Judah Wardrope creating a career in country music
Former Moosomin Generals player, grew up in SE Sask
March 24, 2025, 1:35 pm
Ashley Bochek
Judah Wardrope, who grew up in southeast Saskatchewan, is embarking on a country music career.
He is currently based in British Columbia and recently released his first single, If I Die Tomorrow.
The World-Spectator interviewed him last week on his music career, and the interview follows:
Tell me a little bit yourself.
I grew up in Carlyle just down the road from Moosomin, but I am actually quite familiar with Moosomin. Besides the fact it is not that far away, I also played high school football for the Generals. I was a town kid that would go out and help on the neighbouring farms sometimes on the weekends, but for the most part I was just your typical small-town kid.
But music was something I always dreamed about as a kid. After high school, I really got into it and now I’m going for it as a career.
What influenced music in your life? Where did the love for it start?
It goes way back as far as I can remember. I grew up in Saskatchewan, but I was born in B.C. I like to tell people I am from Saskatchewan because we moved there when I was eight. One of my core memories I have from the short time we lived in B.C.—country music is my genre and my thing—but I am also very heavily influenced by ‘80s rock music as well because I remember as a kid my dad got a U2 CD for Christmas from one of his buddies and it was from one of their concerts, and he used to play that for me all the time when I was a kid.
So, from the time I could walk, I was always dragging a guitar around and listening to that CD, and then we moved to Saskatchewan, and I was introduced to country music at a young age. I grew up listening to Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean and I just fell in love with the expression, the joy, and I love being able to spread that to people too.
Do you write your own music? If so, where do you find inspiration to write songs?
I do. I have been getting into a little bit of co-writing as well, but I mainly write my own songs. The inspiration kind of just comes. I have been writing since I was 15 as my way of expressing myself. I struggled a lot with mental health in my life and that was kind of my way to express myself and the way I was feeling. I have this thing called my ‘Hook Book’ and it is basically all of my ideas for songs and catchy ideas. There will be times sometimes when I am out working and think of something that I think is good or a cool song title and I will write it down and then when I actually sit down to write I’ll look through my book and pick a title and start writing from there. I tweak it here and there, but I basically just go with an idea and see if something can come of it.
What made you move away from home to live in B.C.?
When I first started really going for it about a year and a half ago, I was working at a cattle ranch for a week and then going on the road for a week and doing that back and forth and I was kind of at a point where things were starting to happen and I was getting bigger opportunities, but I was at a crossroads—I had all these cool opportunities, but as an independent artist I didn’t have the money to pursue some of these really cool opportunities at the time. I thought about it and I have family out in B.C. who I knew I could live with for cheaper rent and I could work a trade job that will allow me to take some of these cooler opportunities, so I just really thought and prayed about it for a while and thought I would take a chance. So, I moved in with my uncle and started doing carpentry throughout the day and long-story-short, I ended up putting a song out and it actually ended up getting picked up on radio in Estevan.
Tell me a little about your first single and what inspired you to write it, and the background behind the song.
The song is called ‘If I die tomorrow’ and the music video came out last Wednesday. My producer Jesse Weiman, I met him up in Saskatoon when I was doing some shows up there and he came up to me after the one show and asked if I wanted to do a writing session at his studio, so I agreed and he and I wrote it together. Basically, I had this girl I liked over time, and I have always been an overthinker and thought ‘should I tell her, should I take the risk?’ So we started writing this song.
One of my other big fears in my life is regret and I was at the point where I was scared to take this chance, but also scared to live in regret. It is kind of like that Garth Brooks song, ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes.’ Whatever opportunity anyone may have in life, it is scary, but heaven-forbid if you did die tomorrow, could you live with yourself that you never took that big chance or opportunity that you had? That is where the song came from.
Walk me through the process of being reached out to by a music label? How does it happen?
I think there are different ways that it happens sometimes. I know some buddies of mine who have been approached through social media. For me, it was very natural. When Jesse introduced himself to me that night, I recognized him because I remembered seeing his face out in the crowd a couple nights before at a different venue. One of the biggest things for people wanting to get into the music industry is to just get out and see shows whether you are playing or not and just make connections, because that is literally Jesse. He is one of the producers in Saskatoon. He produces a lot of music for a lot of different artists in the city. He came up to me after and told me he loved what I was doing and that he would love to work with me if I wanted. It happened very organically. So, put yourself out there because that night I was playing at an open mic, it wasn’t even a paid gig, but I just thought why I don’t go out and meet some people and that is when it happened.
What has moving to B.C. done for your career? What have you been able to accomplish from moving out there?
It has been good. I am an artist now with the B.C. Country Association which has just been huge for me as a newer artist. I just found out last week that I am going to be playing at the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey which is huge in my career and that is all through BCCA and all the work they do to help artists get their careers started, so I am super excited about that. My music video came out last Thursday. A good friend of mine, Joe Steiner, directed the video and we shot it at Timberline Ranch in Maple Ridge which is a summer camp close to where I am living, and we shot the whole music video there. It turned out really good and I am excited to have it out for people to see. I’ve also had the chance to network with a lot of great musicians out here in B.C. and got some more paid gigs out here. It has been really fun getting to grow my career in a different province as compared to when I started in Saskatchewan.
Did you always think of music as something you could dedicate your life to and make a career of?
It has always been the dream, and I have always been a dreamer. It has been hard sometimes. I’ve always known I wanted to do it but there was a long period that I just thought about it because I was honestly really scared of it—I didn’t know I could sing honestly. I was always an outgoing guy and wasn’t scared to perform, but just always thought, ‘can I sing?’ But I got out there, and the first time I did an open mic in Saskatoon, I was so scared and barely made it through the set, but fast forward a year and a half later, I just kept grinding and trying to believe in myself, and next thing you know all these doors are opening and it is crazy to look back at it now and think if you really stick to it and believe in yourself, you never know what is possible.
What are the next steps for pursuing this career? What are some goals you want to accomplish in your music career?
We have so much stuff on the go right now. I have been talking with my producer on looking to get back into the studio in the next couple of weeks and start working on the next single. Then, once that ball is rolling, I have some more shows in B.C. coming up, but I also am working on Saskatchewan dates to come back home and play for I think the first week of July or end of June, somewhere in that time. We are still working on it, but I am really looking forward to coming back home and being able to play for my home province people because I love Saskatchewan with all my heart. It doesn’t matter where I go, the Prairies will always be a big part of me and what I am passionate about.
The sky is the limit as far as dreams go, but for me right now I am just focusing on taking it day-by-day. We are rehearsing with the band out here and starting to do some more full-band stuff. I honestly just feel so blessed to be where I am at already. I’ll see what keeps happening. Even just getting on the Estevan radio was huge. I was so excited about that.
I also just got a branding deal with a company in Nashville. They’re called Woodland Wake and we are going to be releasing some merch together and it will be online soon.
If people are interested and want to follow along, you can find me on Instagram at Judah Wardrope Music and that is the same for all my social media if people are interested.
What does music mean to you?
It is such a gift to be able to express yourself and my whole goal as an artist—I just want to bring people joy and help them with whatever they are going through in life because that is what music has always done for me. Whether it was a Luke Bryan song that made me be able to sing my heart out and have fun with my friends or whether it was a Morgan Wallen song that almost made me cry, I just related to that and knew I wasn’t the only one going through something. That is my biggest goal as an artist. I just hope me sharing stories of my life through songs will let people know they are not alone in the world and that they can cut loose, dance, and have some fun.
