Notes from the Underground

Professor and Maryann bring alternative pop to Odette’s in New Hope, Pa.

By: Daniel Shearer
   Getting the crowd’s attention at CBGB’s is no easy task. The gritty, graffiti-covered bar in Manhattan’s East Village helped launch careers for The Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie and many others.
   Inking a record deal after one show at CB’s is nothing short of amazing, yet that’s exactly what happened for two native New Yorkers, Ken Rockwood and Danielle Brancaccio, opening for alternative rocker Freedy Johnston. The duo caught the attention of a representative from Bar/None records, the start of a relationship that spawned three albums under the moniker Professor and Maryann.
   Hip urbanites with a penchant for vivid lyrics and jazzy, melodic songwriting, Professor and Maryann have come tantalizingly close to stardom since the early ’90s, opening for Jewel, the Cardigans, Jeff Buckley, even comedian Howie Mandel. Luckily, their chemistry has endured, even though so far they’ve fallen short of the brass ring of mass-market stardom.

"Ken
Ken Rockwood and Danielle Brancaccio, known on stage as Professor and Maryann, will perform with bassist Matt Lindsey and drummer Tom DeVito.


   "What Bar/None does very well is they sort of act as a springboard for major labels," says Mr. Rockwood, who plays classical guitar, ukulele, concertina and tiple (pronounced tee-play), an obscure 10-string Latin American instrument. Ms. Brancaccio is the group’s primary vocalist, although Mr. Rockwood sings as well.
   "We haven’t quite sprung," Mr. Rockwood says. "Various majors have given us development deals and other arrangements to try to work with us, but I don’t think the major labels have figured out what to do with us yet.
   "We seem to be a bit perplexing to them. They don’t know what marketing goes with us. They don’t know how to get it to people in a way they would accept it and buy it. I guess we’re just a little confusing to them, at least it feels that way."
   Record-company politics aside, with 10 years of touring under their belts and more than 200 original songs to their credit, Professor and Maryann know how to work a room. They’ll perform with bassist Matt Lindsey and drummer Tom DeVito at Odette’s in New Hope, Pa., Feb. 1, a booking that marks somewhat of a departure from the venue’s usual cabaret fare.
   On Professor and Maryann’s last album, a minimalist, eponymous CD released in 2001, the duo transitions from the lilting portrait of a man living "On Ludlow St." to the deeply introspective "Lonely Old World," spending time in between with "History in the Making," a tune that could easily have been written in the roaring ’20s.
   At Odette’s, the group will perform music from its fourth CD, Runaway Favorite, tentatively scheduled for release in the spring. The richly produced recording sets a course toward radio-friendly pop, painting a haunting and surreal picture of an "Electric Metropolis," tickertape falling, zeppelins hovering, with Ms. Brancaccio crooning at times like a mellowed-out Gwen Stefani. Professor and Maryann perform with a band, instead of as a duo, with Mr. DeVito doing double duty as drummer and producer.
   "It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a while and had several failed attempts at," Mr. Rockwood says. "But this band we really love, so we put it to tape. It’s a much different album than before. I don’t know if it’s right for Bar/None, so we’re talking to a bunch of people right now."
   In the meantime, Professor and Maryann have been busy on the folk circuit, with several recent shows at clubs near Boston, as well as concerts in Manhattan at a number of eclectic venues, among them, the Cutting Room and Arlene Grocery.
   "Basically, our range of shows goes from once a month to about 25 a month," says Mr. Rockwood, who also has done shows at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia. "Right now, we’re in the five- to seven-a-month range, which is fun. We’re in the workout stage. The band is getting real comfortable and sharp. We’re still learning each other’s nuances."
   Largely self-taught as a guitarist, Mr. Rockwood has been playing for more than 20 years and currently divides his time between performing and working in the training department of a Wall Street firm. Before signing with Bar/None, Mr. Rockwood taught undergraduate and graduate computer science and mathematics courses at Steven’s Institute in Hoboken. He encountered Ms. Brancaccio at a Staten Island bar and found common musical ground with her. The duo recorded a demo tape, which led to their fateful show at CBGB’s. Professor and Maryann has been a full-time project for them sporadically since the early ’90s.
   "It’s been back and forth," Mr. Rockwood says. "We’ve done it full time for several years, and then we end up having to go find jobs because we’re not making enough dough, then we go back to it full time.
   "Right now, for me, I do have a job, so it’s a labor of love. I can’t tell you how much it helps. It’s amazing. It’s such a saving grace. There’s so much stress and angst, not only on Wall Street, but a lot of the working world right now, big companies, that music saves my life each day. I’m sure it does."
   Stylistically, Ms. Brancaccio’s smoky vocals make an interesting pairing with Mr. Rockwood’s instrumental work on plunky-sounding stringed instruments, particularly on tiple, which he discovered last year.
   "I fell in love with the tiple and started to put it everywhere," Mr. Rockwood says. "I probably play it more than I play the guitar, and no one makes them. Martin made them in the ’20s, but they’re really hard to find nowadays. You have to order them specially from companies, and I only know a few that would actually make them for you."
   With "World of Clowns," sung by Mr. Rockwood on Professor and Maryann’s upcoming album, the tiple adds to a circus-like feel, set against a lyrical hodge-podge: "A random collection of smiles and frowns/ an overflowing emotional machine-gun round/ a painting that’s running in the rain/ the happy smile of the insane."
   "That’s probably the newest song on the record, and I think it’s really about a relationship, that sometimes with people you never know who you’re gonna get," Mr. Rockwood says. "Everyone has so many sides to their personality. All the lyrics sort of emanate from that theme. ‘Will she show up with a red dress on, will she smile or wear a frown.’ You never know what you’re gonna get on any given day from most people, at least, that’s where that song’s coming from."
Professor and Maryann will perform at Odette’s, South River Road, New Hope, Pa., Feb. 1, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $15, with an $8 minimum food and drink purchase. For information, call (215) 862-3000. On the Web: www.odettes.com. Professor and Maryann on the Web: www.professorandmaryann.com