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The Wardens are coming to Centre 64
The Wardens, three current and former Rocky Mountain national park wardens, are coming to the Theatre at Centre 64 on Thursday, Feb. 18, for a concert of original music and stories from the Canadian Rockies.
Since 2009 Scott Ward, finger-style guitar and lead vocals, Bradley Bischoff, lead and rhythm guitars and vocals, and Ray Schmidt, upright bass and backing vocals, have been singing their blend of folk, roots, and western style songs and telling stories of grizzly bear encounters and bull elk confrontations, stranded hikers and lonely nights out on the trail at music festivals, theatres, community centres, house concerts and cafes throughout Alberta and B.C., including opening for Blue Rodeo at the Banff Centre.
Scott Ward has been a Banff National Park warden since 1969. He was a search & rescue dog handler from 1983 to 2000 responding to avalanches, then returned to back-country patrols until he retired in 2005. He received the Governor General’s Award for exemplary service in 2006.
Bradley Bischoff started horseback patrols in the remote regions of Jasper National Park in 1981. He has since worked in parks from Nunavet to Newfoundland to the Pacific coast and been a farrier, a ranch manager, and a teacher.
Ray Schmidt is a freelance writer and photographer as well as being a trail builder and the current new media specialist for Banff Pational Park. It was Ray who founded the Wardens in 2009.
They perform in front of a screen on which slides illustrating their songs and stories are projected, making it a true multi-dimensional performance. It is “the best all-encompassing show I have ever seen,” commented Terri Miller, editor of Canadian Cowboy magazine and Erin Sakotski of Kananaskis Lodge who described their show as “professional, funny, and very talented.”
The concert starts at 7.30 p.m. upstairs in the Theatre at Centre 64, doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 for Kimberley Arts Council members, $20 for non-members, available in advance from Centre 64 (250-427-4919 or [email protected]). It should be a fun night.
Submitted
