THE ELI YOUNG BAND ON THE WAY TO BIGGER THINGS!
BY BILLY JOE GABRIEL

Any act that has moms bringing out their teenage daughters to Billy Bob’s Texas on a Friday night is on their way to bigger and better things. This was the case for the Eli Young Band recently as they had young girls screaming at the world’s largest Country Music club after each song. The band released their major label debut, “Level,” on Carnival Records last year. The album has already yielded two Top 5 singles on the Texas Music Chart and a video for the single “When It Rains” is in rotation on GAC.

Mike Eli from Tomball, TX formed the band while in college at the University of North Texas in Denton over 5 years ago. Mike met lead guitarist James Young and drummer Chris Thompson, who are native Texans, while in school to start the band. He soon brought in bass guitarist Jon Jones from Omaha,NB to finish out the band.

The guys have worked hard traveling across Texas playing clubs and fairs gaining the loyal audience that comes out to shows today. “It is really hard to capture all the onstage excitement in just
one recording,” Mike Eli explains, “We get to paint our pictures over and over again every time during a show. Our songs live are not always like they are on the albums. Any band can repeat the same music every night. We try to let our songs have a new life each time.”

James Young adds, “We are really influenced by so many kinds of music. I wouldn’t exactly label us as country or rock. While we’ve been influenced by artists in each of those genres, we lean more towards Alt Country; our music fits in best with artists you hear on AAA radio.” Young continues, “Our sound is a blend of all of our influences. For example, I was raised on blues and rock, guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page… all the greats. Mike grew up on
singer/songwriters like Rodney Crowell and Paul Simon.”

“We really wanted to stretch and push ourselves,” says Eli about the band’s approach to recording the album, co-produced by Texas native Erik Herbst in his Denton studio as well as JJ Lester. All eleven of the songs on the album were written by the band reflecting their personal musical tastes, the long late-night hours, and thousands of road miles all over the region.

Along with recording the album, came the new videos to showcase their songs. Young adds, “Our first video was for “Small Town Kid”. They shot the video for the second single, “When It Rains” which is currently in the top ten on the Texas Music Chart in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Our director, Stacy Dean Campbell, understood our musical statements and captured it on the videotape.”

“There are a lot of ups and downs being on the road in a working band,”says Young, adding with a laugh. “But I can’t think of anything I would rather do. We love getting out there and exposing new people to our music. That’s why we play four and five shows a week. We’re in this for the long haul, building up our fan base one audience at a time…and that’s our bottom line.”

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COUNTRY THUNDER CONCERT TO BE HELD IN WAXAHACHIE ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND WITH GEORGE STRAIT, GRETCHEN WILSON AND OTHERS
Country Thunder, the largest outdoor Country Music Camping Festival is coming to  Waxahachie on May 24-27.   They are various ticket and camping packages available.  Some of the artists confirmed so far are:  George Strait, Gretchen Wilson, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stoney LaRue, Reba McEntire, Lorrie Morgan, Steve Holy, Neal McCoy, Phil Vassar, Big and Rich, Trick Pony and others.  For more information go to:  www.countrythunder.com