Eisley

A family outfit rooted in Tyler, Texas, this indie rock ensemble performed under several earlier names—Towheads, MossEisley, Neverland, and Sinclair—before adopting Eisley in 2003. The core originated with siblings Sherri, Chauntelle, Stacy, and Weston DuPree, who later brought cousin Garron DuPree into the lineup. Their blend of inventive songwriting, commanding female vocals, and fluid movement across contemporary rock styles positioned them as a standout act within the mid-2000s pop-punk, alt-rock, and emo landscape. Their trajectory began with the offbeat pop approach of Room Noises in 2005, then shifted toward a stronger rock emphasis—punctuated by forays into country and dream pop—on key releases such as The Valley in 2011 and I’m Only Dreaming in 2017, the latter centering Sherri DuPree-Bemis and Garron DuPree as the primary creative forces.

The DuPree siblings—Sherri on vocals and guitar, Chauntelle on guitar, Stacy on vocals and keyboards, and Weston on drums—launched the project in 1997 alongside bassist Jon Wilson, performing their fanciful material at local coffeehouses in Tyler while Stacy was only eight. Throughout the ensuing five years they continued writing and gigging, gradually extending their reach into the Dallas-Fort Worth area and earning the Dallas Observer’s 2003 Best New Act Award. Months afterward they issued the Laughing City EP on Record Collection and spent that spring and summer supporting Coldplay and Ron Sexsmith on the road. The Marvelous Things EP appeared later in 2003, followed in early 2005 by their first major-label effort, Room Noises.

After Jon Wilson departed that summer, the DuPrees recruited their younger cousin Garron DuPree on bass. He appeared on record for the first time with 2007’s Combinations, which adopted a somewhat darker and more guitar-driven tone. The five-song Like the Actors EP arrived later the same year, closing their Warner Bros. chapter and leading to a deal with Equal Vision Records. Their debut for the new label, The Valley in 2011, addressed personal matters: Chauntelle’s broken engagement to Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara and Sherri’s divorce from New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert, who would later be succeeded by Say Anything’s Max Bemis as her spouse. Currents, their fourth studio album, surfaced in 2013 alongside a Kickstarter drive that sought $100,000 to fund touring. In 2015 Chauntelle and Stacy stepped away to focus on individual work, while Weston ceased live performances—Remington DuPree assumed drumming duties onstage—yet Weston still contributed to the drums on the fifth album, I’m Only Dreaming, issued in 2017. Produced by Will Yip and built primarily around DuPree-Bemis and Garron DuPree, the record also included input from touring guitarist Elle Puckett and younger siblings Christie and Collin DuPree of Merriment. The following year the band released I’m Only Dreaming…Of Days Long Past, a fully acoustic reinterpretation of the 2017 LP.