Koady Chaisson — the Canadian musician known best as a multi-instrumentalist with award-winning Prince Edward Island trio the East Pointers — has died. The band's management confirmed Chaisson's death to CBC News Friday morning, though a cause of death was not revealed. He was 37.
Chaisson (pictured centre), who played banjo and tenor guitar with the group, formed the East Pointers in 2014 alongside vocalist and fiddler Tim Chaisson, and guitarist and keyboardist Jake Charron. The trio would make their debut in 2015 with the self-produced Secret Victory, and would go on to win the Canadian Folk Music Award for Ensemble of the Year in 2016.
Secret Victory would win the East Pointers the award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards. That same year, the trio delivered sophomore album What We Leave Behind, produced by Gordie Sampson.
What We Leave Behind song "Two Weeks" would win the East Pointers Song of the Year honours at the 2019 East Coast Music Awards, where the group was also up for Fans' Choice Entertainer of the Year. At the 2020 East Coast Music Awards, the group took home the hardware for Songwriter of the Year, while third album Yours to Break, also produced by Sampson, garnered them Contemporary Roots Recording of the Year honours.
Yours to Break would net the East Pointers nominations for the Contemporary Album of the Year and Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries awards at the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards, where the album's single "Wintergreen" was also nominated for Single of the Year.
True to their P.E.I. roots, the East Pointers spent time off the road in the COVID-19 pandemic livestreaming read-throughs of Maritime classic Anne of Green Gables — a series they dubbed #Annedemic. This past holiday season, the trio took part in a live reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in Charlottetown. Following a December 16 performance, a second evening set for December 17 was cancelled due to new COVID-19 public health restrictions.
The East Pointers were due to tour the UK this February, ahead of performing in the United States in May.