Brenden Mckenna and Trevor Peck went to the same elementary, middle and high school and even played baseball on the same team in their hometown of Wausau.

But it wasn’t until they attended UW-Eau Claire that the students said a friendship developed. The duo started jamming out together which led them to form The Scenic North, a folk music band that played Saturday in The Cabin.

“When I came to college I was looking for a band to play with,” Peck said. “I literally just asked (Brenden) if he ever wanted to jam.”

The duo said they practice three-to-four times a week and are looking for more shows in Eau Claire. Their show Saturday was their biggest to date.

Laura West, a senior management major and volunteer on The Cabin committee was one of the first people to arrive.

“My role in the show is to be a helper out for the band,” she said. “To get what they want and make sure they’re comfortable.”

Mckenna, multi-instrumentalist and senior art major said most musicians are motivated by emotion, although everyone has a different take.

“We have a lot of roots in American-Folk and Bluegrass but I don’t think we would actually fit into either of those categories,” he said. “I think we kind of take the progressive side of bluegrass instruments and make it into something more energetic.”

The band constantly writes original songs and are always thinking about lyrics and chord progressions, Mckenna said.

“Tonight we are just playing all covers because we’re not really out there yet but we have so many originals,” he said.

Some of the bands covered by the duo are Trampled by Turtles, Mumford and Sons, Bon Iver and The Lumineers.

“We cover bands that you would never expect us to cover,” Mckenna said. “One of them we have a lot of fun with is a song called Walt Whitman which is more up our alley of music. It’s by Trampled by Turtles, a bluegrass band from Minnesota.”

Junior biology major Dylan Wilson attended the show and said he enjoys the laid back atmosphere of their shows and hopes they will play more in Eau Claire.

“With their style it’s low-key with a relaxed kind of feel,” he said.“You feel like you get an intimate experience with the band.”

The flurry of action peaked half way into the show when all of the sudden a string on Peck’s guitar broke.

Two minutes later the duo was back at it belting out the lyrics, “You’ll never see my bleeding heart, but your light keeps traveling on.”

The next performer to hit the Cabin stage will be Hann ah Connolly at 8 p.m., Oct. 25.