A Métis singer-songwriter from Île-à-la-Crosse has dedicated a new song to firefighters.
Nick Gardiner writes music during the fall and winter and fights fires in the spring and summer. The 23-year-old’s latest single is called “Before It Gets Away.”
“It’s a song about firefighting,” Gardiner said. “It was written and arranged by myself. It tells what one might feel when they’re approaching a fire. The adrenaline rush that you get when you approach and the fatigue that you feel. I’m a wildland firefighter for wildfire management. I’ve been with them for about four years.”
Gardiner currently doesn’t have any plans to include “Before It Gets Away” on an album.
Gardner joined a band called Some People’s Kids when he was 15-years-old.
“We had some success,” Gardiner added. “We separated the band after about four years of playing together. A bunch of great guys. We still chat. After we split, I went solo.”
Gardiner says Northern Spirits workshops were a huge reason he started playing music.
Northern Spirits was founded in 2006 and has taught youth skills such as performing, stage design and recording a radio commercial.
The program was scheduled to take place in Prince Albert last month but was postponed because of a lack of funding.
“It gave a lot of youth from the north a voice and a stage to express themselves,” Gardiner said. “That really shaped me as an artist. I would love to send my daughter to that program.”
(PHOTO: Nick Gardiner. Photo courtesy of Nick Gardiner’s Facebook page.)