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John Lent  John Lent is a singer, a songwriter and a literary writer. Lent moved with his partner, the painter & writer Jude Clarke, to Vernon in the late 70s and has taught Literature and Creative Writing at new Okanagan College for twenty-six years. He has also published a series of books of poetry and fiction, the seventh a novel called So It Won’t Go Away. Lent grew up in a musical family in Edmonton , and played in a variety of bands there in the late 60s and early 70s. He has four brothers and one sister who are professional musicians, and Lent has been writing and performing songs for himself and them for thirty five years.
Lent is able to shift from literary writer to song lyricist with ease, concentrating his rich imagery in the more ‘pared down’ forms of songs like ‘Something Else,’ ‘Real World’ and ‘West Coast Blues.’ Lent’s laid-back vocal phrasing, like a long prairie stride, tempers the insistent guitar rhythms of Fraser and Wall, creating the unique LFW sound. Though Lent would say his songwriting has been heavily influnced by singer-songwriters like Randy Newman, Jesse Winchester, John Prine, Robbie Robertson and Lucinda Williams, his collaborations with Fraser have drawn him into newer and newer territory. Neil Fraser  Neil Fraser grew up in Burnaby , BC , and moved to Vernon in the early 80s. A noted guitar teacher, Fraser has run his own school for guitarists, and has been a highly successful teacher of guitar at The Vernon Community Music School for the past ten years. Though Fraser’s obvious love is jazz, he can move from genre to genre with both ease and tremendous delicacy and intensity.
Audiences get spellbound by Fraser’s range, the way he can draw the sound back to an almost minimalist touch, then explode in a variety of never-to-be-heard-again improvisations in a blues song or rhythm and blues piece. Fraser is also a noted arranger and composer. Four pieces on Shadow Moon are Fraser’s original compositions and many of the remaining pieces are collaborations with lyricist, John Lent. Neil has a deep admiration for the guitar works of Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Doc Watson and Martin Taylor. Fraser lives in Vernon , BC , with his partner, Julia Stead, and has two children, Monica and Kevin. Shelby Wall  Shelby Wall was born in Saskatchewan and spent his formative years in Southern Alberta . He moved to the Vernon/Armstrong, BC, area in the late 70s.
Coming from a background of rock and ‘country rock’ bands in the 80s, Wall became interested in Jazz around 1988, and has since evolved into a highly-skilled acoustic rhythm player. He has a metronomic pulse and uses it to full advantage to anchor this drumless/bassless trio. Wall has worked with Fraser in a Jazz duo and the two have developed an almost telepathic rapport. From traditional ‘boom-chick’ rhythms to walking Bass line accompaniments, Wall performs a very physical role in the LFW Trio with a ‘digging-in’ kind of resolve that most rhythm players can only dream of. Though Shelby is the anchor of the group’s sound and delivery, he is also a songwriter and collaborated with Lent on the title track, Shadow Moon. Wall has been inspired by the guitar playing of Freddie Green and various gypsy-style rhythm players. Shelby Wall is a Senior partner in the accounting firm of Clark Robinson in Vernon , BC . He lives in Armstrong with his partner, Therese Molloy, and has two children, Angela and Kevin.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 02 March 2007 )
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