Eleven Dollars
Denton, Texas, United States
Music
Press
If you live in Dallas, you know how easy it is to find new up-and-coming bands. They grow on trees here. And while most of them are good to really good, sometimes these kids haven't reached the musical maturity local music-lovers crave.
This is where Eleven Dollars comes in. The band that formed in 2005 started off like many other bands, just a chance to get together with some college buddies and play because it's fun. But then their fun took a turn to playing gigs at local bars in Denton and writing songs.
The players are front man Chris Mills, Steve Hughes, Chris Womack, Brandon Deem, and Doug Benscoter. Their music is a mix of alternative, blues and rock. But they don't like labels; they just want to make people happy.
"We want to make sure that people are having fun at our shows," says Hughes.
Besides having fun, these guys are serious about the music they create and it shows. Take songs like "Jump", "Save Me", and "Lauren's Song" that are heartfelt and personal.
According to the band members, their songs are a reflection of what is going on in their lives. They don't make it up; they live it.
Unfortunately the music business is extremely competitive and getting signed is almost like winning a stuffed animal at the fair.
Missing Pieces is the cure for what I like to call "the drinky blues". You know--beer in one hand, heart in the other.
Songs like "Near or Far" and "Cold Night" are marketable and highlight the searing talent these guys have. And if you are not satisfied, Eleven Dollars will play for free at your sweet sixteen or company blood drive.
–-- Liz Casanova, writer
- bigdplace.com/do11ars.html
Discography
"Missing Pieces" 5 track EP released December 2008 and re-released in 2010 under Blue Pie Records. "Near or Far" has been played on Local station 106.1 KissFM in Dallas and reached #56 on the international music charts. Streaming on myspace.com/do11ars. Available for purchase on itunes, napster, amazon.com, emusic and rhapsody
Currently working on Untitled full length album to be realsed in May of 2011.
Photos
Bio
Eleven Dollars is an acoustic/electric band that touches as many genres of music as we can get our hands on. We can do small acoustic shows, large venues, bars and concert halls all the way to pool side shows and benifits. We are 5 guys, all from different backgrounds that just love music and performing.
Eleven Dollars was formed in a small apartment in Lewisville, TX by Chris Mills and Cris Womack. The two long time best friends began writing songs on an acoustic guitar based on their current relationship problems and soon recruited a bass player, Eric Thompson. They began playing under the name Eleven Dollars and recorded a three track Demo entitled "Songs from Before I Met You". Shortly after, Thompson left the band to pursue education. Still the band grew to 4 with the addition of Doug Benscoter on bass and Brandon Deem bringing an edge to the music on lead guitar. More songs and creativity flowed into the band with their new songs and the band relocated to Denton to play more frequently. Practicing in a rec room of their apartment complex the band began refining their sound and growing a modest local fan base in and around Denton, TX. The final peace of the puzzle was added in 2007 after a brief hiatus, when Steve Hughes joined the band after playing a open mic nights with lead vocalist Chris Mills, bringing in more song writing and energy and allowing the band to add the signature harmonies to their music that they are now so popular for. In the spring of 2008 the band went into the studio to record their first EP titled "Missing Pieces" to be released in December of that year. In early 2008 the CD was picked up for distribution on such sites as Itunes, Rhapsody, Emusic, Napster and Amazon.com. Currently the band planning to expand their schedule to include other market cities around Texas and Oklahoma with a full tour to promote "Missing Pieces" in the works.
What sets Eleven Dollars apart is our use of soulful singing and lyrics over acoustic rock songs. Often times we are told by people who hear our music that they haven't heard anything like it before. We draw from many different influences in many different genres spanning from country music, Sons of the Desert, to Hard rock such as Incubus to soulful rock such as Counting Crows all the way Dave Matthews Band. We like to put our own spin on the covers we choose to play but we also love to write, arrange and record our own music.
Band Members
Links
