Eli Young Band comes home to Denton
James Young, Jon Jones, Mike Eli and Chris Johnson
This past Friday, the Eli Young Band played to a sold-out house at Rockin Rodeo. It all started here for the group, who is up for Top New Vocal Group at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
It started nine years ago, when lead singer Mike Eli and lead guitarist James Young would perform acoustic shows at RBar in Denton. Both were students at the University of North Texas then. Bass player Jon Jones and Drummer Chris Thompson soon joined, and the group became a staple of the Texas Country Music scene.
“I love their lyrics,” said 21-year old NCTC student Erica Rosenwinkle. “They sing about being young and growing up in a small town, and everything thats great about that. I’m so glad their back in Denton!”
The band’s first big single was When it Rains, about soaking up the misery of love gone wrong. During the show, Eli recounts coming up with the song when he was a UNT student. The idea came to him while stumbling home from the bars on Fry St. after being dumped; the perfect formula for a country song.
It’s been since September since EYB visited their old stomping ground. That time was for the release of their fourth album (and first with their new label) – another sold out show. The group has always had a slight twinge of pop-rock, but the release of Jet Black and Jealous left many fans wondering if they had sold out (i.e. turned into Nashville Country).
For those not familiar with the Texas Music scene, “going Nashville” is a highly reprehensible thing for a band to do. Remember Pat Green? Neither do most of his (former) fans across this state that built his career. The once figure-head of the genre has released two albums in the last two years, but record sales are dismal compared to when he was an independent artist NOT in Tennessee. Get the idea? Sidetrack over.
Jet Black and Jealous topped the Billboard Country charts when it released. It’s first single, Always the Love Songs is still on the Top 20 list, five months after it’s debut. The song takes listeners back to younger simpler times, when all that mattered was field parties, cheap beer, and that first love you never would have dreamed would break your heart so thouroughly.
There was a table set up by the American Country Music Awards. Since the award is decided by fans, Eli reminded concert goers to go vote several times throughout the set. This would later seem a bit ironic, considering that after the encore, the band exited the stage and left the building with their assorted loved ones. No autographs signed, No photo opportunities for the countless fans who waited in line for several hours that night. Nothing.
“I didn’t know what to tell the people waiting for them to come back in,” said Rockin Rodeo Security Staff Preston Fuentes, who had to guard the back door to make sure fans didn’t swarm the band. “Honestly I was surprised they weren’t gonna do anything for the fans afterwards. It’s kinda messed up man.”
No doubt many of the fans were confused and dissapointed by the move. So with national aclaim still fresh and a world of possibilities before them, will the Eli Young Band alienate and ultimately lose the fans that got them this far? Only time will tell. <script type=”text/javascript” language=”javascript”
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