Bri Murphy

After several years of touring the country playing with different country bands, an Eau Claire native is returning to her hometown to release her first solo EP, Throw Down My Heart. Bri Murphy, now a solo artist in her own right, moved from Eau Claire to Nashville, Tenn., in 2011 and it took her several years to find her own voice in that bustling music city, but she’s proud to say Throw Down My Heart is 100 percent authentic, completely her own. “That sounds like ‘duh’ to some people, but Nashville is a co-writing town, and I wanted this to be all me,” Murphy said. “The pre-production, string arrangements, it’s all my own … and I’m very proud of it for that.” The EP wouldn’t exist at all if it weren’t for the title track. After finishing a tour in late 2015, Murphy started to doubt whether she was cut out for the Nashville music scene at all. She took a trip to northern Wisconsin with her dog, rented a cabin and locked herself away for several days (as many a creative Wisconsinite has done). “I wrote that song up there,” Murphy said. “It all came out really fast, and that’s when I knew I had to keep doing this.” She’s returning to release her album Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Volume One Gallery in Eau Claire because the city had the most influence on who she is. She also credited the Eau Claire public education music programs for getting her to where she is today. “I have Eau Claire to thank for the artist I am,” she said. “I’m so excited to share my music with my roots.” 

Bri Murphy EP release show • Feb. 4, 7pm • Volume One Gallery at The Local Store, 405 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire • FREE