. This effort was the first to gain The Eli Young band, chart success, with it reaching number 30 in the US charts, as well as generating successful singles for the group.
Following on from this initial breakthrough, the band moved labels again, this time to the newly founded Republic Nashville with whom they distrubited their next album “Life At Best” in 2011. The release saw the band hit new heights, as the lead single “Crazy Girl” became a number 1 hit record, reaching platinum status. The success of the album saw the band nominated for various awards in 2012 including the Grammys and the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Most recently, The Eli Young Band saw continued triumphs with their latest album “10,000” towns, debut at the top of the US country album charts. The group performed their single “Dust” on national TV on “Conan”.
The Eli Young Band has always been a good band in my eyes. They have been great in their music, even hitting the radio on a few hit singles,but for the most part a lot of their songs are still unknown to the public. They came to my city and I was instantly ready to go and buy my ticket.
I wanted to see if I really like them and if I really love them as much as I love their more popular songs. It was a country fair type event, so I had to dress the part too. I wore a dress and cowgirl boots, with my hair in pigtails and my huge crooked smile. I was ready to go!
The Eli Young Band performed, and I was breathless. They were so upbeat and amazing I was simply shocked that a band could be that good in a genre of music I don't totally love.
The songs I knew beforehand including "Drunk Last Night", "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" and "Crazy Girl" were majestic live
I was happy to see that I did indeed love them. I certainly did not waste my money and I would go back ten more times to see them, they were amazing to say the least. I really do love the Eli Young Band!