Your Country's Right Here: Eli Young Band Introduce "Crazy Girl" On Just-Released EP
posted in: Country • Features • Music News
The Eli Young Band are having plenty of success with a particular “Crazy Girl.”
The song”the first single off the group’s just-released EP that debuted at No. 1 last week on the iTunes charts”has been percolating in the EYB’s live shows for more than a year. At last year’s Country Throwdown Tour, the quartet were enthused to not only hear audiences cheer for the song but see many of them singing all of the song’s lyrics.
“We saw that song spread through YouTube [and other online sites] as soon as we started performing it,” said drummer Chris Thompson. “It was just great and quite simply, an endearing way to say something to the audience in a way that’s a little goofy.”
Fans love that approach, as evidenced by the success of the single’s video that rocketed to No. 1 on CMT.com and other sites. Just after the single’s release, it was the the most added single at Billboard and went to No. 1 on the iTunes Country singles chart.
“Crazy Girl,” written by Lee Brice and Taylor Swift-collaborator Liz Rose, tells the tale of a man’s mad love for a woman, not a woman’s insanity.
“It’s always been about having fun,” said guitarist James Young of the EYB philosophy. “That’s why we knew this video would be fun to watch. When we were getting ideas [for the video], we thought it’d be a cool thing to do, to make it a play on words. We just wanted to go with it.”
That’s why the quartet transformed Nashville’s Rehabilitation Hospital into the fictional Youngsville Psychiatric Hospital for the video, directed by Brian Lazzarro.
The four band mates play employees of the hospital that are distracted by music. So distracted, in fact, that they each fail to notice one of the patients devising an escape plan. But not to worry, it’s only a dream.
“This is the first video where we actually used a story line with that involves amateur acting,” said Young. “It was just fun and one of my favorite parts is where I’m sitting behind a desk just goofing off.”
Although the band’s past videos were shot around candid, casual moments, the chance to act gives EYB fans a chance to see the band in a different setting.
“We have been building a fan base for a long time and they have been holding onto the new songs that we put out,” said bass player Jon Jones. “That’s why we wanted to choose this great new song as our single.”
If anything, the single and video have fueled more EYB fever as evidenced by the band selling out a host of 1,5000 to 3,000 seat venues since its released.
“I think we all dreamed of getting to this point where we’re making national records and doing national tours,” said lead singer Mike Eli. “But I think as far as having that immediate goal, we just wanted to get around the next corner.”
That will soon be the release of their new full-length album this fall.
Making the EP to proceed the album was a “no brainer,” said Jones, who added that the band wants to satisfy their fans’ demands for new music.
“The fans make it really easy for us because they always want new music,” he said. “As long as the fans are winning, we are totally on board.”
The Eli Young Band is on tour. For a complete list of dates and locales plus information on the band’s new EP, check here.