The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

They may not be too well known in the Southeast

Texas region, but the Eli Young Band has been gaining fans for years in other

parts of Texas. They spent years building a defining sound with the goal of

cutting a national album launch.

The band will be at the Texas Longhorn Entertainment Complex on Friday, Jan 21, after a session of indoor bull

riding, the band will take over.

Mike Eli, playing guitar and doing vocals. James

Young , guitar, Jon Jones, playing bass guitar, and Chris Thompson, drummer,

have spent those years hauling equipment and playing small Texas clubs while

working on the goal of a national album. The hard work paid off when in 2008

the album Jet Black & Jealous was released and made the Top 5 on the

Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

The year following the album launch was a year of

major milestones and firsts for the band. They made their late night debut with

a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live of their single “Always the Love Songs”. The

song would be their first Top 10 hit on country radio and would help them land

a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They made a debut on The Grand

Ole Opry, earned their first ACM nomination, CMT nomination, and gained a

performance spot at the CMT Awards.

Their national profile has expanded to include

places such as Atlanta, Chichago, Denver, Kansas City and number of other

places. In their home region they have sold 5,000 to 6,000 tickets headlining

in Houston, Austin, San Antoino, and 19,000 headlining a single show in the

Dallas/Ft.Worth area.

They have opened for top stars like the Dave

Matthews Band, Allen Jackson, James Aldean, Pat Green, and most recently were offered

the opening spot on Gary Allen’s national Get Off The Pain Tour.

“We were young and 18 and just trying to make

music,” says Eli. “We just wanted to be popular in our hometown. Then once we

captured that, I thought, ‘I want us to be popular in DFW’—Dallas and Fort

Worth. Then once we did that I said, ‘Let’s take over Texas.’ The next thing

you know were saying, ‘Lets take over the South.’ Now it’s ‘Let’s take over the

country.’”

Friday night, Jan 21, after a session of indoor bull

riding, the band will take over the Texas Longhorn Entertainment Complex.

The club will open at 8:00 p.m. The bulls will buck

at 9:30 followed by the concert at 11:00.

Tickets are $20 the day of the show with no presale.

If you would care to reserve a VIP table, you may call the Longhorn at

337-589-5647. It is a full night of entertainment for one ticket price.

Coming up on the Longhorn calendar are Roger Creager

on Friday, Feb 4, and Lee Brice, Friday, Feb 18. Friday, Feb 25 will be another

appearance by the legendary David Allen Coe.

To stay informed about events at the Texas Longhorn

Entertainment Complex, visit the website,www.thetexaslonghorn.com.

The complex is located at I-10 Exit 4, 2374 Hwy 109

S, Vinton, La.