Eagle Creek THEN and NOW

Fast forward 15 years and a couple of new members, and Eagle Creek is still performing for crowds today, however, their list of songs has grown from just 3 to well over 100 and their fan base has gotten much, much larger!

Gavin Nordby was a senior at Grygla High School back in 2001. Playing around with his guitar, he got the idea to start a band and reached out to some friends. Geoff Larson came to mind, as his dad was in multiple bands, and he also knew how to play guitar. Gavin’s younger brother, Tony, happened to get a foot in the door, too, as luck would have it. “I didn’t even play any instruments,” Tony said. “I was in 10th grade and needed a half credit for school and Gene Lunsetter talked me into playing the bass guitar for the pep band. I didn’t know the first thing about it,” he laughed. 

The three boys got together one day at Randy Larson’s house, who is Geoff’s dad, and started playing around. “We actually sounded pretty good together,” recalls Gavin. From that point on, the boys would play together whenever they could; during study halls, after school, on weekends…you name it. Gavin sang lead vocals in the group, along with playing the acoustic guitar; Tony was on bass guitar, while Geoff played lead guitar. It didn’t take long before word got around about the up and coming group and the boys’ friends were excited. “They told us we should perform on the last day of school for everyone,” Gavin laughed. In order to do that, the group needed to find a drummer. They asked fellow student and pep band drummer, Nick Olson, who agreed to get in on the action.

It was May of 2001 when those four boys played in their high school gym. Geoff’s grandma still has the original video from that day, too.

Little did they know it, but Eagle Creek was off to the races. 

The 4 guys were practicing 1-2 times a month at the café in Gatzke, which is still their practice site today. Each time they’d get together, they’d learn some new numbers. It wasn’t long before Eagle Creek knew enough to perform a full set of songs. “It took us a few years to really get going,” said Gavin. “But pretty soon people were calling us to play all over.” The band was traveling from Baudette to Minneapolis to Duluth to Hibbing to Fargo, Grand Forks, and everywhere in between! Whether they were performing in parks, at weddings, local festivals, fairs or bars – the crowd loved them and the band was making quite the name for themselves. To date, they have shared the stage with big names like Neil McCoy, Phil Vassar, Emerson Drive, David Nail and Restless Heart, to name a few. Eagle Creek was entertaining their fans with covers of old and new country, classic rock, 50’s music and party favorites! They even added a few originals to the mix. However, these days the band sticks strictly to covers as time doesn’t allow them to write their own music. 

At their busiest, Eagle Creek was performing 38 weekends out of a year; these days it has slowed down to 15-18 weekends a year. It’s a little tougher as time goes on, as each of the band members now all have their own families. 

Nick Olson was with the band for 9 years, but left in 2010 due to a job change. Andrew Daly replaced him on drums and has been with Eagle Creek ever since. Also joining the band, was Geoff’s dad, Randy Larson.

With new members joining the group, comes a new sound. “If you haven’t heard us for a few years, you’re in for a big surprise,” promises Gavin. “What went from a band with one singer, is now a band with five vocals all singing together. It’s fun to see how far we’ve come,” he added.

On lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Gavin Nordby lives in Grygla with his wife, Tera, and their three children. He works at Digikey in Thief River Falls and says when he’s not focused on the band, he enjoys “huntin’, fishin’…..and lovin’ every day!”

On bass guitar and vocals, Tony Nordby and his wife, Courtney, live in Thief River Falls. They have a little boy, McCoy, who is 4.5 months old. Tony works at Houston Engineering, Inc.

Geoff Larson’s musical contributions to the group include co-lead guitar, vocals and mandolin. He is employed by MnDot as an inspector and resides in St. Hilaire. He and his wife, Steph, have one son, Lyrick, who is almost 5; they also have a little girl on the way due in September.

You’ll see Randy Larson on stage with the band; he plays co-lead guitar with his son, the fiddle, and also offers vocals. Randy brings much experience to the table as he used to play with Saddle Tramp and is a member of Back Behind the Barn Boys. He has three kids and lives in Gatzke.

Also a part of the group is Andrew Daly on drums and vocals. Andrew works at Falls Radiator and is married to Felicia; they have three children and live in Thief River Falls.

It’s been a few years since Eagle Creek has performed at the Grygla Fall Festival, but their fans are gearing up for an exciting weekend! This Saturday, August 27th, Eagle Creek takes the main stage in their hometown from 8:30pm-12:30am. Talking to a few members of the group, each one had something different to say about their upcoming performance! 

Gavin says, “We’ve got some new songs coming this weekend. We’ve got some Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Luke Bryan – you’re going to hear some fun songs and a new sound with our added vocals.”

Tony agrees, adding, “We’re bringing you quality dance music with lots of vocal harmonies and an array of instruments.” Tony also says his favorite song to perform is “Fishin’ in the Dark.”

With “8675309” being his favorite song to perform, Geoff says it’s going to be a pretty big show this Saturday night. “We’ve got Kickin’ Entertainment coming with a huge light show and Kiesow has some big sound coming. We hope to see all of you guys on the street!”

The Grygla Fall Festival runs August 26th-28th; a button is needed for admission to the street dance and can be purchased in advance for $8 at local businesses. Buttons will also be for sale at the gate, costing $12 each.

You can stay up to date with Eagle Creek’s performance schedule at www.eaglecreektheband.com 

As for the future, the members can all agree they hope it continues to shine bright. “Of course you always want to dream big,” says Gavin. “Sure, it would be fun to one day play on the Grand Ole Opry stage,” he confessed. But Geoff adds, “There’s nothing like playing locally for all the people you know. This Saturday night will be a great time and we’ll see you there.”