Rising Stars: Meet Eauclaire

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eauclaire. They share their story with us below:

The idea for “eauclaire” has always been about family and is personified by Justin Barnett, Kyle Kicker, and me (Bryant Urich) – 3 midwest boys with a dream to create something big. 

Before we were all married and had babies, we were just college friends who wanted to write and play music that articulated a specific feeling – that same feeling that we have all had at different points in the journey – whether from another band, concert, or moment where we really experience something bigger than ourselves through music/art. 

Now, it’s even more rich. 

After being best friends and playing music together for 10+ years, moving to different states, starting our own families, and planting roots for our lives, the music really is what keeps us all connected. 

In the summer of 2017, my wife and I were on our 5-year wedding anniversary trip in Mexico enjoying the beach and watching the ocean waves roll in. We had been talking about writing music together and just trying to be more intentional about capturing moments, so we both pulled notebooks out and tried to articulate what we are seeing right in front of us. 

Sidenote – we LOVE the ocean. We find so much peace, strength, and rest every time we visit. 

I remember just watching the waves roll in and out and jotting down the lyrics: 

“Nothing is certain, nothing is certain, nothing is certain, it all washes away” – this sort of eerie nod to how fragile life is and the fact that there is uncertainty in everything. We both had a few more sections that we really liked and decided to revisit the ideas later. 

In the airport on the way home, I glanced back at some of the lyrics that we penned and hummed a simple melody into my iPhone to remember later – not knowing that this single moment would launch something so special and become the soundtrack for one of the most challenging seasons of our lives. 

A couple of months later, I reached out to Justin and Kyle to show them the idea and bring up the idea of collaborating remotely on music for a new project. I really wanted to capture that feeling that we had sitting in front of the ocean – taking in all of its serene beauty and fierce power – and translate it into music with feeling. 

If you’ve ever seen the BBC Series “Planet Earth” you’ve probably seen an episode called “Ocean Deep” or “Rainforest” or something of that nature. Imagine a soundtrack or album that instantly transports you to that physical landscape through the sounds, lyrics, and melodies. That’s what we wanted to create. 

We ended up working on the debut record for 2 years – writing and recording when we could make time and getting together in the same city as much as possible – and we released the 8 songs of “Océan Bleu” in August of 2019, but we knew there was more. It was a story of the pain and struggle that is our “human condition” all painted through the lens of the ocean. We made wave sounds with old keyboards, wrote melodies that move like the tides, and tried to be intentional with every word and note. 

During the making of this record, we started feeling a stir towards a new season and potentially a new project. Personally, we felt like we had all made it through a more dark/hidden time and that our springtime was coming. 

We decided to do a writing retreat with our families in the Spring of 2019 for this new project with a working title “Timber” that was signaling our new season of growth. We rented a cabin deep in the woods of Alabama and started writing about all things green, new life, and a hope that this next season would be more fruitful and joyful than the last. It was an exciting time to be releasing our first record and have so much anticipation for the next one, and we found out that we were expecting our first little one later that year. 

Without going into every single detail, the next 2 years proved to be the hardest 2 years of all of our lives collectively. 

In the summer of 2019, we lost our little baby at 13 weeks. It was devastating and heartbreaking. Nothing can really prepare you for those words – “I’m sorry, I can’t find a heartbeat.” 

Little did we know that just a month later that Justin and Lindsay would walk through the exact same thing. We mourned our losses together and tried to carry on through the pain of it all. 

In January of 2020, Kyle lost his dad unexpectedly to a heart attack just a month before his second son was born. 

We were all in shock. 

Kyle’s Dad was healthy and an amazing grandfather to their kids. It just didn’t make sense. The amount of pain that we were all feeling was almost unbearable, and then 6 months later I got a call that my dad had gone unconscious after a devastating ruptured aneurysm. 

Obviously, there is more that I could share, but you get the point. 

What we thought was our apparent “springtime” actually turned into the most painful season of loss that I’ve ever experienced. Not just for us, but for our best friends and families – all the while writing these songs about spring, green, new life, and hope. It was ironic to say the least. 

2021 was a year of rebuilding hope. Taking back the joy that was pulled out from under us and reflecting on the good memories that we still had (and always will have). We took this past year to finish out the Timber album and really try to say what we wanted to say through some of our darkest times: 

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. 

That’s just how life works. 

That’s how this was all set up. 

Just like a harvest follows the action of sowing seeds, your springtime will always come around – even after the hardest of winters. 

There are some singles out now, but the full Timber album releases this Spring and we couldn’t be more excited to share all of it. It really is a masterpiece (to us) that has been in the making for a long time and we think it will speak to people who are still waiting for their “Spring”. 

There is still more to come from Eauclaire this year. We’re talking about bringing all of these songs to life in a live context later this year and releasing some re-imagined versions of the songs this summer. We’re also headed into writing for our third full-length record, our “Return of the King” or “Dark Knight Rises” if you will 🙂 

The end cap to a family trilogy of rich living – in the joy and the pain. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have the same struggles that any band does who is trying to make and release music in the current climate – maybe more because we all live in different states at the moment so being in the same room is a precious commodity, 

We also all work to support our families and make time for this music outside of that. The life of a “working musician” is much different than that of a “starving artist”. We believe in supporting those who depend on us and not sacrificing the needs of our family to fulfill some lifelong dream of fame and fortune. 

For us, it really has nothing to do with fame. We love what we make and that’s really all that matters. 

The funny thing is, if you love it, there are other people out there that will probably resonate with it also. That’s the beauty of us all being connected in different ways. I can tell you about my experience and you can put it through the lens of your life and experiences – the beauty of being human. 

While we haven’t put music out as often as we’d like to, or had to push back timelines due to scheduling conflicts, it’s made the stories behind each song even that much more rich. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I would say that Eauclaire specializes in capturing feelings. I can honestly say that I don’t know of anything else out there that sounds like our music. We obviously have specific influences and make style choices based on what we like, but what we’ve been able to create together is beyond anything we could do on our own. 

Most of our creative process around recording actually comes from the magic of just creating in the same room together, in proximity. We try to bring the right people into the creative process to really capture a moment or a vibe rather than just record a song with perfect takes and professional gear. 

On most of our recordings you can hear some little subtlety that probably wasn’t intentional or planned. 

For instance, in our track “Horizon” Justin accidentally tripped over a tambourine that was laying in a convenient location and we left it in the track because it’s funny and adds character – the average listener will never know. 

We also used my daughters 11-week heartbeat that I recorded on my phone at one of our appointments in our track “Faith is the Bird” – her name is also Evelyn which means “longed-for child” and some translations mean “bird” 

It’s those types of things that makes music special. Capturing the moments that show that we’re all human and sharing those for the beauty that’s in them. 

Who else deserves credit in your story?
I think we could all say that our dads had a major influence on us. 

My Dad showed me how to play my first chord on an acoustic guitar when I was 8 years old, even though he could only play 3. 

Justin’s Dad grew up singing and playing in a bluegrass band and always had them singing or playing something early on. 

Kyle’s Dad was a pastor and was always extremely encouraging to him as a musician. Always pushing him to be his best and not settle for the status quo. 

We’ve also had countless friends who have helped us along the way – whether writing, production, mixing, or just believing in what we’re doing and supporting us. Our friends and family are the reason why we’ve been able to do this. 

Specifically, a huge shoutout to Chase Weber and the guys at Gnome Recording Studios in Nashville for engineering and mixing our first record. Gnome is a brilliant creative space that brings out the best in us (and they have insane vintage gear). 

Also, Jared Fox at FoxDen Studios for mixing our latest project and really helping us dial in “our sound” as a band. Also, his wife Cara Fox for playing cellos and Avery Bright for masterfully playing violins and violas on Timber. 

Along with countless others along the way. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.eauclairesounds.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eauclairesounds
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eauclairesounds
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eauclairesounds
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/eauclairesounds
• SoundCloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/eauclairesounds