Eli Young Band und Lily Grace

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”.