The Eli Young Band may only be two singles deep into their current album, August 2011′s ‘Life at Best,’ but the guys have already gotten the thinking wheels turning regarding their forthcoming third album.

“We had our very first like half-conversation with the record label about that [recently],” EYB’s drummer Chris Thompson tells Taste of Country. “They were open to the idea that there will be a third single [from 'Life at Best'], so we’re excited about that.”

As far as the next record goes, the band already has a decent selection of songs to look through to find material. “We’ve also been trying to focus on writing when we can,” adds bassist Jon Jones. “Right now we have so many other things going on that it’s kind of tough to force ourselves to sit down and write. We have no plans of going into the studio just yet, but we will carve some time out in the next year.”

The band has without a doubt just come off their most successful year yet, with a hit album that was certified gold and their first No. 1 single in ‘Crazy Girl.’ They kept the momentum going in April, when they took home an ACM Award for Song of the Year for the same Lee Brice-penned tune.

“It’s definitely been the most exciting year for us,” Thompson says with a smile. “I think in 2011 we worked harder than we’ve ever worked on anything in the past. It’s nice that it paid off the way that it did, by opening all these new doors for us.”

“We had a bunch of pinch ourselves moments,” James Young chimes in. “Getting a gold record and platinum for our single, being able to do ‘Letterman’ and the ‘Tonight Show,’ the No. 1 party and the No. 1 song … it’s like dang, how did we get here after all this [laughs]?”

“We’re still laying a foundation in a lot of ways with what is coming up this year with a lot of great tours,” notes Jones. Later this summer, EYB will be hitting the road with Rascal Flatts following their current headlining tour.

“It has really helped propel our new single ‘Even if It Breaks Your Heart’ to start up the charts and go faster than ‘Crazy Girl’ ever did,” Jones says. “It will probably be impossible to beat last year because everything is so new, but hopefully we can find a way to improve in 2012.”

At least the band has cleared themselves of the pressure of having to reach No. 1 with a single, right? Nope. “Well, I think it just made us hungry for another one and another one and another one,” Young notes, laughing. “It’s awesome. It’s really been a game-changer in our career. Now we just want to keep that going.”

“That was pretty sweet,” Thompson concurs. “It would stink to never have that feeling of having a No. 1 song again [laughs].”

More From 101.5 KNUE