Canadian roots trio, The East Pointers, were staying in a log cabin in Tazmania when some of the worst wild fires for 50 years broke out.

The fires were raging so badly that they were forced to cancel one of their gigs, but then the wind changed direction and the boys decided to go ahead and play.

"It was scary,'' said guitarist Jake Charron. "But we were in good hands and it turned out to be a very special night, we raised people's spirits and it put things into perspective.''

To add to the adventure the trio were staying in a log cabin.

"I got up every two hours to check on the fires, but Koady and Tim (the lead singer/fiddle player and banjo player, cousins Tim and Koady Chaisson) slept straight through,'' said Jake.

The Tazmanian experience inspired the band's current single 82 Fires, which is taken from their latest album, What We Leave Behind. The East Pointers will be singing songs from the album when they come to the UK stopping off in Faringdon at the end of this month as part of their tour.

All the songs spring from the musicians own experiences, travelling, playing and hearing a mix of genres and styles.

"It's a mix of songs we have put together that have taken a contemporary direction, it has a pop vibe,'' said Jake. "Although we grew up playing traditional music we also listened to the radio. It wasn't planned it was natural, organic - it's what happened.''

Another of the tracks from the album, Partywave is inspired by the band's trip to New Zealand and their attempts at learning to surf.

"We created these tunes to fit the experience, we are not surfers! We have done snowboarding and ski-ing but we were on a wave together in New Zealand,'' said Jake.

The East Pointers are named after a lighthouse at the furthest east point of Prince Edward Island, where the trio come from.

"Koady was a lobster fisherman for a while, funding his music and we were all good friends for a long time before we started the band,'' said Jake.

The guitarist grew up in a musical family with both brothers playing fiddle. "My dad put me on guitar - I guess there were only two fiddles,'' laughed Jake.

The musicians write all their songs together, often when they are on the road touring. They bring in ideas on chord progression or lyrics and weave them into their own sound. Their last album Secret Victory won them the Canadian Folk Music Juno Award.

"We were overwhelmed, it was not expected,'' said Jake. "We knew of the awards when we growing up, so it was great to be part of that whole scene, particularly being young as a band.''

When they are out on tour Jake says they are pretty well behaved and usually travel with their sound guy in two cars rather than a tour bus.

"Besides a big tour bus can't fit on your British roads,'' he said.

He says the band are really looking forward to coming to the UK and he is hoping that people will be up and dancing to their music.

"The people are great in the UK, we jut can't wait,'' he said.

The musicians are heading back to Nashville where they recorded What We Leave Behind to start work on their next album.

The Pointers will be at the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall in Uffington on January 31. They will be supported by fellow Canadians Harrow Fair who will be playing the Americanafest in London while in this country. - Flicky Harrison