The Wardens are launching their new album, Bear 66, this weekend with a triple-header.
Scott Ward, Ray Schmidt and Bradley Bischoff are performing at the Calgary Zoo with naturalist Brian Keating sharing photographs and stories Friday (June 20) night. On Saturday, they’re playing Legacy Guitar House in Cochrane (8 p.m.) and finally, closer to home, they’ll be at Stonewaters Home Elements, Sunday (June 22) at 8 p.m.
Canmore singer-songwriter Mike Petroff will open for The Wardens on Sunday.
“That is going to be a really good one,” Bischoff said about the Canmore show. “They are going to bring a bunch of chairs in and push the couches around, so it’ll be really homey and comfortable and we’ll have our new record there for sure.”
The Warden’s recorded Bear 66, their first full-length album, in January with producer Leeroy Stagger at the Rebeltone Ranch in Lethbridge.
With their 10-song Bear 66, The Wardens are continuing to share the unique stories of the lives of Parks Canada wardens working in Canada’s Rocky Mountains.
“We hired some professional players to sit in with us so there’s some lovely instrumentation on this one and I’m happy to report they are flying off the shelves. And we ordered another 1,000,” Bischoff said. “And we’re keeping on with those good themes of our adventurous careers as park wardens in Banff.”
For this album, however, the trio have stepped into some new material with the likes of “Adventure Before Dementia,” which is about the challenges of growing old, while “River Below” is about the demands of trying to carving out a life in the music business.
Other songs, meanwhile, stay true to the roots of The Wardens with stories that are truly local, such as the album’s title track, “Bear 66.”
“It’s a really nice record and we blew the budget on the graphics and the artwork on this one so there’s a bit more too, graphically, than our first EP and it’s really doing well for us,” he said.
Over the past four years or so, The Wardens have steadily created a place for themselves. They’ve got gigs this summer all over Alberta and Saskatchewan, from the 25th anniversary Annual Tees Longears Days – Mule and Donkey Show in Tees, Alta. through to Val Marie, Sask. and the Jasper Folk Music Festival.
And while The Wardens are often on the phone, booking most of the gigs themselves, the calls are now starting to come in.
“We‘re at the point that people are phoning us and that is so gratifying. They’ve heard us somewhere. They’re heard about us somewhere and folks are calling us now and booking shows, which is pretty darn cool and gets us to the next level,” said Bischoff.
“We’re unlike other singer-songwriter roots groups in Alberta and that is what makes us unique and that is what intrigues our hosts and that is what has proven to be extremely successful for us.”
