CMT Blog: Eli Young Band

At first all I could hear was the percussive hand-clapping. I couldn't get over how cool it sounded at the beginning of Eli Young Band's "Gimme Three Steps" from the Sweet Home Alabama -- The Country Music Tribute To Lynyrd Skynyrd album out tomorrow (July 20) at Walmart stores. So that was my first question when I talked to James Young (the "Young" in Eli Young Band).

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I love music downloads, but I especially love free music downloads. If you're a Rodney Atkins fan -- or a country fan, in general -- how can you resist a free download of "Get Together"? It's a brand new song that's never been on any of Atkins' albums. Aside from the new music, the Knoxville, Tenn., native has a busy tour schedule this summer, including a June 5 appearance at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival in Enterprise, Ala. And on June 11, he'll be performing in Nashville on the CMA Music Festival's Riverfront Park stage during a day of music that also features Gretchen Wilson, the Eli Young Band, Jack Ingram, Craig Morgan, Patty Loveless, Sawyer Brown, Bucky Covington and The Band Perry. His tour is sponsored by VELVEETA Shells & Cheese, and at some of the stops, a "side shack" will provide a variety of family entertainment and the chance to win a VIP pass that allows winners the virtual reality experience of performing with Atkins on an interactive video screen and other prizes. In the meantime, download the song and let us know what you think of it.

This must be such a sad day for so many country fans in Oklahoma. A music festival they've known and most likely loved for the past seven years is taking a year off. Country Fever has called off their outdoor event held in Pryor (just north of Tulsa) for 2010, citing a challenging economy, shrinking attendance, loss of sponsor commitments, increasing artist performance fees and "the very real financial hardships facing a majority of the festival's fans." Last year the festival took a Red Dirt and Texas country approach to its lineup, bringing in Cross Canadian Ragweed, Eli Young Band and Robert Earl Keen, among many others. And since 2003, they have hosted Oklahoma natives Toby Keith, Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood, among many other country stars. If you already purchased tickets, you will get a full refund, and organizers believe they'll be back in 2011.

When the Eli Young Band's fans kept bringing up one of their album cuts, "Guinevere," the group decided to make a video for it. However, their prior label's budget had run dry (following the band's Top 10 hit, "Always the Love Songs") so the four guys came up with a modest sum from their own pocketbooks, hired a director and shipped the video to CMT with high hopes. The risk paid off -- "Guinevere" will be officially released as a single on March 22. The band is also halfway through making a new record for Republic Nashville (with a cover of Will Hoge's "Even If It Breaks Your Heart"), yet everybody's hoping that "Guinevere" will enjoy a long ride up the charts first. "You could tell the fans had latched onto it," said Mike Eli during an interview this morning (Feb. 24) at Country Radio Seminar. "It feels like it's getting stronger -- the buzz and the way people talk about it." In the meantime, the hard-working band will play its first headlining show at the Houston Rodeo next month, attend the ACM Awards in April (as nominees for top new vocal group) and tackle the Country Throwdown Tour with Montgomery Gentry in May. In the words of their first single, "When It Rains..." Here's the video for "Guinevere."

In classical literature Guinevere is King Arthur's queen, and her affair with Sir Lancelot brings about the fall of the kingdom. To the Eli Young Band, she's a girl who's been hurt by relationships in the past and consequently won't let anyone new stick around for too long. In this CMT.com world premiere video, the guys from Denton, Texas tell the story of a loner just looking to "Make the damage of her days disappear/Just like Guinevere." See what you think it means and come back tonight (Jan. 4) at 8/7c for a live chat with the band. Maybe they can clear a few things up.

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Over the last few years, Eli Young Band earned a national fan base with singles like "When it Rains" and "Always the Love Songs." With a new year around the corner, the native Texans are prepared for the arrival of "Guinevere," a fan favorite and one of their best-selling songs. Alas, the video won't have its world premiere on CMT.com until Jan. 4, but you can catch an enticing trailer for it here.

One of my favorite songs right now is Eli Young Band's "Always the Love Songs." The video's not bad either. But I had no idea just how popular it was until I found out that it has been consistently beating out videos from Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn. That's been happening on CMT Power Picks, where viewers watch and then vote for their favorite of the two videos being pitted against each other. So while this simple, on-the-road video may not have had the production budget of the others, it still rises to the top when the fans get their say. The band's new song, "Radio Waves," was just released, and I wonder if that one will have a repeat performance on CMT if and when they make a video.

I hate surprises. And even more than surprises, I hate secrets. So this is driving me crazy. There's an online scavenger hunt to determine the secret location of a CMA Fan Social on June 13. All they are saying is that it's from 3-6 p.m. and that CMT host Lance Smith, Eli Young Band, Carter Twins, Emerson Drive, Gloriana, Holly Williams and Joey & Rory will all be there. You can get clues on CMT.com or on your phone or the myriad of social networking sites. I don't know the ins and outs of Nashville very well, though, so even if I was going, I wouldn't have that local advantage. But if you love any of those artists like I do and you're going to be in Nashville for the CMA Music Festival, it would definitely be worth your time to hunt that show down.

When I blogged about the American Songwriter story on Darius Rucker last week, I'll admit I had only seen the online excerpt. That was enough to pique my interest and get myself to a magazine store to buy the real thing for $4.95. And inside, there was a 20-song CD called The Country Way. It's better than the prize at the bottom of the cereal box. And I've been listening to it non-stop, hence the first five songs on my list this morning:

"Beautiful World," Dierks Bentley
"Radio Waves," Eli Young Band
"The Resurrection," Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
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As I was flipping through the channels last night (May 4), I happened to catch The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Though I'm not much for late night talk shows, when I saw Eli Young Band was about to perform, I was curious. The group solidly performed "When It Rains," and I couldn't help but think how appropriate of a song choice, or at least for those of us here in Nashville. Lately it seems like our forecast only predicts rain -- sprinkled showers, thunderstorms, dark, dreary, gloomy weather. Though I've heard the song several times, I had never really stopped to listen to the words. Perhaps I paid closer attention because it was drizzling outside my window. "When it rains/I don't mind being lonely/I cry right along with the sky. When it rains/I don't pretend to be happy/I don't even have to try." It's true, isn't it? How the weather almost gives us an excuse to be glum? And though I don't mind the rain on occasion, I sure do hope they bring back some of that California sunshine.