Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…
Maryann Fennimore
We asked Maryann what it means to her personally to be an indie music woman artist:
“While there’s struck luck and machine made stars
There’s also absolutes to who we are
Right past where you care if they know
is the house of the heart that kills at the show
when applause is 1000 miles away
but the love of the making is there to stay”
Maryann Fennimore, singer, songwriter and mandolin player started out her music writing and performance career in New York City in 2001 with Crescent and Frost. The group produced three records over the seven years they were together. Fennimore moved to Rome, Italy in 2008. Soon after arriving she made musical connections in Rome and began writing for her first solo record, OVERTIME. In the summer of 2009 she recorded the record with Producer and Bassist Jason Mercer and with the help of musicians Ana Egge, Daniel Marcus, Rich Hinman, and Chris Brown. She recorded the record under the band name, “Mary and the Strays”, as a tribute to the people who came in and out of her life during her first year abroad.
In 2010, she formed the band, Mary and the Stays in Rome with musicians Cristiano Urbani (guitar) and Dario Pimpolari (bass). Together they play as a trio around Rome and beyond. Maryann Fennimore’s second solo project released in Spring 2013, YOUR TURN TO BE LONELY. The record featured artists Tim O’Brien, Ana Egge, Todd Livingston, Jason Mercer and Rob Hecht.
In 2015, Fennimore released “The DSound Sessions” with her Rome band, Mary and the Strays. The songs celebrated the group’s love for Americana inspired songwriting, and featured recordings unfettered by the industrial editing processes that leave so much music today devoid of character and authenticity. In May of 2023, Mary and the Strays released “Blow Away”, Fennimore’s most ambitious writing project to date. The songs were written during the arduous lockdown in Rome during COVID, and resonate with hope, humor, and love.
Fennimore is currently working with her previous music collaborator from Crescent and Frost, Dan Marcus, on releasing a reunion record in 2025.
(Bio courtesy of Fennimore)
Follow Mary and the Strays on their Instagram and YouTube channel.
Check out their album Blown Away on their Spotify Artist Profile.
You can hear their single “Haven’t Got You” on Indie Music Women’s Spotify playlist, Essential Indie Music Women.