They may be called The East Pointers, but this Canadian folk trio are heading south for the northern winter to tour Australia.
The East Pointers have enjoyed an intimate bond with Australian audiences ever since their debut at Woodford Folk Festival several years ago. “Woodford is incredible, obviously, and one of our favourite places to be just in general, and that kickstarted the band,” guitarist Jake Charron says.“We'll never forget that first year at Woodford. Woodford was amazing shows and an amazing experience; they do such a good job with bringing people together and supporting people who are helping the world, so it's a pretty special place.”
It was during their first show at Woodford that The East Pointers say they went from a sit-down band to a get-up-and-dance party band.
“The first gig standing up was down in Australia at Woodford Folk Festival and we've loved coming back to Australia ever since then. It seems like you guys are just up for a good time really; some of the best audiences we've had are in Australia, for sure,” Jake says.
The East Pointers released their third album 'Yours To Break' back in October. “We recorded the album this past year in Nashville and it feels like a good representation of where we're at right now as a band making music that we enjoy to play,” Jake says.
When they were testing out songs for the new album, Jake says the band often asked themselves: 'will the Aussies like it?'. “It's a good way to test them,” he laughs.
“It's inspiring down there too. We've written a lot of music in Australia, I'm not exactly sure why that is but it seems to be an inspiring place for us.”
The 2019/20 Australia tour run for The East Pointers begins at their spiritual home of Woodford Folk Festival before making its way across the country. “It's a big tour, sort of happening in two segments,” Jake explains.
“We're coming down for the end of the year until January and then we're coming back for March and April as well and hitting all over the country. We're doing a mixed-bag of shows.
“Festivals are fun; you're playing in front of a lot of people who are there to enjoy music, so that's always a good experience, but we've got some pretty cool rooms too I think and some bigger spots than we've done in the past in places like Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Yeah, just looking forward to getting to some new territories as well. It's nice to do a whole mix of stuff.”
As The East Pointers undertake what will be an extensive touring cycle for 'Yours To Break', Jake offers assurances that their love for Australia is no mere passing fancy. “[We're] taking it one step at a time,” he says.
“We got this album that just came out so we'll be hitting this one for a while, but we've got some new songs in the works already. We're always working towards the next one, but we'll definitely have Australia in our plans for the next few years.”
The East Pointers 2020 Tour Dates
27 Dec-1 Jan - Woodford Folk Festival (Sunshine Coast)Fri 3 Jan - The Imperial Hotel (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 4 Jan - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)
Sun 5 Jan - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)
Thu 9 Jan - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Fri 10 Jan - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Sat 11 Jan - Lizotte’s (Newcastle)
Sun 12 Jan - The Factory Theatre (Sydney)
28 Feb-1 Mar - Nannup Music Festival (WA)
6-9 Mar - Port Fairy Folk Festival (VIC)
Tue 10 Mar - Fortuna Spiegeltent (Adelaide)
Wed 11 Mar - Spiegeltent (Hobart)
14-16 Mar - Blue Mountains Music Festival
Sat 21 Mar - Tanks Arts Centre (Cairns)
17-19 Apr - Fairbridge Festival (WA)
