About Eli Young Band
Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli , James Young , Jon Jones , and Chris Thompson . They released their self-titled debut album in 2002, followed by the Carnival records release Level in 2005. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008 by Universal South Records. A second major-label album, Life at Best, was released in 2011 by Republic Nashville, with 10,000 Towns following in early 2014. The band has charted eight times on the Billboard country charts, with four of their singles having reached No. 1: "Crazy Girl", which was the top country song of 2011 according to Billboard Year-End, along with "Even If It Breaks Your Heart", "Drunk Last Night", and "Love Ain't".
Mike Eli and James Young met at the University of North Texas where they became dorm roommates their freshman year. They played guitar and eventually began writing and singing songs together; they formed the acoustic duo, Eli & Young, while attending the University of North Texas and played locally at Rockin Rodeo before they got their big start. Chris Thompson and Jon Jones joined them later on and they became the Eli Young Band.
They released Level on Carnival Records on April 5, 2005, and opened shows for Miranda Lambert. Level is their last Texas country album before becoming a Nashville act. Many of these songs can still be heard in their live shows today, such as "Small Town Kid" and "Everything Is You".
While touring, they were also making songwriting a top priority and made time for writing trips and retreats at the Young family ranch. Energized with new songs, they were ready to begin working on a new album in late 2007. Working with producers Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke , they took time off from touring to record at Omni Studios in Nashville. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008. Its lead-off single, "When It Rains", spent 37 weeks on the country charts and peaked at No. 34. A second chart single, "Always the Love Songs" , peaked at number 11 on Billboard. After it came "Radio Waves" and "Guinevere".
In 2011, the Eli Young Band moved to Republic Nashville and released their fifth overall single, "Crazy Girl" as the lead single off Life at Best. It became the band's first platinum-selling digital single, as well as their first No. 1 single, and also was the number 1 song on that year's Billboard Year-End charts.
The band received three nominations for the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards: Song of the Year, Top Vocal Group of the Year, and Single Record of the Year. On April 1, 2012, the band won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year.
In January 2012, the band released its second single from the album, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart", which was originally recorded by co-writer Will Hoge. Their version of the song reached the No. 1 spot as well. "Even It If Breaks Your Heart" is certified platinum by the RIAA. In the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the band was nominated for Best Duo/Group Performance for "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" was nominated for Best Country Song. The band is nominated in the 48th ACM Awards for Vocal Group of the Year and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" is nominated for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "Say Goodnight" was the third and final single, peaking at number 22.
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