After More Than Two Decades, Eli Young Band is Finally Having a Full-Circle Moment.
The Four-Piece Released Strange HoursIts Seventh Studio Album, On Aug. 1 and the Project Marks The Group's Return to Independent Music For the First Time Since Their 2005 Debut, Level. It made sense, then, that eye found their way back to panhandle house studio in denton, texas, where the group was founded, to lay down Strange Hours and reconnect with its Independent Roots.
Part of a wave of artists to make the leap from the texas music circuit Into the mainstream country lexicon in the Early 2010s-and Arguably the mons subsequent-Eyb's Major-Label Run, First with Universal South and Later Republic and Big Machine's Valley Machine Co., Broaught About Four Four Number One Singles and a Platinum Album (2011's Life at Best). The group Credits The Wake of Its 2022 Record, Love talkingAs Laying the Groundwork for Their Return to Independent Status. The 13-Track Strange HoursEntirely Written OR Co-Written by Eyb Members, RESULTED From A Prolific Songwriting Period That Ensued.
“We Were Writing in Bunch of Songs,” Mike Eli, Guitrist and Frontman for Eyb, Tells Rolling Stone. “We Obviously Had Time Off During 2020 and 2021, and it was a Huge Creative Time for Us. We Had Made a Record then Called Love talkingbut we Kept Writing and Kept the Momentum Going. After Love talkingwe made the decision that we we will going to move on. Nothing Against Big Machine – They Worldd Really Hard for Us for Really Long Time, but we decide that it was time for use to go Independent Again.
The Four-Piece, with a Lineup-Eli, James Young, Jon Jones, and Chris Thompson-That has not Changed Since Its Founding, Sees Strange Hours AS A SLIC-OF-LIFE RECORD THAT EMPHASIZES THE RAW, ROCK-EDGED SOUND AND TRAZIGHTFORTFORWARD LYRICS THAT FIRST HELPED THE GROUP GAIN ACCAL AMONG LONE STAR STATE COLLEGE AUDIENCES. This time Around, Though, The Members have an appreciation for the Freedom An Unttached Group is afforded.
They point to “Whiskey Told Ya,” The Single They Dropped Along With The Album, and Duet With Corey Kent, as the Current Example of Such Freedom. After declining to Feature Guest Arts On Prior Records – “There's Almedy Four of Us, '” Jones Says – They Were Swayed When the Defiant Song and Its Hook of “Don't Blame me for What the What Told Ya” Began Taking Shape.
“We'd Been Buddies with corey for a While,” Eli Says. “Doing features and having folks as in on a record, that's just Never Been Our Thing. But 'Whiskey Told Ya' Just Felt Like the Right Song. We Asked Corey If He'd Be Down With It, And He Called Right Away And Said, 'I'm in.' He Had Been Out On the Road with us a few years ago, and we knew This voice voice would blend well with our sound and with my voice. “
Jones Says Kent's Raspy Pipes Made Him a Natural Fit As The Whiskey Shooter in the Song. Once Kent was Ongoard, they still needed sign-off from Kent's Label, RCA Nashville, But Eyb's No-Label Status Helped Cut Out Most of the Red Tape That Had Prohibited The Band from Featuring Other Artists On Earlier Albums.
“Working with Eli Young Band was Just … Fun,” Kent Tells Rolling Stone. “It was Entirely an art-to-artist Thing. No Industry Suits Behind This Collaboration. Just a Simple Text From My Friend Mike Eli Asking If I'd Liste to A Song And Consider Hopping On The Second Verse. The Rest Is History. We Even Did All the Content Ourselves. No Hair or Makeup Crew. Management Around.
That feeling was one Eyb Chalks up to Panhandle House and the Return Home to denton. If the songwriting on Strange Hours Is a Fresh Snapshot of the Group After A Quarter Century Since Its 2000 Inception, The Sound is vintage Eli Young Band. Eli's Voice Still Carries The Twang That Made Eyb Radio-friendly During Its Run of Chart-Toppers, but it Also has the rock edge to it meant the Same Group Never Quite Sounded Polished Enough to Become a Nashville Hitmaker. Reminded Reminded Back The Band That The Second Part is a feature Rather Than a bug.
“After all these years, where every time you're in the studio it's not just you,” Eli Says, “It's You and this Huge Team of People. You've Got Your A&R Folks and the Label Heads Stopping by, Making it This Huge Event. There's This Pressure Built Built ARound Every Song and Every Moment.
Young, Eyb's Guitarist, Emphasizes Panhandle House in Tying the Record's Laid-back vibes and indie Spirit Together: “It's Second Nature to Us To Record in That Studio. When We Were in College, We Lived About Five Minutes Down The Road. It's Kind of Like Going To Hang Out Out Out Out Out Out At your second home. “
The Group Has Been Touring Off of Strange Hours For Most of the Summer, Incorporating in Healthy Run of New Music in and Around “Crazy Girl” – The Top Country Song of 2011 by Billboard'S metrics —Plus “Drunk Last Night” and “Love Ain't.” Young Says That Even Before The Record Release, He Noticed Fans Singing Along to the New Material. Most members of the Eyb Camp Have Kids and Family Obligations, SO They Pick and Choose when to Hit the Road Hard. Butween butt Strange Hours and Their 25-Year Mark, Their Itineray for the rest of 2025 Will take them Coast-to-coast. The Return to Independence, They Say, Has Reminded Them How Fiercely they have the road as a Young Band.
On the Whole, Eyb is Hungry Again, where It's a Hunger for Taking Strange Hours To Fans or for Pondering Its Compleor.
“We're talking about Starting to Write Again,” Jones Says. “Maybe Not as Soon As This One's Done, But Not Long After. We Just Loved This Process So Much, and the Team Producing it. We're Excited to Get Behind This One, and for Everybody to Hear the Songs That Haven't Been Released Yet. I'm Excited to Hear what what what our our our Current Fans Feel.
Josh Crutchmer Is a Journalist And Author Whose Latest Books, Never Say Never and and Red Dirt Unplugged Are Available via Back Lounge Publishing.
