The University Activities Commission (UAC) hosted musical group Thompson Springs at the Cabin this past Friday night — the band’s first time in Eau Claire.

Based from Chicago, Illinois, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Matt Smith, bassist Andy Goitia and percussionist Jacob Bicknase, who had a good deal of original pieces lined up to perform.

Thompson Springs, a band named after an abandoned town in Utah, boasts two EP records, including their debut record, “Artifacts,” and their newest album “Fond Regards.” The band members unanimously agreed music has always played an important role in their lives, beginning at a young age.

“I’ve always been drawn to it,” Goitia said.

He says that the first album he bought was “probably Jimi Hendrix’s Greatest Hits.”

“At first I was a music collector, like, music fan, you know?” Smith said. “I’d bond with people over collecting albums and going to shows and then I started playing. And yeah, just kept playing.”

Thompson Springs champions an eclectic twist of new-age, classic rock, indie and western vibes in their music that vaguely reminds listeners of many recognizable artists, such as Coldplay, Aerosmith, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, though still remaining distinct and original. At Friday’s show, they played a variety of their original pieces including “Arrow,” “Deadly Stair,” and “Dandelion Queen.”

Each of their songs had a different impression to it, from mellow to the type of jam that one would listen to on a day that proves productive.

Goitia said his favorite part of the process of creating music is “just that final magic when it all kind of comes together.”

“I really like that moment when you’re by yourself and you feel like you’re onto something,” said Smith, who took a break from Madison-based band The Sharrows to form Thompson Springs.

Among those in attendance at The Cabin were friends and couples looking for something fun to do on a Friday night, including first-year athletic training student Reanna Rasmussen and her friend, Lynnsie Hansen, a second-year pre-pharmacy student from UW-River Falls.

“I decided I wanted to try something new in Eau Claire that I haven’t done my whole time here so far,” Rasmussen said. “This is very ‘Eau Claire.’”  

One thing Hansen said Wisconsin does pretty well is its local music.

“It’s pretty unique,” Hansen said.

Thompson Springs performed some of their more recently released songs at The Cabin from their newest EP, “Fond Regards,” which came out in late 2017. The music pulsed through Davies Student Center, and a large group of students came in about halfway through the concert after peeking through the door to see what was going on inside.

After performing at The Cabin, Thompson Springs journeyed to Winona, Minnesota to Broken World Records where they played the following night. Later in the year, they will be touring in Germany, South Holland, the Netherlands and multiple other countries.

“We just have to get to recording,” Smith said.

All of the band members advised their listeners to “take a jog with Fond Regards.”