The Wardens

November 22 | 7:30 pm | $25 advance / $28 day of show 

The Wardens don’t just sing about the land, they’re part of it. The Rocky Mountain-based band’s stories and songs rise from the very land they’ve protected as Canadian national park wardens collectively for over 50 years. 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 pack trail, and reflecting on an environment in crisis, a performance by The Wardens has been dubbed “the quintessential mountain-culture concert experience."

There are few places in the world where wilderness exists in such abundance, where you can jump on a horse or slip on hiking boots and disappear for weeks on end. The Wardens bring these experiences to the stage, painting a picture so vivid that you’ll almost “smell the Pine forests and hear the Grizzly Bear in the woods." (My Musix Blog)

More about The Wardens

Ray Schmidt founded The Wardens in 2009 with Scott Ward during the national park warden centennial after discovering the rich depth of music and stories within this region of Canada. Their Deputy Warden, Scott Duncan, has played fiddle with the band since 2017. 

The band has 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, and performed at Folk Alliance International, on Canmore Folk Festival's main stage, and for a royal audience in Edmonton, Alberta.

Following the 2021 release of their third full-length album, Sold Out at the Ironwood, Ray Schmidt was nominated Traditional Singer of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards. The Wardens has received numerous regional nominations, including 2022 Touring Artist of the Year by the BC Touring Council and Album of the Year by Country Music Alberta.