An Evening With The Wardens

ABOUT THE SHOW

With haunting three-part harmonies and chilling tales, the band’s mountain music – blending folk, roots and western styles – reflects Canada’s protected wilderness areas. Celebrating the return of wild buffalo, wrangling grizzly bears, lonely nights on the packtrail and reflecting on an environment in crisis. As much like an evening of stories around a campfire on a dark night, the band’s original Folk/Americana acoustic songs are preceded by masterfully crafted tales. Each story allows the audience to meet The Wardens – Canadian national park rangers who have spent their careers protecting national parks. Stunning projected images and videos provide the backdrop to each song. 
 
Scott Ward draws on 35 years in the wild in Banff National Park, recounting stories like a final snowy horseback ride through the Rocky Mountains after a summer maintaining trails and protecting grizzly bears in ‘Ya Ha Tinda Bound’. 
 
Ray Schmidt, a wardens in Jasper National Park presents songs including a hopeful mandolin piece on the return of wild buffalo to our national parks with ‘Sleeping Buffalo’. 
 
Throughout the performance, the soulful fiddle of western Canada’s finest fiddler Scott Duncan surrounds and frames the music into a performance that has been dubbed “the quintessential mountain-culture concert experience.” (Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine)

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ray Schmidt – Songwriter, upright bass, mandolin, vocals | Ray founded The Wardensin 2009 with Scott Ward during the national park warden centennial after discovering the rich depth of music and stories within this region of Canada.Translating the high lonesome sound of the Kentucky hills to those of the Rocky Mountains, Ray’s vocals amplify the spirit ofThe Wardens’Mountain music. He has studied the upright bass with Missy Raines and mandolin under John Reischman. In 2021 he was nominatedTraditional Singer of the Yearfor the Canadian Folk Music Awards.Posted in Jasper National Park, Ray has worked in a number of parks including Banff, Glacier and Mount Revelstoke. He is currently working with grizzly bears and the abundance of wildlife that abounds in Jasper.

Scott Ward – Songwriter, guitar, vocals | A national park warden for over 30 years in Banff National Park, Scott’s music stems from a life lived in the deep wilderness of the Canadian Rockies as a horseman, search-and-rescue dog handler and technical alpine specialist.Evoking the haunting fingerstyle guitar of Gordon Lightfoot with the mystique and presence of Ian Tyson, Scott’s music embodies Canadian authenticity.Scott was awarded the Governor General’ s Award for Exemplary Service as a Peace Officer.

Scott Duncan – Fiddler, harmony singer | Our Deputy Warden, Scott Duncan has played fiddle on stage with us since 2017 and his work is featured on the albumSold Out at the Ironwood.If you’ve seen us in concert anytime from 2017 on, there’s a good chance Scott Duncan was with us. He’s a sought after touring musician, working with John Wort Hannam Music, Samson’s Delilah and his own project Delta Whiskey. But he likes joiningThe Wardenson the road so much that he makes every effort to be there when we need him. He is our journeyman musician, our ace-in-the-hole, our studio marksman. Scott Duncan is our Deputy Warden!His talents are evident, and it’s possible his pedigree has something to do with it. His grandfather – Herb Duncan – played fiddle for over 100 years in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Scott would go down as a young kid and hang out with grandpa playing dances as long as he was allowed to stay up late. The early immersion with grandpa (as well as many years of hard practice and performing with The Calgary Fiddlers Association) ensure that he has an intuitive sense of music that is so elusive to many. When we’re on stage and Scott steps up to take a solo, we’re going through the emotional roller coaster that his fiddle takes us on as much as the audience. He has a very special place in our hearts.In early 2021, Scott’s mentor and grandfather passed away at the age of 106. “Knew it was coming,” said Scott “but it still hurts.” While we all mourn the loss of the last member of the Maple Creek Fiddlers there’s one thing we do know: we still hear the beauty of that old-time fiddler in heaven through the bow strokes of grandson Scott Duncan.

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SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE!

Adults: $35 | Seniors: $32 | Students: $16