Eisley

A family act featuring three sisters, their brother, and their first cousin, Eisley formed in 1997 when the DuPree siblings -- guitarist Chauntelle, singer/guitarist Sherri, singer/keyboardist Stacy, and drummer Weston -- began playing whimsical, dreamy alt-pop with bassist Jon Wilson. Originally called the Towheads, they began playing local coffeehouse gigs in their hometown of Tyler, TX, during the following year, when Stacy was just eight years old. Over the next five years, the group wrote and played, expanding their touring area to the Dallas-Fort Worth region and ultimately winning a 2003 Best New Act Award from The Dallas Observer. A few months later, Eisley released their debut EP, Laughing City, on the indie imprint Record Collection, and toured that spring and summer with Coldplay and Ron Sexsmith. The Marvelous Things EP arrived later in 2003, followed in early 2005 by their major-label debut, Room Noises.

Jon Wilson left the band that summer, and the DuPree siblings enlisted their younger cousin, Garron DuPree, to fill the vacant position. Garron made his studio debut on 2007's Combinations, which featured a slightly darker, more rock-oriented sound. A five-track EP, Like the Actors, followed later that year, marking the band's final release for Warner Bros. and paving the way for a new contract with Equal Vision Records. Meanwhile, the elder DuPree sisters both struggled with failing relationships; Chauntelle dealt with a broken engagement to Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara, while Sherri divorced her first husband, Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory, after ten months. Both experiences fueled the material on Eisley's next release, The Valley, which marked their debut for Equal Vision in early 2011. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi