8/8/2019 Maniacs are moving on ahead, making music minus Merchant

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an acs are mov ng on ahead,making music minus MerchantBy Chris TraySTAFFWRITER

It has often been said that fa-miliarity breeds contempt. Andbecause of lhqse contemptibtcatritudes, grcups of peoplc oflcnseparate - moving t0 polarsides of a given spectrum - inorder to pursue their own per-sonalized intentions.For Natalie Merchant, the 15years of playlng with the samefour to five gentlemen in 10,000Maniacs had seemingly begunto grow tiresome. Feeling thatshe could no longer prod alongon her spirited musical joumey,Merchant bid adieu to the 10,-000 Maniacs in 1993. The an-nouncement of her intentions toleave the nearby Jamestown,New York band came on theheels of a highly successful al-bum in Our Time in Eden and asold-out US tour that featuredsupporting act World Party.After a relatively disappoint-ing retail effort in Blind Man'sZoo, Merchant and her band-mates came back with avengeance on Our Time in Edenas it went on to sell moe thantwo million albums.Hits like "Candy EverybodyWants" and "Few and Far Be-tween" helped buoy the albumto its success, yet many peopleremember the smash-hit "TheseAre Days" because it was alsothe theme for the short-livedFox Television show calld TheClass of '96. the ldaniacs, asthey are called by their devotedfans, were also were part of heInaugural Ball in 1992 for BillClinton's induction into office.In the summer of 1994, Mer-chant released her debut solopro'rct litldTigerlilly. To most

music critics, this album was a{d*; yet, it went on to pro-duce three top-10 singles -andsold nearly three million copiesworldwide. Anchored by -themcga-hits "Carnival', and"Wondcr," Mcrchant provcrtthat she could do just fine with-out her male cohorts of some 15ye,ars.The boys of the band, mean-while, wasted little time in com-ing to the conclusion they had toforge forward with or withoutMerchant. Keyboardist DennisIhew, electric guitarist RobertBuck, bassist Steve Gustafson,and drummer Jerome Augusty-niak joined forces with JolinLombardo and Mary Ramsey ofthe folk duoJohn & Marv.

Lombardo, a founding mem-ber of the ban4 wrote manv ofthe songs on fte 10,000 l,Iani-acs' first three albums includingnumerous tacks on their majonlabel debut titled The WishingChair. Citng personal lasons,however, Lombardo left ttregroup shortly before the record-ngof InMyTnbenlg36.After dabbling in Buffalo'slocal music scene for nearlv fiveyears, it was not until 1990when Lombardo actuallyteamed up with Ramsey to formJohn & Mary. The duo eventu-ally went on to record trvo criti-cally acclaimed albums onRykodisc Records nfleA VictoryGardens (l9l) and The Weed-killer' s Daughter (193).In addition to those releases,Ramsey was also a guest violin-ist on Biny Bragg's "You WokeUp My Neighbmhood" in 1991,and in 1993, Ramsey played vi-ola on the Gm Goo Dolls'smash "We Are The Nbrmal."Ramsey also played with her

current band on Our Time inEden and, MIV Unplug ged.In the spring of 1994, theband that was formerly called10,000 ldaniacs played someshows (including one in nearbyBradford, PA) as John & Mary,Rob, Dennis, Steve and Jerry.The group tossed around theidea of changing their name, yetthe moniker tlnt was achrallydiscovered from a book inDrew's home library stuck withthe group. ."If we changed our name, wewould have been a band thatsounded like 10,000 Maniacs.so why not be 10,000 Maniacsbecause that's who we are."Drew explained.Ramsey's vocals are highlyakin to Merchant, yet her in-strumentational prowess on theviolin provides the group withan added dimension that wasrarely present before. WhileRamsey definitely has some gi-gantic shoes to fill, she viewsthe lead-singing role she is tak-ing on as somewhat of a naturalhansition for the group."I have never thought of re-placing Merchant per se, be-cause she is kind of irreplace-able," Ramsey says. "It's moreof a ransition with 10,000 Ma-niacs continuing on."The sextet's newest release ti-tled Love Among The Ruins isbeing dishibuted by GeffenRecords. After recording nearlyeight years on Elekha records,the band decided to sign with adifferent label citing "awkward-ness" with being on the samelabel as Merchant.An aspect often bare fromMerchant's songwriting cupboard was the ability to bothpen and sing songs that could

provide sustained moments ofchcerfulncss. Mcrchant's lyri-cism consistently tackled poiiti-cal and societal issueJ thatwould often guide a listenerdown a subjective path of self-reflection. Ramsey packs afluffie,r, pilloryy approach; andconversely, it is quite the oppo-site 'of Merchant's insistntbrcoding.. Ramsey's ability o instill joyin a 10,000 Maniacs song ija;attribute that radio programmersthroughout the country appreci-ate as well. Love Arnng the Ru-ins' first single, "More ThanThis" (that's right, a cover ofRoxy Music's 1983 hit), was themost added track to all formatsof commercial radio its firstweek out of the box on June 3.Currently, the track is gettingmost of its spins on commercialradio by both Top 40 and AdultAlbum Altemativc (AAA) for-mats.Television is also playing anintegral part in bringing theband's new lineup to the people.In the month of June, 10,000ldaniacs appeared on Fox AfterBreakfast and Live With Regisand Kathie Lee.Love Among the Ruins &,ginswith "Rainy Day," an almostsue-fire follow-up to the debutsingle ""More Than This.""Rainy Day" opens with afierce, up-tempo drum beat fromAugustyniak - a characteristicfrequently absent from previous10,000 lvlaniacs recordings.

Shortty into the piece, the

sheer wizardry extolled fromRamsey's viola takes furn, en-lightening this track to evengreater depttr. This selectionreminds me of a song that couldhave easily fit on 1lr My Tribe, a' song rich in texture with layeredmusical landscapes.'Even With My Eyes Closed"once again highlights the sweet,ethereal sounds of Ramsey's vi-ola. The vocals on this hack arereminiscent of old Jotrn & Marvglory, yet Ramsey's deft abittyto lighten the mood in this songmakes this third nack on thelecord a possible single readytor commercial air plav.Other highlights on the newrecord include "Big Star" (writ-ten for the band's nuhitionistGarry Star), "Green Children"and - "Your Shining Light"(w}ich featureJ urv

Srur-,Aug. 24 8:00 a.m.Mon.,Aug.25 7:30p.m.8:30p.m. -Tires., Aug. 26 8:00 p.m. -Wed.,Aug.27 6:Np.m. - MovThurs., Aug. 286:00 p.m. - 8:00Fri.,Aug.29 6:00p.m. -University CenterSat.,Aug.30 7:00p.m. & 9:30Tires., Sept 2 8:00p.m. - MidniWed., Sept. 3 6:00p.m. - Movie

8/8/2019 Maniacs are moving on ahead, making music minus Merchant

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