by: Kathleen Morris

10,000 Maniacs recently signed a five album record contract with major recording label Geffen Records. This new contract is just the latest benchmark for the Jamestown-based band with an already illustrious career and a couple of platinum albums behind them.

In 1984 10,000 Maniacs signed with Elektra Records and produced The Wishing Chair the next year. In My Tribe followed in 1987 and sold over a million copies. Two years later Blind Man's Zoo sold another million albums. In 1992 they released Our Time in Eden which sold 2 million copies, a sales figure they exceeded in 1993 with the release of MTV Unplugged.

The band is currently busy recording in Athens, Georgia in the same studio that R. E. M. uses, and are using that band's sound engineer, John Keane, as their producer. According to band member Dennis Drew, "We're about halfway through working on the 14 songs that we're planning for the first recording." The band hopes to have the record released and in stores in time for the Christmas season.

The world toured 10,000 Maniacs band has virtually all its roots in Chautauqua County. In fact the band's first two independent records, Human Conflict #5 and Secrets of the I Ching, were recorded at SUNY Fredonia in 1982 and 1983 respectively. Their lead singer and violinist, Mary Ramsey, recently completed her degree requirements from SUNY Fredonia's School of Music when, with the intercession of Peter Schoenbach, the School's Director, she received course credits for her life experience with 10,000 Maniacs.