What's On
THE EAST POINTERS
TICKETS: Pre-sale $25/$20 concession at The Imperial Hotel (Ph:5442 8811) or through Oztix - CLICK HERE (+ booking fee). $30 at the door.
Put Friday 3 January in your diary for what will be a sensational night when award-winning Canadian trio THE EAST POINTERS take to the stage in The Brewery at The Imperial Hotel Eumundi as part of their Yours To Break Tour.
There’s a waiting list for their third album 'Yours To Break' (out 25 October). Redefining the ever-evolving genre – modern folk – with Billboard-worthy pop hooks, deep acoustic groove, trance-like trad breakdowns and three-part harmonies, Tim Chaisson (vocals/fiddle/percussion), Koady Chaisson (banjo/tenor guitar/moog) and Jake Charron (guitar/keyboards), already internationally acknowledged as musical trailblazers, have made sure 'Yours To Break' will light a path for a new generation of music lovers who don’t care for labels.
'Yours To Break' sits uneasily in a classic genre demarcation. The East Pointers have always been musically complex and technically brilliant, the core is definitely traditional Celtic, but on the new album, fiddle tunes are grounded in complex rumbling bass lines, a dirty Americana exploration turns on a dime into a lighthearted guitar feature with flamenco reference palmas, playful keyboard tones turn traditional solos into urgent dance-party journeys, and off-the-leash festival jam sessions give rise to vocal numbers that are either perfect pop songs or moving tributes to the home and people they love.
'What We Leave Behind' was one of the international standout albums of 2017, nominated for the Traditional Roots Album of the Year at the 2018 JUNO Awards and attracting over four million streams on Spotify. In the short time between their 2015 JUNO Award-winning debut 'Secret Victory' and the upcoming 'Yours To Break', the band has performed over 450 shows in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the UK, Europe, Mexico, the USA, and Canada.
The East Pointers have been touring Australia consistently since their debut album in 2015 – they have deep connections here - and their roof-raising live show is inspired by the continent’s audiences.
“Before we came to Australia we were a sit-down band: gigs were sit down with a few enthusiastic dancers. The first time we played in Australia everybody stood up and ran to the front of the room and started dancing in that way that’s totally specific to Australian festival audiences (involves all the limbs and all the directions). We had to stand up just to get out of harm’s way, and we haven’t gone back.” Tim is still using a shaker that an audience member passed to him at that first Australian show.
The East Pointers have spent so much time in Australia that they were once billed in the USA as an Australian trio, and they’re not too worried about that. They have deep connections here; Koady’s wife is Australian, Tim got married onsite at Woodford Folk Festival, they’ve guested with The Wiggles, and have performed at Woodford Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, WOMADelaide, National Folk Festival, Nannup Music Festival, Mullum Music Festival and Cobargo Folk Festival.
In addition to their own songwriting and touring, The East Pointers run the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival on Prince Edward Island (Canada), originally founded by Tim and Koady’s grandfather in 1976.
‘We’re passionate about tradition, yes, but it doesn’t belong in a box in the attic, getting dusted off for special occasions and boring the pants off kids. Traditions belong to the people who shepherd them into the next generation.”
TICKETS: Pre-sale $25/$20 concession at The Imperial Hotel (Ph:5442 8811) or through Oztix - CLICK HERE (+ booking fee). $30 at the door.
Doors open at 7.30pm
Imperial Hotel Courtesy Bus
The Imperial Hotel’s FREE courtesy bus operates Friday and Saturday nights from 5pm, travelling to Eumundi, Belli Park, Cooroy, Doonan, Eerwah Vale, North Arm, and Verrierdale. Phone 0467 414 171 to book.
