On January 18, 2012, Suite101 had the pleasure to chat with James Young of the acclaimed country group, Eli Young Band. Their lead-off single “Crazy Girl” from their new album Life At Best was certified platinum and it reached the top of the Billboard Country Charts.
James Young Talks “Life at Best”
Regarding the song selection process for Life At Best, James remarks “we write a lot of our songs. We had songs in our notebooks, and even though the songs ‘Crazy Girl’ and ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ weren’t written by us, we loved them the first time that we heard them!”
“We are proud of all of the songs, and when we make records, we use what we feel is the best material, from the first song to the last one. We want something we listen to all the way through,” he says.
James reveals that his personal favorite song on the record is the title track. “It’s a song that I wrote with Mike [Eli] and it sums up the whole album. We are thankful for all of our blessings and we take things with gratitude,” he adds.
James Young Discusses “Crazy Girl”
Their single “Crazy Girl” was recently named Billboard’s “Country Single of the Year.” “We’ve been doing music for 12 years and to have a #1 song is amazing!” exclaims James. “We are so blessed for what that song did for our career. We are enjoying every minute of it.”
James Young Talks About Their New Single
“Our new single ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ is expected to be released to radio next week. The video just came out on CMT. The tune is autobiographical for us. It is about following your dreams, and pushing until you make it! We all started this band wanting to take it as big as we can get it. Our dreams are still come true every day,” James admits.
James Young Talks About the Band’s Future Plans
“We have some tours in the works for this year. We are a band that loves to play live. We will go to Australia in March for an overseas visit,” he says.
When asked which female artists in the genre he would like to collaborate with, James responds, “Reba for sure, since we are big fans of her music. Also, Carrie Underwood can sing the phonebook and I’d listen to it.”
James Young Thanks their Fans
“Thank you for an amazing 2011, and thanks to everybody who has been with us for the past 12 years. We will keep on making music, and will continue to go out on the road, and performing live. Thanks for your continued support. Call your radio stations and request ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart,’” concludes James.
For more information on the Eli Young Band, visit their official website.
Markos Papadatos - Markos Papadatos holds over six years journalism experience, authoring over 700 articles, many of which are feature profile interviews.
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