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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
In East Dennis on Cape Cod, there’s a small salt marsh called Crowes Pasture. After spending some time in the area, Monique Byrne and Andy Rogovin decided to name their acoustic folk duo after the marsh. Unbeknownst to the Boston-based musicians, Crowes Pasture is an infamous party spot for high school students in Dennis.
The husband and wife laughed as they shared the history of their name with the Walpole Public Library’s visitors on April 25, when they performed in the Community Room. The name and its story, although it might evoke some embarrassing memories from Dennis natives, only add to the duo’s unique charm.
Throughout the concert, Crowes Pasture exhibited their immense talent. The folk duo performed exceptional covers of popular songs from artists like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and The Cure, as well as beautifully written originals.
Monique and Andy began the concert with a cover of Donovan’s “Catch the Wind,” and the audience immediately admired Monique’s soft, angelic voice, which was perfectly paired with Andy’s harmonizing and acoustic guitar playing.
After the audience’s applause, Andy offered an explanation as to why they kicked off the concert in such a way.
“The reason why we start is with that song is because our musical life together started with that song,” he explained. “We had been married for about seven or eight years or something like that without playing music together!”
“We have two kids, and I used to sing them lullabies so they could go to sleep,” Andy continued. “So one night, I was in their room and they were in their bunk beds drifting off to sleep, and I was playing and singing that song. Then Monique came in and started singing this nice, soft little harmony to this song. When we finished, the kids fell asleep, and we tiptoed out of the room very quietly, looked at each other, and we said: ‘Hey!’ So that song was literally the beginning, and we love to start a show with that.”
The performance also featured Monique’s prowess on acoustic guitar, banjo, and the tambourine, which highlighted the duo’s bluegrass style.
Crowes Pasture has two full-length albums, the second of which debuted at number seven on the FolkDJ charts. “Edge of America,” a song from the album of the same name, held the number three spot on the charts, and they happily performed it for the audience.
Despite Monique’s protest, they also played one of their works in progress, which they had never performed before in front of an audience. Although it would still be one to practice, the song assured the crowd that Crowes Pasture’s next album would be another impressive one.
Crowes Pasture has videos of past performances, as well as a schedule of future performances on their website, www.crowespastureduo.com.
Monique Byrne and Andy Rogovin beautifully harmonize as Andy plays the guitar.
