One of the bigger names to come out of Kentucky is the band, Cage the Elephant. Hailing from not only Bowling Green but also from Greenwood High School. They are an alternative rock band
consisting of Matt Shultz, Brad Shultz, Jared Champion, Daniel Tichenor, Matthan Minster, and Nick Bockrath. The band has released four different albums since forming in 2006, including: Cage the Elephant (2008), Thank You, Happy Birthday (2011), Melophobia (2013), and Tell Me I’m Pretty (2015). They started with a major fan base in Europe doing multiple tours there, and they have recently started to build their popularity in the U.S. performing many tours and festivals, like Forecastle, Firefly, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo. The band also recently performed their hit singl “Mess Around” on The Late Late Show with James Corden and “Trouble” on Conan. “Mess Around” is the band’s second number one single the band has had on the Alternative Airplay chart knocking Twenty One Pilots to #2 after being there for twelve weeks, the first being “Come A Little Closer” off of Melophobia.

When their new album, Tell Me I’m Pretty, released at the end of 2015, there were many different reactions to it. Some listeners ate the new album up and loved it while others felt that it was not as good as what they personally thought the band could achieve. The album was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys whose influence you could hear in the album along with a sixties vibe. The new album did indeed have a different sound than their earlier albums along with very powerful lyrics like in “Trouble” where Matt sings “Got so much to lose/ Got so much to prove/ God don’t let me lose my mind”. TMIP was a different sound that many were not expecting when they first listened to the album, it pushed the band into a new direction of sound that they could definitely move more towards with their future album. Others like Nicholas Barth thought that the album “wasn’t awful but definitely not as good as their other stuff.” My favorite song on the album is either “Portuguese Knife Fight” or “Sweetie Little Jean” because both are very catchy lyrically with great guitar riffs. The band told Rolling Stone in a recent article about the origins of “Sweetie Little Jean” a song about a neighbor of Matt and Brad who was abducted and killed at seven.

With the release of Tell Me I’m Pretty, Cage The Elephant came back to Bowling Green for a signing at Mellow Matt’s Music and More for an album release party. If a fan pre-ordered either a physical copy of the CD or the vinyl LP the
y would be guaranteed a spot at the signing or you could stand in line with something of your own for them to sign like magazines or old albums, but if you stood in line you would not get guaranteed to get that object signed. Hundreds of people showed up from all around Kentucky and Nashville to stand in line, which went out the door and around the building throughout the signing period, hoping to get an album or magazine signed and to meet the guys.   

The band announced their performance at the Super Bowl pre-show with Metallica in November which has made all their fans excited to see which songs they will perform live. They also dropped the date for their  Spring Fling AF 2016 Tour with Foals, Bear Hands, and Silversun Pickups, who are their “favorite acts in the game”. Starting March 11th hey will be stopping in 15 cities including: Fresno, El Paso, Johnson City, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, and many others for a “rock and roll show”. The band is also on the lineup for the Hangout Fest in Orange Beach, Alabama in May. 

Be sure to check out Cage The Elephant’s on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr, and Instagram and their album Tell Me I’m Pretty  on iTunes!