STAGE DOOR: Bringing their music home

The East Pointers conclude Canadian tour on P.E.I. with a concert tonight

The East Pointers are excited about releasing their new CD, “Yours to Break”, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown today. The band, which includes Jake Charron, left, Koady Chaisson and Tim Chaisson will take to the Homburg Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. The concert is sold out. - Contributed

The East Pointers are saving the best for last.

After performing songs from their new album, “Yours to Break”, in concert halls across the country, the P.E.I. band is concluding its Canadian tour today at the Homburg Theatre in Charlottetown at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s always nice to bring your music back home,” Tim Chaisson tells me, in a question-and-answer session.

It's also nice to have the last stop of their concert tour at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

“It’s pretty perfect. We’ve had time to get the show to where we want it, and now it’s all about having fun with the hometown crowd,” says Chaisson, vocalist/fiddler for the P.E.I. award-winning band that includes Koady Chaisson banjo/tenor guitar and Moog synthesizer, and Jack Charron, guitar/keyboards.

Just the facts

The East Pointers are a Canadian contemporary folk music group from P.E.I.
The band won a Juno Award for traditional roots album of the year for “Secret Victory” in 2017.
The group consists of guitarist Jake Charron, Koady Chaisson on banjo and fiddler Tim Chaisson.
Website: Go to eastpointers.ca.

Band members were traveling earlier this week when I contacted them for an interview. So, I was thrilled when Tim agreed to do a question and answer session.

Here’s the rest of our conversation:

Q: What’s it like to release your new album on P.E.I.?
A: It’s always different at home. It comes with pressure, mostly pressure we put on ourselves. You want to show everyone the growth. It also means so much to have a sold-out crowd waiting at the end of a long tour, and you want to live up to that.

Q: How are you feeling about your concert at the Confederation Centre?
A: Beyond excited. It’s something you dream of as a kid on P.E.I. You go to the Confederation Centre to see “Anne of Green Gables” when you’re in Grade 5 and you’re in awe of the building.

Q: How will the concert unfold?
A: It’ll be hot and heavy from the get-go. There’ll be some reflective moments, no doubt, but, for the most part, this record is pretty upbeat and dance (inspiring), so they’ll be a lot of party vibes. I don’t know what the protocol is with dancing at the Confederation Centre but, as far as we’re concerned, it’s fair game!

Q: Where have your toured recently?
A: We've been doing a lot of festivals in Canada and the United States, this last little bit, with the odd gig here and there in Europe. Obviously, we just finished the western leg of the Canadian “Yours to Break” tour so there’s been a lot of driving and it’s nice to get home for a stretch!

Q: Are you still telling people about Prince Edward Island?
A: Always! We’re incredibly proud to be two out of three from P.E.I. and the Souris area, to get specific. We owe a lot to where we were raised and the experiences that helped us grow. We talk about the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival and the Souris area at every single gig we do and to see people from all corners of the world actually come and help stimulate tourism in the area is a very rewarding feeling. We’ll never stop being ambassadors!

Q: You’ve just launched a CD. What’s happening in the next six months?
A: The next six months are going to be a busy stretch for us. Touring Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand will bring us up to May when we get a couple weeks off at home. Sorry to get all cliché here, but it really is all a dream. So thankful to be able to do what we do!

Sally Cole is an entertainment writer with The Guardian. She welcomes comments about her column as well as suggestions for future columns from readers. She may be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 902-629-6000, ext. 6054.