Meet The Band

SHAWN LIGHTFOOT (Lead Vocal/Lead Guitar)

Shawn’s love and appreciation of music began at a very early age and quickly progressed into a desire to make music. Picking up the guitar at age 15, the musical journey began. In his hometown of Fernie, British Columbia, many days and nights were spent playing guitar and joining up with school buddies in various formations of high school rock bands in the late 1980’s.

In the early 1990’s Shawn moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, where he shifted his love of music into recording and production and become involved in recording demos for up and coming local artists.  Spending many hours behind a mixing desk provided new perspective on the musical art, and learning what it takes to be a professional musician. In 1996 after moving to a rural home outside of Calgary, inspiration struck to move in a new direction – country music.  Alberta was a hotbed of country music and by the mid 90’s he had formed a country duo with another “Shawn”, the the duo was aptly named “Shawnessy”. The duo was built on vocal harmonies performing harmonized versions of radio hits as well as some original songs. After each “Shawn” decided to pursue their own solo directions, he then went on to perform in Calgary and across Alberta as a solo artist as “Shawn Lightfoot”. It was during this time where things started to take off and he was connected with some of the best musicians in the area playing local country bars as well as high profile events, such as Nashville North at the Calgary Stampede.

Shortly after moving to Vernon in 2010, the energetic “Shawn Lightfoot Band”  was formed where the musical journey has come full circle to incorporate his rock days along with country and now even pressing into pop territory.

One constant in all of this…..Shawn loves to sing and is PASSIONATE about pouring his heart and soul into every performance.

DENNIS MARCENKO (Bass/Vocals)

Dennis Marcenko was born in Assiniboia Sask.  Growing up in the South Saskatchewan area, he learned to play guitar at the age of 4.  By age 12  he was playing in his father’s dance band and learned the importance of the “groove” to keep people on the dance floor.  At the age of 18 he left home and hit the road with club bands that played from Ontario to Vancouver Island.  In the early 70’s he settled in Calgary and started getting recording sessions with Calgary’s finest musicians.

Dennis joined KD Lang’s band in 1985 and recorded her first album on Warner Bros, ‘Angel with a Lariat’, in London England with producer Dave Edmonds.  Travels with KD included cities such as London, Paris, New York City and Tokyo to mention a few.  Appearances on television shows like ‘The Tonight Show ‘with Johnny Carson, The Juno Awards and Much Music Specials were a very exciting jump compared to the years of club dates.

In 1989 Dennis joined the Colin James band and immediately went to Miami for 8 weeks and started recording Colin’s self-titled first album ‘Colin James’ with the legendary Tom Dowd at Criteria studios.  Recording with Colin continued with his second album, ‘Sudden Stop’, in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Memphis. Touring with Colin continued and with the help of Virgin Records London, the band started opening for acts like ZZ Top, Robert Plant, Little Feat, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Keith Richards’ X-Pensive Winos.

KEVIN LANE (Drums/Percussion/Vocals)

Kevin got his first set of Drums when he was 13.  His Father enrolled him in Drumming lessons with a 70 year old senior but he soon lost interest with Drum rudiments.  He annoyed his parents and played in the garage for a few years but nothing took off.
Life took an unexpected turn when he entered a float in the Vernon ‘Winter Carnival Parade’.  The following year in 1999, the Bagel Lane band was formed.   Changing the lyrics to great classics like Joan Jetts’ “I Love rock and Roll”, an original version of “I Love Bagel Lane” was born.  The band dressed to perform and Kevin was once again behind the skins.  The business moved forward and friends soon joined the band.  Together they brought Kiss to the stage in 2000 with pyro and flames.
Dan Walker, a long time friend saw the bands’ exploits and offered Kevin the opportunity to join the local hard hitting hair metal band called “The Dirt”.  It was more than a band it was “musical empowerment”. With more that 7 Funtastic shows behind them, The Dirt forges forward to this day.
Listening to Neil Diamond and other classic rock bands nonstop for the past 30years….Kevin developed a passion that bordered on obsession to play this “other” music. In 2010 he answered an internet ad from the newly formed Shawn Lightfoot rock band.  It was a match made in music heaven. Kevin says “what I love about the Shawn Lightfoot band is we have no musical boundaries. We play what makes us feel good. Old , new, country or rock it doesn’t matter”.
When it comes to using the right set of tools for fulfilling his drumming needs, Kevin uses an ordinary drumming set up. Gone are his “metal” era needs of 17 drums and even more cymbals. Presently, Kevin uses DW and Yamaha drums with Paiste Cymbals and Roland electronics.

In his spare time, he likes to spend time outdoors, running, wakeboarding and spending time with his family…all the while keeping the beat (imagine that)

ROMAN PICCO (Keyboards/Vocals)

Roman is originally from Windsor Ontario and played in numerous bands in the mid 70’s touring southern Ontario and Michigan.  In the early eighties he spent a couple of weeks in L.A. hoping to get a record deal for his band at that time, not being able to secure a deal he took a long break from music and returned back home to get his BCS degree and embark on a technology based career path.  It wasn’t until the late ‘90s that he would rekindle his passion for playing music.  By then he was living and working in Thunderbay Ontario and playing with many of the local musicians in various venues.  Upon retirement from his corporate job at Bell he decided to relocate once again.

Arriving in the Okanagan in September of 2017 Roman wasted little time in getting noticed and building a solid reputation. His versatility and relentless pursuit for musical engagement and collaboration with local and distant recording artists is evident and too lengthy to describe here however for anyone wanting to know more all one needs to do is look at his timeline on his Facebook profile “Roman Picco – musician”.