Artist of the Day - Eli Young Band

• The Eli Young Band started when Mike Eli and James Young became college dorm roommates their freshman year at the University of North Texas. Both played guitar and eventually began writing and singing songs together. They formed the acoustic duo Eli & Young. Chris Thompson and Jon Jones joined them later and they became known as the Eli Young Band.
  
• The band released their self-titled debut album in 2002. In 2005 they released “Level” on Carnival Records and opened shows for Miranda Lambert. The songs “That’s the Way” and “When It Rains” began scoring significant airplay in the Lone Star State.
  
• The Eli Young Band’s enthusiastic live shows helped them draw a large and loyal audience in the Southwest, where they were able to fill 2,000-seat venues as a headliner, and they toured the country as an opener for Pat Green, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Jack Ingram.
  
• In 2006, the group’s live show was captured on “Live at the Jolly Fox,” taped during a gig at a club in Huntsville, Texas. The Eli Young Band landed a deal with the Universal-distributed Republic Records. A video for a new recording of “When It Rains” subsequently received extensive play on CMT, and the group’s first album for Republic, “Jet Black & Jealous,” was released September 2008, with “When It Rains” and two other songs from the album, “Always the Love Songs” and “Radio Waves,” becoming Top 40 hits. The follow-up album, “Life at Best,” delivered the hits the “Liz Rose” and Lee Brice-penned “Crazy Girl.” “Crazy Girl” has become the band’s first Top 10 single, currently sitting at No. 2.
  
• EYB has joined Dierks Bentley’s “Country & Cold Cans Tour.” They’re nominated for Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist at this year’s American Country Awards.
  
• Official website: www.eliyoungband.com