By ANNA SCHUMANN
Published: March 2, 2009
Updated: March 2, 2009 PrintEmail
When the winner of the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Vocal Duo or Group” is announced live April 5, it could be a Tomball man walking up to the stage to accept the award.
Mike Eli, who graduated from Tomball High School in 1999, is the lead singer of Eli Young Band and said being nominated for the ACM award was “pretty cool.” The band was formed at the University of North Texas eight years ago and is made up of Eli, his former roommate James Young, and the guys who roomed next door, Jon Jones and Chris Thompson.
When the winner of the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Vocal Duo or Group” is announced live April 5, it could be a Tomball man walking up to the stage to accept the award.
Mike Eli, who graduated from Tomball High School in 1999, is the lead singer of Eli Young Band and said being nominated for the ACM award was “pretty cool.” The band was formed at the University of North Texas eight years ago and is made up of Eli, his former roommate James Young, and the guys who roomed next door, Jon Jones and Chris Thompson.
Eli said after working so hard for eight years, it’s nice to get the kind of recognition the nomination brings.
As the popularity of Eli Young Band grows, Eli gets less time to come home to Tomball, where his family still lives. He misses Tomball, he said, and that’s one of the reasons why a lot of the content in the band’s records is based on memories.
Pieces of his childhood and life in Tomball are injected into his songs. The first lines to the band’s latest hit, “Always the Love Songs,” talk about “a cool little place” he’d “hide on a Friday night” when he would “pull off Highway 249.”
“I always wanted to make music that was real and honest,” he said. “I don’t want to write what I don’t know. When people buy an album they’re also buying into the band and buying into me. It’s important to include what’s important to me.”
Eli has two pieces of advice for people who hope to one day earn their spot on the list of ACM nominations.
“Work your butt off,” he said. “Nothing will be handed to you and if it is, it’s not worth having. And of course, go to college and get your degree.”
Because the winner of the “Top New Vocal Group or Duo” is decided by fan votes, Tomball residents and all Eli Young Band fans can help determine the band’s success by voting for the band through the band web site at http://www.eliyoungband.com/ or through http://www.gactv.com/.
“We’re kind of the underdog,” Eli said. “The only way we’ll win is if everyone votes.”
The band’s debut single, “When it Rains,” was on the country charts longer than any independent single ever. Their new album, “Jet Black and Jealous,” debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s country charts.
Now, what Eli and the band are focused on is playing their music for the new fans that find them every day.
“People are really responding to our songs and then they go out and find our previous records and see we’re not just a band with one song,” he said. “Lots of people are just now discovering us, so we’re just bringing the music to them.”
