Pointing the way to music success and the Esplanade

By Chris Brown on October 4, 2018.

cbrown@medicinehatnews.com @MHNBrown

What began as friendly jam sessions among three friends has morphed into so much more.

Having different projects on the go didn’t stop Tim and Koady Chaisson from getting together with friend Jake Charron to hang out and play tunes whenever they could. Right from the start, says Tim, the trio hit it off and would often talk about starting a band, though never with any serious intention.

That changed in 2013 when they took a leap. They played a local pub in Charlottetown, then did a small tour of the East Coast and around Ontario.

“We were just like ‘we should put more time into this’ because it feels so good and it’s not often you click so well with two others,” Tim says. “We decided to keep going with it, decided to play some showcases and get our name out there a little bit. We kept touring and everything kind of kept going and going.”

Since then The East Pointers, as they’re known, have won the 2017 Juno Award for traditional roots album of the year and a 2016 Canadian Folk Music Award for ensemble of the year. They’ve also toured around the United States, U.K. and Australia. They’ll play at the Esplanade Oct. 9.

Being from the East Coast it’s no surprise The East Pointers’ music is Celtic-inspired. But they’re also able to blend in a more modern, mainstream sound. That stretches back to Tim’s childhood. He grew up hearing a lot of fiddle music thanks to his parents, but his older brother would listen to the radio. He says he fell in love with all the songs on the radio.

“Everyone has different styles of music so it’s hard as musicians you can’t really be like ‘I only play this style or that,’ so we just kind of write and see what comes out,” Tim said. “Combining the two (traditional and modern) is interesting because they don’t necessarily naturally go together but we’re having some fun messing around with the songs and songwriting is at the core of it.”

One of the songs that resonates with listeners at home and will surely do the same in Alberta is “Two Weeks.” Before his music career took off Koady lived on the East Coast and worked out west, travelling back and forth as so many do, Tim explains. While Tim didn’t get into that lifestyle himself, he saw plenty of it and the effects it had on his friends and family.

“Whether they left and came back home or left and stayed I had some friends that it worked for and I had some friends that it really took such a toll on them that they’ve never really been the same,” he says.

The group wrote the song while in Nashville recording their album “What We Leave Behind” and had help from producer Gordie Sampson to finish it off.

“It’s one of those songs that really hit home with us because we knew so many people that had to go through that,” Tim says. “Not only that we tour a lot too so we spend a lot of time away from home. It has that same kind of feeling of not really settling in anywhere and always being away from people you love.”

Sharing the stage with The East Pointers in Medicine Hat will be Port Cities.

“They are our really, really good friends and also one of our favourite bands so I’m personally very, very excited to share the night with them,” said Tim.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at http://www.tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777 or in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk.

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