If The Wardens music is sometimes described as playing 鈥榤ountain music,鈥� it鈥檚 because the guys in the band really are 鈥榤ountain men.鈥�
However, before your mind conjures up too many Jeremiah Johnson images, let me explain that The Wardens call themselves by the name of the work that they do.
Yes, they work as Wardens in Canada鈥檚 National Parks service in various locations in the Canadian Rockies.
The band, comprising Ray Schmidt, Scott Ward and Scott Duncan, have performed widely across western Canada and in the US from Alaska to California.
They've shared the stage with Blue Rodeo, Pharis & Jason Romero and Ian Tyson, performed at Folk Alliance International, Canmore Folk Festival's main stage and even for a royal audience in Edmonton.
Their shows are a mixture of music and storytelling from their collective repertoire of on-the-job incidents and observations from the land they protect as national park wardens, a job which they鈥檝e done collectively for over 50 years, explains founder member Schmidt who these days only works during the busy summer tourist season taking winters off to tour the music.
"While the grizzlies sleep we go off and play," he jokes. "Our music and stories are rich with culture; a truly and uniquely Canadian culture. There are few places in the world where wilderness exists in such abundance and it has provided us with untold inspiration for our music."
Indeed, Mike Davis from Folk Radio UK enthuses about the band and the nature of their sound, calling it a genre that is "too often forgotten in today鈥檚 hyperactive world." Davis also comments that "this is as organic as it gets."
The Wardens are unique in the concept of the role the band plays in the world of Canadian folk music. Their music has brought them many nominations for their writing and performing.
They use projections to articulate their songs and stories with supporting images and videos and are in constant demand to tell their stories throughout Canada and also the western U.S.
They appear in Vernon on Saturday, March 1 at the Vernon Jazz Club, courtesy of the Vernon Folk Roots Society. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available from 250-549-7469
