Q-and-A: Eli Young Band previews new EP, new album

by Josh Hogan

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The band is playing in Mesquite on April 30.

Eli Young Band's latest accomplishments have been plentiful: Their new single topped country charts, a new EP is available in only a few days, and a full length album drops this fall. “Crazy Girl” is the title of the former Denton band's current hit single, which has been tearing up the charts since being released earlier this month. The rocking country jam debuted at No. 1 on CMT.com and will be the cornerstone of the band’s upcoming Crazy Girl EP.

Add to their busy schedule a few shows around the country, including one in Mesquite at the Real. Texas Festival. at the end of April, and you get what has to be an exciting time for the Eli Young Band. We spoke with Jon Jones, the bassist for the band, about the upcoming releases, the band’s live show, and some of his favorite spots around DFW.

PegNews: The Eli Young Band has a new EP coming out May 3. What can we expect from it?

Jon Jones: Well, we were actually against doing an EP when the label (Universal South) came to us with the idea. We haven’t released an EP in years, and when we did, it was just because we couldn’t afford to release a full length album. But this seemed to work out for us. We have 15 or so songs, some of which will be released in August on a full length album, and this was a good way to get some new music out to our fans a little quicker.

So the EP is basically a preview of the new full length coming out this fall?

Yeah. All the songs that appear on this EP will also appear on our full length later this year. We worked with all the same producers that worked on Jet Black and Jealous, and we were able to expand on a lot of the things we did musically on that album. I don’t think we will ever be a fully polished band. I like to think of us as a glorified garage band. But I do think that the new stuff has been built on what we’ve done in the past.

Do you have a title for the new full length?

Not exactly. We have an idea, but like with most things we do, it will probably be up in the air till the very last minute.

You guys have a few upcoming shows, including the Real. Texas. Festival. in Mesquite on April 30. Will we get a preview of the new EP and album then?

A lot of these songs, we’ve been playing for a while now – over a year in some cases. So some of the songs aren’t really that new to us. But yeah, hopefully we can squeeze five or six new songs into the set. I mean, this is our home turf, and we know our fans want to hear songs that they already know, but our fans have always been really supportive and seem to enjoy hearing new material.

Speaking of being on home turf, The Eli Young Band started out as a Denton band. Do any of you still live in Denton?

We’ve all sort of moved away, to other parts of the metroplex mostly, but we all got our degrees from up there. I think Denton will always be a home away from home for us.

When not playing music, what are some of your favorite places to go in DFW?

I really enjoy going and checking out the places we used to play. Places like Adair’s or the Thirsty Armadillo bar in Fort Worth. It’s always cool to check out the young bands playing these days, to get a preview of what the next generation of musicians has to offer.

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