Apparently, Utah country music fans know everything about Gary Allan, because his show sold out The Depot months ago.

This provides a good opportunity, then, to introduce both of his opening acts to Utah.

Jack Ingram and Eli Young Band will open for Allan on Dec. 5, and both talked about the up-and-coming country juggernaut that Allan is becoming and why they will try to match him blow-for-blow.

Jack Ingram » The 39-year-old country-rock singer has been touring professionally since the early 1990s, but the country-music establishment noticed him in 2008, when he won the ACM award for top new male vocalist.

"Being well-known has nothing to do with being a great artist," Ingram said in an interview. "If it did, Tom Waits would be a multimillionaire."

The Texan did not reach the country charts until 2005, when "Wherever You Are" became a No. 1 hit. Since then, Ingram has charted six other songs in the country Top 40: "Love You," "Lips of an Angel," "Measure of a Man," "Maybe She'll Get Lonely," "That's a Man" and "Barefoot and Crazy."

But he doesn't rest on his laurels. In August, Ingram set a Guinness record for the most radio interviews in one day: He was interviewed 215 times to promote his new album, "Big Dreams & High Hopes."

The hardest thing about setting the record, Ingram said, was not having to answer the same questions 215 times (216 times, including my more recent interview with him). "Mentally, you have to keep your mind sharp," he said. "It's hard to keep your concentration."

Allan's songs about hard living are what impresses Ingram, who once pronounced a then-unknown Taylor Swift as the next country superstar when the two opened for Brad Paisley in 2007. "He's real," Ingram said of Allan. "There's no bull s--- about him. It's not an act."

Eli Young Band » When the Eli Young Band takes the stage, don't expect Eli Young to be the frontman. There's nobody with that name in the band.

Instead, the band's name comes from the last names of the band's founders, guitarist and singer Mike Eli and guitarist James Young. All four of the band members were best friends and roommates at the University of North Texas, said drummer Chris Thompson. The only reason the band isn't called the Eli Young Thompson Jones Band is because the latter two joined the original duo after the Eli Young Band got its first taste of success on campus.

"We're a band, a band of friends," Thompson said.

After graduating from the university and touring relentlessly for eight years -- including one stint touring with a then-unknown Miranda Lambert and also Ingram -- the band's third album, "Jet Black & Jealous," charted three singles on the country Top 40 chart: "When It Rains," "Always the Love Songs" and "Radio Waves."

Like Ingram, the band is by no means new, but was nominated this year for an Academy of Country Music award as the Top New Vocal Group or Duo. (It lost to the Zac Brown Band.)

Right after opening a few dates for Allan, the band will return to the studio to record a new album that may or may not include a dozen tracks left off "Jet Black & Jealous," Thompson said. "We don't want to go backward," he added, saying the band has scores of high-energy songs to lay down.

Thompson said the band's studio time will be influenced by what they have seen from Allan. "He's one of those artists where no one else is quite like him," Thompson said. "He's genuine. People seem to be intrigued by him."

Based on ticket sales, Utahns definitely are intrigued.