Eli Young Band Shares Secret to 25-Year Career And How Their New Album ‘Strange Hours’ Was Born Out of “Frustration”

It’s been 25 years since Mike Eli (lead vocals/guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass), and Chris Thompson (drums) joined forces at the University of North Texas to create the powerhouse country group Eli Young Band. The multi-platinum foursome went on to win the hearts of country music fans across the world with hits like “Crazy Girl,” “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” and “Love Ain’t.”

During their latest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, Eli Young Band sat down with Music Mayhem backstage to dive into their new record Strange Hours, available August 1. They reveal the surprising inspiration for the album, how their collaboration with Corey Kent came together, the secret to their long-lasting career, and more.

It’s been three years since their last album release (Love Talking), and this time, they’re doing it as independent artists. Strange Hours is full of feel-good singalongs, rocking anthems, and celebrations of romance.

Digging deep into their Lone Star State roots, the guys went back to Panhandle House Studio where they recorded their 2005 Level album in Denton, Texas, to recreate that magic with the perspective of two decades of experience.

“There were some moments where it really felt like we were in a time machine, only somehow we could miraculously play our instruments a little bit better,” Jones laughs. “It felt so comfortable and just very freeing to be so far away from the industry. I mean, when we recorded the first record there, that’s where we went to college. We lived three blocks from that recording studio. So it was all those feelings back to our current-day selves, and it was exactly what we were hoping it was going to be.”

Strange Hours comes at a time of reinvention for the band, not only as independent artists, but also as touring artists coming out of the pandemic, trying to figure out what going on the road would look like moving forward. 

“I think that there are a lot of these songs that kind of came out of that frustration of trying to reinvent and trying to figure out what touring and all of this was going to be like for us coming out of that year,” says Mike Eli. “And so a lot of those songs have a lot of frustration built into them. I’m not sure there’s a lot of love and happiness that’s in it, but a lot of the song ideas and a lot of the ‘Strange Hours’ and ‘What Do Lonely People Do,’ and a lot of these titles that are built around that were born out of that frustration.”

“The name ‘Strange Hours’ says so much about the lives we’ve been living for the past 25 years,” says Jon Jones, who adds that although it’s a relationship song, it was based on their career. “What it really started as was kind of those strange hours that we as a band have been keeping for the past 25 years. And during COVID, we were just normal, regular stay-at-home dads. And then going back to keeping those strange hours again.”

Eli shared how they were used to jumping back and forth between the schedules of touring musicians and being home with their families, but after being home so long during the pandemic, it was tough to make that adjustment again.

“Anytime I try to explain to one of the other parents or something what our hours are, going back and forth from the road to home, it’s like I’ll be sitting at a ball game at 9:00 AM in the morning and talking to a dad who would say, ‘Where were you on the road?’ And I was like, oh, I was in Minnesota.’ He is like, ‘Last night?’ I go, ‘Yeah, I got off-stage around midnight.’ They’re like, I’m sorry this math isn’t adding up. You’re like, I know. Strange hours.”

Regaining Creative Freedom 

Strange Hours is a compilation of 13 tracks that are the result of finding space for creativity and not needing the approval of others. It’s also the first album in a while where all the songs were co-written by members of the band. 

“We’ve learned over the years, not only what our fans want from us musically, but also what we do best and what we feel like is our wheelhouse,” says Jones.

“I think there’s a lot of space on this record too,” adds Eli, “whereas I feel like on a lot of previous records, we try to fill every spot and every moment of quiet in the record. And I think we really let the songs breathe and let there be space a little bit, which is kind of nice. And I think that it let the moments that counted really shine.”

Balancing songwriting and touring can be a challenge, so the unexpected hiatus from the road during the pandemic led to creative opportunities. “We didn’t plan on having a bunch of time off, but we did, and that kind of left open a really creative door for us,” says Eli.

In addition to having the time to lean into their creativity, they also had more freedom.

“Now that we’re independent, again, we didn’t have to ask anybody, which is really nice,” says Jones. “We’ve always trusted the four of us and have, if anybody feels really strongly against or for a song, we try to listen to that, but everybody gets a vote. We hadn’t made a full record in so long, and we did have all that downtime. We had so many songs to pick from. So it was really just trying to find a group of songs that kind of fit well together to make a record. 

Maybe not always, these are the best 12 tracks, but these 12 tracks kind of feel cohesive together. So we really feel like we came out with a really great project with plenty left for the next one.”

“I think just like any artist, you have a lot of self-doubt even 25 years in,” says Eli. “When you go, and you make a record on your own, and you really take the reins, you feel like you accomplished something really great because you leave some of that self-doubt behind.”

When it comes to making records, they call their approach “old school,” finding a middle ground between singles and 30-song projects. 

“I don’t think that we’ll be one of those double-album bands quite yet,” says Eli. “I think we’re pretty good right there in the middle. So there are a lot of artists that are releasing albums with 30 or 40 songs on one record, and then these folks that release one song at a time, which is what you do kind of building up to the record. But we like to eventually release the whole project and then move on to the next cohesive unit.”

“Whiskey Told Ya” With Corey Kent

For the first time in Eli Young Band’s career, they’ve recorded a collaboration with another artist on one of their albums. Written by all four members of the band, “Whiskey Told Ya” features fellow Texan Corey Kent.

The tune laments, “don’t blame me for what the whiskey told ya,” and includes the playful hook, “Don’t hate the player, hate the bender.”

After years of trying to record collaborations and red tape getting in the way, the band finally has the freedom as independent artists to just pick up the phone and ask whomever they want.

“We’ve known Corey for a long time,” says Jones. “We’ve written quite a bit with him and had him on the road, and it just made sense. He’s a great hang, great guy, great songwriter. We couldn’t have picked anybody better, and he was gracious to do it.”

“He understands what we do,” added Eli. “And so being able to have him on the record without it taking away from what we do, while also not misrepresenting what he does.”

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Secret To Longevity

How has Eli Young Band stayed together for 25 years? “Learn to listen and think before you talk,” says Eli, who adds that he’s not always the best at it.

When they first started playing music together, they were already friends and started reaching the same life milestones together. 

“We all graduated from college together, all kind of got married around the same time, obviously got the same jobs, but all started having kids around the same time. Going through the phases of life together has helped, having enough success as a band to keep us motivated, and always feel like there’s something more to do, but just finding ways to always be on the same page and taking a step back when you need to. And putting our friendship first when that’s important. I mean, we can talk about it like that part’s been hard, but 95% of the time that’s just a no-brainer.”

Eli concluded, “We still like each other; we keep showing up for each other every week.”

Strange Hours Track List