by Miriam Longino, Preview section page e1
What's a band to do when its phenomenally popular lead singer a the one who virtually defined its sound and style a announces she's leaving the group?
Panic?
Nope. Follow these simple rules:
Keep your name, especially since it's on the 7 million albums you've sold over 12 years. Hire a new vocalist a another female a who blends with your sound, but isn't a clone of your departed star (though it doesn't hurt if the replacement looks a bit like her predecessor.)
Get a deal with a major label willing to gamble on you, even though no one knows whether fans will stick.
Record a cover of a past hit a sure to help you show up on Billboard's Top 40. It's not likely that members of the artsy rock band 10,000 Maniacs saw their situation quite this clearly when lead vocalist Natalie Merchant announced she was going to pursue a solo career a few years ago. That kind of news is a near-death experience at best, destroying most groups that rely on a charismatic front person to sell albums and concert tickets. (Exceptions: Van Halen and Jefferson Starship).
But the surviving members of the New York group have pulled off the near impossible. The band has bounced back with a new lead vocalist, a critically acclaimed album (Love Among the Ruins) and a big hit a a lilting cover of Roxy Music's 1982 hit, More Than This.
Singer-songwriter-violist Mary Ramsey, the band's new voice, concedes she might have been a bit naive when she accepted the challenge last year of filling the vacuum left when twirling dervish Merchant exited 10,000 Maniacs in 1993.
"I really wasn't thinking so much about her. Not really until now," she says, calling from a date in Cleveland. "Now that the album is out and we're confronting the public more, I'm more conscious of the gravity of the situation. Like many professions, music is kind of an insulated world. When you're in on the behind-the-scenes stuff, it's a microcosm that becomes second nature." Ramsey isn't exactly a newcomer. She's been touring with the Maniacs since 1990, playing viola-violin and providing backing vocals. That's her in the band's MTV Unplugged video, behind Merchant. And she's written most of the songs on the new album, recorded in Athens during the spring of 1996.
Producer John Keane (Robert Earl Keen, Widespread Panic) says, "The band was in a very difficult spot. Without Natalie fronting them, everyone knew it was going to be kind of tough to start over again." He credits Ramsey for "breathing new life into the band."
"Mary's material is very different than Natalie's," he says. "Mary's songs are a lot more accessible. It's easy to tell what the song is about, and her delivery is a lot more open and friendly. Her songs cover a wider range of emotions. Where Natalie was sort of perceived as being aloof and mysterious, Mary is more of an everyday kind of person, a heart-on-your-sleeve kind of songwriter."
Ramsey was the one who introduced the band to the idea of recording More Than This. She says, "That was just a song I always loved. When we get together to write music, we warm up on stuff, and I tried that one." The band liked the sound of the Bryan Ferry tune, especially delivered by a female vocalist, and decided to release it as the first single. Ramsey says she's looking forward to returning to Georgia, but may not have time to head over to Athens, where she lived at the Marriott Courtyard for eight weeks while making the album. But she does remember fondly her favorite thing to do when she was there: "Eat at The Grit (restaurant) for that good Southern cooking, like collards, garlic mashed potatoes and cornbread."