Eli Young Band will preach the “Saltwater Gospel” on Friday in Biloxi

The Eli Young Band will be preaching the “gospel” when they hit the IP Casino Resort on Friday at 8 p.m.

The band — singer Mike Eli, guitarist James Young, bassist Jon Jones and drummer Chris Thompson — will share their new single “‘Saltwater Gospel” with their Gulf Coast fans. “Saltwater Gospel” is the first single from the band’s upcoming album.

In an interview with the Sun Herald, Young discusses living the “Saltwater Gospel” and the upcoming new album.

What does the “Saltwater Gospel” mean to the band?

We are so excited to have new music out. We cut “Saltwater Gospel” in the first round of songs we recorded for the new record. We had a gut feeling it would be the first single off of the new record. We all love the beach and the first time we heard it, we knew it was something we wanted to record.

We’re just glad to have something new out at radio.

It will be great to play it against the backdrop of Biloxi.

How’s the recording process for the new album going?

We’ve been doing the record in chunks. We went in the studio two or three times and just cut a bunch of new songs. We recently switched labels and the new label gave us all of the freedom in the world to make a record. We did it and they loved it. I can’t tell you when the whole thing is coming out.

We’re happy with the new label, but it’s still under the umbrella of Big Machine.

As a native of Texas, who were some of the guitar players you listened to when you were growing up?

Growing up in Texas, there was that whole Texas culture with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Waylon and Willie and different country influences. But being a guitar player, I was into Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page — the guitar greats.

But Stevie Ray Vaughn was how I was introduced to the blues.

This whole band is a melting pot of influences from classic rock to country to 70s singer-songwriter stuff. When you’re in a group, your influences just kind of melt into its own things.

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Eli Young Band will preach the “Saltwater Gospel” on Friday in Biloxi."