On Sunday the Judith Arts Society welcomes The Wardens, a Banff National Parkbased trio whose stories rise from the very land they’ve protected for a combined time of 6o years. Their mountain music, a blend of folk, roots and Western styles, is a piece of Canadiana, reflecting the pristine wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. They aren’t a country band, but say they are more of a backcountry band. The trio - Scott Ward, Bradley Bischoff and Ray Schmidt - don’t just sing about the land; they’re part of it. In the words of Patrick Gibson of “The Cochrane Times,” the local newspaper for Cochrane, Alberta, located u miles west of Calgary, “Plenty of bands have a ‘thing: Iron Maiden has skulls and the underworld. KISS has facepaint and platform shoes. And ... The Wardens ... have the fascinating tales of their experiences looking after the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies.” Ward, who plays fingerstyle guitar and shares vocals with his partners, was a national park warden for over 3o years in Banff National Park. His 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, Ward’s music embodies Canadian authenticity. He was instrumental in putting together The Wardens. Bischoff, stationed in the rugged South Boundary region of Jasper National Park, began his national park warden lifestyle in 1981. While assigned alone to the backcountry with a handful of horses for 17 days at a time, he penned many songs in the dim cabin lights during the dusky summers he spent in the high alpine ranges.
