By: Craig MacInnis (page J3)

Only 9,999 Maniacs to go.

When songwriter/rhythm guitarist John Lombardo left the Jamestown, N.Y.-based group last year, a considerable weight was suddenly lifted.

"I think it freed us quite a bit, musically and emotionally," says keyboard player Dennis Drew, who leads 10,000 Maniacs (actually four guys and a girl) into RPM, 132 Queen's Quay E., for a concert on Tuesday.

Drew chooses his words carefully, but clearly feels the group's success with its new album, In My Tribe, is partly the result of Lombardo's departure.

"He was older than the rest of us and maybe had more of an intellectual/conceptual idea of what we should be," says Drew, 30.

"I think after he left, our songwriting became more egalitarian. We just let things happen as opposed to planning every last step.

"I really loved all his contributions, but he's really a lousy guitar player, which also affected our sound onstage."

It can be argued that the Maniacs, led by silver-tongued songstress Natalie Merchant, already had most of the right elements in place. Certainly their timing couldn't have been better.

The band formed in 1981, playing Gang Of Four and Joy Division covers before turning to a more folk-textured sound, sculpted from influences such as England's redoubtable traditionalists, Fairport Convention.

Although associated with the recent U.S. folk renaissance that includes New York songwriter Suzanne Vega, 10,000 Maniacs were in fact doing this sort of thing long before it became fashionable. Credit that to geography.

A "rust belt" city of 35,000, roughly nine hours northwest of Manhattan, Jamestown gave the group (including guitarist Robert Buck, bassist Steve Gustafson and drummer Jerome Augustyniak) a chance to "play without knowing what was going on in New York City."

It was the perfect creative enclave, says Drew, who still lives at home with his parents between tours.

"I like the quiet part of Jamestown, but I don't like the dying part of Jamestown," he continues.

"The summer is much more wide open here (than the winter). There are more city jobs, a lot more construction, a lot more pleasure in the summer."

That ambivalent quality - sweetness tempered with regret - finds its way into a lot of 10,000 Maniacs' music.

Says Drew: "The fact that a lot of our music and lyrics are sad, that's not a coincidence - that's a result of where we're from."

But to reach the pop market, the group also had to find a hook, something with which to hit the masses over the head.

Enter Peter Asher, one half of the old British duo, Peter & Gordon, and former manager/producer for Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. As the voice behind 1960s folk-pop hits Nobody I Know and I Don't Want To See You Again, he knew something about shaping sounds for radio.

The Maniacs took some flak for their cover version of Cat Stevens' Peace Train, which was released as In My Tribe's first single.

"We had been doing Peace Train in our live show since last fall because Natalie had just seen the movie Harold & Maude and loved the Cat Stevens soundtrack," says Drew.

However, he admits that the need for a cover tune was "was a relatively calculated" act. A couple of songs by The Cure's Robert Smith were rejected, as was Mary Hopkins' old chestnut, Goodbye, before the group settled on Peace Train.

Says Drew: "The Beatles and The Rolling Stones did covers when they started out, too. We don't have to be auteurs about this. I mean, who are we kidding?"