by: Randi Gollin

10,000 Maniacs is a rare breed of band. While other groups seem to break up and make up every ten seconds, the Maniacs (from left: singer and primary songwriter Natalie Merchant, drummer Jerome Augustyniak, guitarist Robert Buck, keyboardist Dennis Drew, and bassist Steve Gustafson) have maintained togetherness for eleven years.

In 1981, Natalie was just sixteen and enrolled in an advanced-placement program at the college in her hometown of Jamestown, New York, when she and a few other deejays at the college radio station, some of whom became Maniacs, began hanging out together. "The band started as a complete accident." Natalie reveals. "We were invited to parties where people would play and take turns at the mike. They liked the way I sang. The parties eventually turned into gigs, the gigs turned into tours, and before I knew it, we were a band."

Natalie admits she never thought she would become a famous pop star. "I don't think I realized that this was something I wanted to do until about five years ago," she says. "I thought I'd stay long enough to travel, gather up money to go back to school, maybe study to be a teacher."

Guess that idea is on hold, because after four wonderful folk-pop albums, The Wishing Chair ('85), In My Tribe ('87), Blind Man's Zoo ('89), and Hope Chest ('90), the band (the name comes from a B-movie title) has come out with a fresh LP, Our Time in Eden (Elektra). Embellished with new instruments like violas, bassoons, and accordions and a soulful sound, several songs, including These Are Days, are almost euphoric - a rarity in the politically correct Maniacs-ville. "There's a majesty to the music, and the lyrics are very optimistic," says Natalie. "It doesn't have to be, 'This song is about whales,' or 'This is about the plight of the American Indians' - I never approach songwriting that way. I write about things that affect me emotionally."