Five albums into a successful music career, the Eli Young Band has racked up an impressive string of mainstream country radio chart hits and major industry award nominations, and the group has played to packed houses everywhere the band name has appeared on the marquee. Named after founders Mike Eli (vocals, guitar) and James Young (guitar), the Eli Young band is on track to become one of the top groups in the Texas Red Dirt movement, as well as mainstream country music. Taking a short break from his regular gig with his band, Mike Eli will appear with Randy Rogers as an acoustic duo at Denim & Diamonds Thursday night. Eli called in from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, where he and his band were scheduled to entertain for the last night of the National Finals Rodeo. While Eli was waiting for the famous MGM lions to be safely moved to a secure part of the massive facility, he said he is looking forward to working with Rogers in Wichita Falls. “I’ll do an acoustic show on my own every once in a while,” Eli said, “but Randy and I have been wanting to do this for a long time. We just haven’t found the time for it on our schedule. So we finally just took three days and said we’d do shows together. It’s an opportunity for us to hang out and write together. We’re going to take a bus and go out for the three days and kind of have some fun with it.” Eli said he and Rogers have been friends for a long time, and they always enjoy getting together to pick and sing. “We’ll be playing what they call a ‘song swap,’” he said. “We’re just playing acoustic, and will kind of go back and forth playing some of our songs. It’s a chance to try out some new stuff and play some of the old stuff we haven’t played in a while. I really enjoy playing acoustically with Randy and other players, and finally getting to do this is a treat for me.” Although the Eli Young Band has played Wichita Falls before, and was a headliner act at FallsFest two years ago, Eli said that the band hasn’t been able to play in Wichita Falls as much as the members might like since their career shifted into high gear. “We’ve been on the road like crazy,” he said. “With the success of ‘Crazy Girl’ and ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ from our last album, we’ve been all over the U.S., and when we get back to Texas we’re happy to be back home.” He added that playing a few acoustic duo shows with a fellow Texas Red Dirt mainstay like Randy Rogers will be a highlight of his holiday. “We’re going to have a good time,” Eli said. “And I think the people will like it, too.”