Who is Eli Winders? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music
Who is Eli Winders? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Eli Winders
Birthdate – 05/29/2004
Hometown – Pikeville, North Carolina
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Sturgill Simpson, Eric Church, ERNEST, Keith Whitley
Label – Atlantic Records/Bad Realm Records
Current Single – “Two Wheel Drive Cowboy” // as of date of article: 4/29/2024
The Beginning:
The country music genre is buzzing with so many incredible artists including newcomers on the scene. Singer-songwriter, Eli Winders, a newcomer in country music, is an artist we are excited about! We chatted with the singer about his music, his record deal, and how he continues to grow his fanbase. Keep reading to learn more about his story and to say you were a day one fan!
“I’m from North Carolina in a little town called Pikeville. I grew up within five miles of every bit of my family,” began Winders. “We lived out in the country and we didn’t have cable growing up or an Xbox or any of that until I was like fourteen, fifteen, so we spent a lot of time playing outside with my cousins and friends. Life was just a lot of time doing stuff like that. I think that definitely played a role in playing music. I didn’t have a phone either when I started playing guitar, and I started learning guitar when I was about fourteen.”
As a teenager, Winders fell in love with music. He recalls listening to classic rock and bluegrass music throughout his upbringing, thanks to his parents. He showed off his love of music first through guitar “Once I started playing guitar, I didn’t know I could sing, so I just wanted to play lead guitar and play rock riffs, and join a band at some point. Then eventually, I started trying to sing a bit, and I stuck with that. Then I found my way getting into country music a little bit,” he shared. Adding, “It was going back to the Avett Brothers, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett, and then I found out about Tyler Childers and deep dove into that whole world of country music, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Around that same time, I wrote my first song and it was super cheesy, but I fell in love with it, and just kept going.”
The Turning Point:
Throughout high school, Winders kept playing music. Upon graduating, he began working at a feed-mill, while simultaneously taking night classes and starting to post original songs on social media. “After night classes, I would go home, and go online and post a video every single day [on social media],” shared the singer. “Then that took off a little bit, and started to get some attention from people in the music industry. That led to a record deal with Atlantic Records, and I started to work with management over at C3, and eventually left the feed mill. I moved out here to Nashville, and I’ve been writing songs since.”
While in class one day, Winders received a DM on Instagram from his now A&R representative at Atlantic Records, and his life shifted on its axis. After meeting with his now team in New York City, he eventually went to Los Angeles to sign his record deal with Atlantic Records and made the move to Nashville in May of 2023.
“I had no idea that [my social media videos] would reach people in the music industry. My intention was to post videos and post original songs to kind of grow a fanbase, and go play shows,” humbly shared Winders. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity I was given to just write songs everyday and to go play shows out on the road. It’s truly a dream come true being able to do this.”
Today:
Flash forward to today, Winders is cranking out music that fans are falling in love with. His songs, “Pack My Hometown” and “Carolina Blue” already caught the attention of tons of country music fans for their honest and relatable lyrics. Now, the singer is gearing up to release even more music.
Most recently, Winders released a stage-ready song called, “Two Wheel Drive Cowboy.” “When I moved to town, I started hanging out with some people, and a guy who’s not a songwriter was like “hey I have this cool idea. I think it would be a good song title.” I immediately thought it was awesome, and I threw it out in a few co-writes, and nobody took it, and then eventually I found some people that wanted to write it with me, and it came out exactly how I imagined it,” shared the singer when asked about the song.
“Two Wheel Drive Cowboy” is the type of song that is made to be played live. It is fun, energetic, and still has the heart and grit that Winders’ previous releases have. “It’s just a super fun one to play with the band. With all the shows we’re starting to do, I wanted to move more in that direction of a more fun song that’s going to get the crowd moving a bit more than “Pack My Hometown” and “Carolina Blue.” I thought it was a good one to just try out first in that sound space.”
As 2024 continues, fans can expect more music from Winders, as he continues to tease incredible songs on his social media. For tickets to live shows, head to his website here! “I’m hoping this year to play as many shows as possible and to just say yes to everything I can. We have so much more music coming out. I spent all of May to December just writing, so we have so much music to put out.”
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Eli Winders releases.
To keep up with Eli Winders, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.
Eli Winders’ music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.