Eisley sings from the heart

If it weren’t for heartache and love gone cold, the world would have a lot fewer songs.

It certainly wouldn’t have the new album “The Valley,” which is the latest offering from the Tyler, Texas, band Eisley. The group will be playing all 11 songs off its new release, as well as some of its oldies, this evening at the Southern Cafe and Music Hall in Charlottesville.

“I think it’s [new CD] definitely the most raw, real and open we’ve ever been lyrically,” said Chauntelle DuPree, who plays lead guitar in the band. “It’s very personal to us.

“It was [born] out of a lot of heartache. We went through some pretty bad breakups, divorce and things like that. During that period, a lot of good things were happening as well.

“So there’s a lot of joy as well as pain in the record. The songs were written during a couple of years’ time. So there was time for us to make sure we put out a record we’re proud of and happy with.”

The new album debuted at No. 75 on the Billboard 200 Current Albums chart and hit No. 5 on Amazon MP3’s Top 10 Album Chart and No. 3 on its New Albums chart. Although the CD has been out only since March 1, the Big Takeover already has deemed it “one of the best albums of 2011.”

Eisley consists of three sisters, a brother and a cousin. Chauntelle DuPree and her younger sister Sherri were the founding members, but sister Stacy quickly worked her way into the mix.

“Sherri and I started writing songs together with a friend when I was 14 and she was 12,” Chauntelle DuPree said. “Stacy was about 8 at the time, and we wouldn’t let her be part of the group, because we were too cool, being teenagers and all.

“So Stacy went in her bedroom and picked up a guitar. She didn’t know how to play, but she worked and worked until she had written a song. She presented it to us, and we realized that we needed her to be part of the group.”

That, as it turned out, was a very good career move. Stacy had crafted a song about a friend of the family who had tried to commit suicide.

“This person had been strung out on drugs, and when he tried to commit suicide, it really upset Stacy,” Chauntelle DuPree said. “It broke her heart, so she felt compelled to write a song about him.

“He’s actually doing great now, and is off drugs. I think the song helped him. It certainly was an encouragement.”

The first gig Eisley played was in 1997 at their parents’ Brewtones Coffee Galaxy. Originally billed as the Towheads, the band later changed its name to Mos Eisley, after the town in the “Star Wars” films.

After the group was signed by Warner Bros. Records in 2003, Mos was dropped from the name. Now simple Eisley, the band released its first album, “Room Noises,” in 2005, and followed up with “Combinations” in August 2007.

When the Warner Bros. contract ran out in early 2010, members of the band were eager to branch out on their own. The following November, they announced their signing with Equal Vision Records, which released the new CD.

With a new label and CD on the market, and a six-week national tour just getting under way, the members of Eisley have kicked the blues.

“We’re happy now,” Chauntelle DuPree said with an upbeat lilt in her voice. “Everybody goes through heartaches and recovers from it.

“We’ve been a band for 12 years, and we want to keep doing this as long as we can. I think the fact that we all get along, and we write together, makes us sort of unique.

“Being on the road is pretty great. We all enjoy being out together, and we’re always joking around and making each other laugh. We’re taking along a band called the Narrative, and our sister Christie is opening for us.

“We’ve played Charlottesville before, so we’re really looking forward to coming back.”

Eisley will be performing tonight at the Southern Cafe and Music Hall at 103 South First St., just off Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. The Narrative and Christie DuPree will open. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information visit www.thesoutherncville.com.