We were lucky to catch up with Eli Alger recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Eli thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I first learned how to play guitar at the age of 15 by watching the “Garth Brooks Live at The Wynn” special that came with his box set right when it first came out, You could say that’s where the journey began. In the way that I taught myself I came to find later in life that I had technically learned everything “backwards” from a musical standpoint. Where one is supposed to learn the basics first like rhythm and timing, how to match pitch with your voice, how to sing harmonies, the Nashville number system, the circle of 5ths, scales, how to read sheet music, the list goes on. I instead learned how to make chord shapes by watching the hands of others, not knowing what they meant or where and just trying to emulate the sound the other guys instrument was making. I really learned how to perform before I ever learned how to correctly make music.
Knowing what I know now, I definitely should have started developing an internal sense of rhythm, learning how to properly warm up and train my voice, and started training my ears to pick out when something was in tune. In a sense I am glad that I learned to perform and play guitar the way that I did. I don’t think I’d be the entertainer I am now and as much of an “out of the box” mentality in my approach on things if I hadn’t. Its definitely made it harder down the road when getting in sync with a band, though.
My biggest obstacle has definitely been my sense of rhythm, I naturally want to add a beat where there technically shouldn’t be one, and I have a tendency to break time frequently. I guess that “incorrect” stuff kind of got ingrained in me while I was performing solo a lot in college, I played north of 1,000 shows with just me and my guitar without ever being held accountable for my timing. Nobody seemed to mind, in fact most enjoyed my shows, hence why I’m here, and so I just kept it up and did my own thing until I finally started playing with a drummer. The first time I had a guy tell me I was out of time I was 22 and I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. The world of professionally created music has been dumping me on my head ever since, lol!
Eli, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Howdy Howdy!
My name is Eli Alger, and I am the founder & lead singer of my band “Eli Alger & The Faster Horses”.
I’ve known since I was a little kid that I wanted to be a country singer, its what I told everyone I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn’t start playing guitar until I was about 15. By the age of 19 I started my first band, “The Little Liquor Band”, that consisted of me on the acoustic guitar and lead singer, our Bass player Sam The Ram whos played by my side from the beginning, and our first drummer Logan Perry who is a childhood friend of mine. We honed our craft and yodeled around in the bars & tonks of Iowa, taking what we could get and just being excited to play music for anyone who’d listen.
The band broke up after about a year because Logan’s work was starting to demand more of him, so I set out playing solo shows all over the place on the weekends.
My folks told me I had to go to college and pay for half of my tuition, so I used music to cover the bill. My granddad told me that if I wanted to know how to make money I should get a finance degree, so that’s what I did. I must say though I was skeptical at the time and just wanted to play music, the background in business and the ability and willpower honed by school to learn, critically think, properly manage time, plan into the future, handle finances, etc. has REEAALLYY helped me along the way.
For instance, I have always made it a point to have good quality merch made in the USA, I feel things that resonate with me like that will resonate with others, and so far that’s rang true. Always support local, because local will support you back.
I graduated college from the University of Iowa in the spring of 2020 right into The Plague (Covid). God works in mysterious ways, the pandemic was the thing that pushed me over the edge to pack up and moved to Nashville, I had nothin to lose. With the utmost certainty I can say that If i had not moved to Nashville when I had none of this would be a reality, It was the perfect time for me to move to town. I really need to write a solid 4,000 word(ish) dealio explaining why I say that, but for todays purposes I’ll have to ask you guys to just take my word for it.
As for what services we provide, I’m gonna fast forward to now. When a county fair, festival, street dance, whatever, brings in The Faster Horses for their event I can only promise one thing. We are going to put on the very best show we can possibly muster with the material and show we have conjured, and we will leave every ounce of energy out on the stage. We do covers but I wouldn’t call us a cover band, I think its so important to be able to absolutely nail 30-40 songs and put on an emotionally gripping and endorphin releasing show that takes a crowd on a journey instead of just being able to do a “good job” or “get through” a couple hundred songs. We deliberately sit with our material and try our best to deliver it in a way that hopefully makes the hairs on your neck stand up, Whether you’ve never heard the song before or you know all the words to it.
off of that, we also try to play songs that not everyone does, the goal is for folks to say “man I love this song but I haven’t heard it in a coons age!” lol!!
Every show and situation is different, and we will work with everyone to make the best of it, come what may.
Its hard to say what I’m most proud of thus far, the “Rednexico” music video was entirely my brain child and I’m so proud of how it came out, the acquisition of our first tour bus was a big moment. But I think the thing I’m most proud of and wouldn’t trade for anything are the few standing ovations we’ve received, not just for me but for the whole crew. It’s so humbling to be given that kind of recognition on something you’ve worked so hard on, for the people to give you that on their on tuition in the moment. Its so so special.
As for what I’d like clients/followers/fans to know about us in addition to the above, you’ll find that we are purists in the sense that we only play what I call “both kinds of music, Country AND Western”. Nowadays I feel like everyone has a little bit of everything in their show, and that’s just fine. It just doesn’t sit right with me to get up on stage in overalls and a cowboy hat and rap or play some heavy rock or some cheesy chick country or bro country that everyone knows… If they weren’t wearing a cowboy hat or putting out music that really made you FEEL something, we likely aren’t going to play/cover it.
In closing, I’d like to say two things:
First: We love what we do and we work our tails off to get it right (or as “right” as we can”, and if you come out to a show with an open mind I’m just sure you are gonna love it.
Second: I’ll be handing free CDs of our “Faster horses: Fresh Out Of The Gate” EP at the end of every show, it doesn’t do us any good unless you guys are listening to it. Please come snag yours and say hey!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Share Share Share
It doesn’t cost anything to write a good review, share a song or a video, or tell folks about a band you enjoy. I cant articulate in words how incredibly valuable and important every single persons voice is in getting the word out.
The music is nothing without ears to listen, YOU can help us find those ears with the click of a button.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Having complete strangers tell you that they love your original music. We as songwriters and artists work so hard to get the music “right”, and no matter what level we are at a part of us is scared that the people may not enjoy or resonate what we put out.
To hear “I love this song” or something along those lines just brings grateful tears, every time. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elialgermusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elialgermusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliAlgerMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDcsqQP8m1cX7Z6eOKOCJpA
- Other: we got Tik Tok and all of the streaming platforms, just head to the website we have hyperlinks to everything!