While it might be a bit of a stretch for Tomball to call the Eli Young Band it’s own, after all, the band took shape in Denton, it’s certainly not too much to feel a sense of pride for a local boy done good.

And if doing good means earning a spot on the famous rotating stage at the world’s biggest rodeo, then Tomball should be bursting with pride for Mike Eli, a Tomball High School graduate and lead singer of one of the hottest groups on the country music scene.

Last week, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced that the Eli Young Band would appear as the feature performers for the March 19 show at Reliant Stadium.

“When I found out, I was obviously incredibly excited,” Eli said. “I was at home, so I got my chance to celebrate.”

Their appearance at this year’s rodeo will be the latest in a line of moments Eli said has helped the band realize that they, after eight years of paying their dues, are finally moving into a new era of popularity.

“We’re not huge stars yet. We’re brand new nationally, even though we’ve been doing this for eight years,” Eli said. “Everything we’ve done has been slowly happening. For us, we’ve become more and more popular in little segments.”

The Eli Young Band debuted in its original lineup in October 2000, after guitarist James Young, bass player Jon James and drummer Chris Thompson joined Eli at the University of North Texas.

The band built a strong local following and in 2002, released their self-titled debut on Carnival Records. Three years and hundreds of shows later, the band followed up their debut with “Level,” also on Carnival.

Firmly entrenched in the “Texas Music” scene, the Eli Young Band released the obligatory live album, “Live at the Jolly Fox,” in 2006.

By the time the band entered into the studio for their latest project, “Jet Black and Jealous,” the suits in Nashville had already taken notice. With the album already completed, the Eli Young Band signed with major-label Universal South, which released “Jet Black and Jealous” in 2008 to critical acclaim.

The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard U.S. Country chart and spawned four Top 40 U.S. Country singles. The current single, “Always the Love Songs,” has become a behemoth for the band, peaking at No. 11 and getting radio airplay across the country.

With the success of “Jet Black and Jealous” increasing over the past year, the Eli Young Band is seeing their stock rapidly rise when other “next big things” out of the Texas Country scene are being forgotten.

Eli says the band’s 2009 performance on The Tonight Show was among the many high points their new-found success has given them.

“I think there were several moments, being on the Tonight Show was I think one of those moments where you pinch yourself,” Eli said. “It was just very surreal.”

The band has also earned nominations from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Televison, has performed at the Grand Ole Opry and has become a staple on country music video stations.

With perhaps the band’s biggest show to date coming up at Reliant Stadium, Eli said the challenge will be to make the band’s performance as big as the event itself.

“You’ve got to do everything a little bigger,” he said. “As we’ve gotten bigger, we’ve gotten these situations and you’ve got to shift the way you entertain. By no means can I lecture you on how to do it, we’re only just beginning this phase of our career.”

Eli recalls his time growing up in Tomball and his trips to the rodeo as a kid.

“We saw George Strait, Alan Jackson, Garth, The Judds, K.T. Oslin,” Eli said. “It was always a really good time. Those were my first memories of being at concerts. When we went to concerts, we went to the rodeo.”

About a month ago, representatives from the rodeo contacted the band’s management about the possibility of them playing this year’s event. The two sides began to discuss availability, but Eli admits he wasn’t getting his hopes up about the prospects of playing in front of more than 60,000 people in his hometown.

“We’ve been doing this for a few years, but big people play the rodeo,” Eli said. “The fact that they think that highly high of us, it’s a huge deal.”

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