Crescent and Frost 
The World is Waiting with Open Doors by Richard Cuccaro
 Cresecent & Frost photos by Kenny Feldman

It's Saturday night at the Living Room on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 
The back room is packed. Standing room only. The band takes the stage, spread 
out on either side of their vocalist, a strikingly attractive woman. The band kicks 
into gear with the opening instrumental bars to "American Spirit," from their first 
album, Pennsylvania. The singer leans backward slightly. Looking down, she 
smiles to herself as she pats her leg in time to the song's rhythm. She opens her 
mouth to sing and what comes out is the sound of quicksilver. It's a velvet alto, 
soft as a sigh, but strong, nevertheless.
This is Maryann Fennimore, one-half of the core of Crescent and Frost. Her partner, 
Daniel Marcus, is the other. They front a tight group, a bluegrass band that can rock. 
Daniel plays rhythm guitar and his agile lead flat picking works in tandem with 
Rich Hinman on lead electric. Jason Mercer is on bass. Maryann announces that she's 
going on her honeymoon in February. The lyrics to "American Spirit," accurately 
characterize her as she sings: "What a life, oh what a ride, the road is on my side."
Enduring all the twists and turns of trying to make it in New York, Crescent and Frost 
seems to be on their way. 

To begin with…
Maryann was born in Brooklyn, NY. Her parents moved to Pittsburgh when she was 
eight years old. From the start, there couldn't have been much doubt that she was 
going to be a singer. Both parents were musicians. Her dad still sings and plays guitar 
and banjo. While still in Brooklyn, Maryann's father wrote music for the church they 
attended and at 2 1/2 years old Maryann began singing there. In Pittsburgh, her father 
joined a banjo club and Maryann sang there also. In sixth grade she began singing in 
school musicals. She also began studying violin and maintained it for 10 years. She 
would drop it in college, but take it up again in her last year, hearing the call of the Irish fiddle.
While still in high school, she participated in musical theater and was also a vocalist in two 
bands "just for the fun of it," she says. In garage band style, they only got together to jam. 
She started writing songs at age 16, but in no particular genre.
Her father was playing folk and jazz in clubs (James Street Tavern) and festivals (Three Rivers) 
in Pittsburgh. Playing solo, he'd always call her up to sing a number. When he played with 
Dixie Doc and the Pittsburgh All-Stars, the same pattern followed. They also liked her singing 
and  asked her up to sing.
When it was time to go to college, Maryann went to Rhode Island School of Design to 
study Illustration. Although she got a degree in Illustration, music appears to have been 
a huge part of her life. She wrote three musicals -- one in her junior year and two in her 
senior year (one for her senior thesis). She wrote dialogue, then composed the music on 
violin.
Maryann's college roommate had relocated to New York (Queens), and needed someone 
to share an apartment. So Maryann moved as well, and once here, began auditioning for 
musicals. She eventually put together a variety show called "At Last," a series of songs 
and stories based on her own frustrations with having to wait for things to happen, both 
musically and in relationships. All the while, she had supported herself working as a 
receptionist for ad agencies and as a painting assistant to Jeff Koons.

Dan's Journey
Dan listened to music on the radio during his childhood but didn't play an instrument until 
he was thirteen. He went to camp and saw people playing guitar. "When I got home I got 
a guitar and started taking lessons,  and I was into it all the way ever since," he states. When 
he first started to play guitar,  he was into Led Zeppelin, Neil Young and The Who. He 
played classic rock early on, then switched to playing in a funk band when he got to college. 
He attended the University of Michigan, getting a B.A. in Liberal Arts with a major in Music. 
However, "Most of my musical education in college was playing in bands," he says. He then 
got interested in bluegrass, and played in a bluegrass band and then got into jazz, playing in 
two jazz bands. He went to grad school at the California Institute of the Arts for jazz guitar.
After grad school, Dan moved to New York, thinking he was going to be a jazz guitarist, 
but realized that "I wasn't really passionate enough about it." He met people like Lee Alexander, 
of the Norah Jones band (and her boyfriend). At one point, Dan subbed for the guitarist in 
Norah's band for a short tour. While Dan played some jazz, he continued to hang around the 
Living Room crowd. His musical expression evolved into the blend of singer/songwriter and 
bluegrass genres that defines Crescent and Frost today. 

Although he moved to New York the same time (2002) as Maryann, they didn't know of each 
other's existence  until he was referred to her by a friend back home. They met and hung out 
for a little bit. They'd get together two or three days a week and Dan played guitar and she sang. 
When Maryann created the variety show, Dan was a participant, playing around four songs. 
Then, due to separate directions and pursuits, a year went by before they saw each other again.
Maryann needed help in moving. She called Dan, and he said of course he'd help her. However, 
Dan had a request of his own. He asked if she'd sing an  Alison Krauss song with his bluegrass 
band for a show he was performing at the Living Room in two weeks. She agreed, and once 
they got started, two weeks later, she'd learned six songs. They wrote two of those. Five months 
later, they had their first CD, Pennsylvania.


When Pennsylvania arrived at the Acoustic Live P.O. box a few years ago, it stood out. 
Both Maryann's voice and the level of musicianship made it a keeper and marked the group 
for a feature down the road. The album came about by accident. Two musician friends from 
Colorado were visiting Dan in New York. He asked them to play some gigs with him and he 
put together a little tour, which included a show in Pittsburgh, where Dan and Maryann had 
roots. When they got there, a friend said, "Hey, I can record you guys." They rehearsed for 
about three days and recorded the album live in one day.

After recording the first album, they continued to  play at the Living Room, and, popular with 
both audiences and owners, they appeared to have set up a residency many months of the year 
since that time.
Their writing continued ceaselessly and in June of 2005, their second CD, Open Doors was released.
The album captures Maryann's vocal chops and displays a considerable writing skill as well. 
Her ebullient personality shines at the core of the album whether expressing regret or devotion, 
as on the title track, "Open Doors": 

"but when I say 'for good,' no I don't mean 'maybe should' / 
I mean that I mean to stand by you
and if this golden road we build turns to briar / and the sun turns to fire,  
I'll still be yours / I'm not tempted by open doors…
you'll see me in the morning with a bag of thorns and a clear path…"

"Carpenter's Boat" on track two cleverly embodies the oft-repeated singer/songwriter's take 
on failed relationships: "Well, at least I got a song out of it."

how very illuminating / how long was that ruminating?
while I was none the wiser woman to be…
the sound of this bad love ending 
seems more like a deep cut mending…
looking at you from the shore sure has me thinking
I wish I could thank you for cutting me loose from this ship that's sinking"

The songs describe a range of relationships, from total fulfillment, to regretful failure, 
and sometimes something in between, as the sweetly melancholy "Slow Road" attests…
"You were just a slow road to go down after all the best bets had left town and when 
the one you love has left you and an angel comes around / don't let it break your heart, 
don't let it get you down / you were just a slow road that's what I'd like to say / 
but I'd do anything to go down that slow road today"

"Leaving Wins My Heart" is a wry wink at ambivalence. Here, the attraction is a product 
of idealized imagination that flourishes in the partner's absence and crumbles once they're present.

now absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say 
and I would have to say that I concur 
it's not the holding or the loving or the whispering in the dark 
it's the memory of it that I prefer 
it's not the staying that earns my love,
it's the staying that tears me apart 
but if you want the truth, I'll tell you my love, 
it's the leaving that wins my heart…"

How's that for a deal-breaker?!

The legendary Bill Keith makes an appearance on banjo on this track. This came about 
because of a meeting that occurred during Dan's college days. Bill Keith had visited a 
mutual friend in California and Dan got to play with him during a weekend. When it was 
time to record Open Doors, Dan asked Bill if he would play on one of the songs, so Bill 
took a bus down with his banjo from Woodstock, played, and got right back on the bus 
when he was done.

Dan cites Maryann's prodigious talent for writing both melody and lyrics. "We spend a 
remarkably short time writing the songs." There's a synchronicity at work here. Sometimes 
Dan will come up with a guitar riff and Maryann has already written a melody that fits 
it perfectly. That happened with "Slow Road."

At the Living Room, the standing-room-only audience cheers raucously after each song, 
and Maryann beams back at them.
Maryann is someone who is in love with life and at times seems giddy when performing. 
She arrives at each show  with a batch of fresh whimsical observations to share. Tonight, 
her love of dogs surfaces and she's having trouble convincing her husband to get one. 
She recalled how, "The neighbor's dog ran through our apartment and we got a glimpse 
of what it would be like to own a dog. We're on the 10-year plan." Along with the 
remarkable tone and clarity of her voice, her sometimes loopy reminiscences help to keep 
the audiences growing for Crescent and Frost.

I asked Dan if she was that sunny off stage. He said, "Yeah, she's like that all the time."

The show's finale is a crisp, slow, poignant version of The Supreme's "Stop in the Name of Love." 
The Alison Krauss resemblance is there in the pureness of tone. However Dan says, 
"She's more like Bonnie Raitt in style."

New songs are already done and more are on the way. Lee Alexander is set to produce a demo 
of their next album. 
It's looking pretty rosy for Dan and Maryann and the guys. We plan on many trips to the 
Living Room to see them. Their next show there is at 10pm on March 11th. It's going to be packed. 
You'd better get there early if you want a seat. I know we plan to!
For updates, visit their web site at crescentandfrost.com

L-R: Dan, Maryann and the guys… Rich and Jason
   

The Rebirth of "Under the Radar"
This past November, Acoustic Live ran an article trumpeting the emergence of a series at 
Satalla nightclub that aimed at promoting new and under-appreciated artists, mostly from 
the New York area. It had started in September and continued through November. However, 
to everyone's surprise and shock, Satalla was sold in December. leaving the series homeless. 
Until now, that is. It has been re-started at Makor, the nightclub located at 35 West 67th Street. (see listings)
As before, WFUV's John Platt of 90.7FM WFUV's City Folk Sunday Breakfast will host three 
acts and conduct a short interview with each before they perform.

The first show in the series at Makor will be held on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:30pm and 
will feature Morley, Dave's True Story, and Frank Tedesso.

Promoter Steve Lurie, who produces the shows with John Platt, sent out the following promotional 
descriptions for the March 21st show:


Singer/songwriter Morley is a "jazz minded pop chanteuse, soul sister, cosmopolitan home girl from 
Jamaica Queens [who] embodies modern-day New York femininity in all its multicultural finesse." 
(The New York Times)


Dave's True Story utilizes a stylish, elegant jazz/ pop sound that contrasts the thorny thickets of 
songwriter/ guitarist Dave Cantor's deliciously devilish lyrics. DTS's resident siren, Kelly Flint, coos 
former playwright Cantor's crafty, acerbic missives as if they were tender messages of love, but songs 
about psychic readings, beatnik posers, and prescription medication are seldom the stuff of late-night 
saloon songs...


Frank Tedesso's visceral, unpretentious philosophical insights echo everything from Alan Ginsberg's 
poetry to Van Morrison's soulful mysticism. He's been compared to the likes of Leonard Cohen and 
Tom Waits.

Other upcoming shows include:
April 25:  Ned Massey, Rachael Sage, Toby Walker
May 23:  Lisa Moscatiello, Alan Semerdjian, Ana Egge

We hope you'll join us there!