Just because the musical trio The Wardens no longer patrol Banff National Park doesn’t mean they’ve lost their work ethic in the slightest.
The Wardens’ Bradley Bischoff, Scott Ward and Ray Schmidt already have a number of tour dates added to their upcoming spring/summer schedule, but that didn’t stop them from taking part in B.C. Touring Council’s Pacific Contact annual tradeshow and conference over April 10-12, in Burnaby.
This is the 39th year of the tradeshow, where The Wardens took to the stage to show the west coast what the soundtrack for the Rockies and Banff National Park is all about.
“It’s a tradeshow for musicians and artists and we’re auditioning in front of an entire audience of festival organizers, event management companies and theatre groups hoping to open for doors for us in B.C.,” said Bischoff.
“Our performance was yesterday and we have a booth in the contact room, where all the presenters come and visit us and set up our touring schedules and hopefully get some dates in British Columbia for this summer and the next.”
The band is sticking to the same formula that led to gig success last October at the Alberta Showcase in Red Deer, where they were able to sign up for shows in new parts of the province. Once the band gets back to the Bow Valley, they’ll perform at Banff’s St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church on Friday (April 17).
After the Alberta showcase, said Ward, the band landed about 20 gigs around the province. “We finished sixth there in popularity,” he said.
“With B.C. showcase organizers, they try to put band tours together so you don’t have as far to drive. A lot of small towns are a long way apart. At our booth at the B.C. showcase we had interest from about 25 different towns, so even if we get gigs from half of them, that’d be good.”
“We’re really looking forward to seeing all of our friends from our previous concert and meeting some new friends at the Presbyterian Church on Friday,” Bischoff said. “We always wanted to get in there because any type of church or hall like that, the acoustics are just fantastic so we’re really looking forward to that one and we’ll be performing some new songs that we’ve written over the past few months.
“The new songs we’ve been working on through the winter and we’ve tightened a few of them up and we’ll perform them at the show. For the most part, the songs and the inspiration can happen anywhere, but it’s always fun for us to bring new material to the stage.”
The Wardens will also join Bards of a Feather on May 23 at the Canmore’s Miners’ Union Hall for a benefit concert to raise funds for Foxtrot Ranch.
“It’s a fundraiser for Stoney First Nations and the Fox family and their equine operation, and we’re certainly looking forward to that one. We’re happy to help out and play,” Bischoff said. “We’re looking forward to a great summer and we’ll be touring all over Alberta and into Saskatchewan this year and are really hoping our performance at Pacific Contact will open doors for us in British Columbia.”
Visit, https://eventbrite.ca/event/15833167430/ to purchase tickets for the May 23 benefit concert, and www.banffwardens.com to keep up to date with The Wardens spring/summer touring schedule.
