September 1984, the Marquee. Requisite "very metal" crowd, headbanging to a band called, appropriately enough for the venue, 10,000 Maniacs. But hang on - isn't that a girl in a granny frock on stage! Whirling and spinning and singing in a high clear voice... and behind her are a bunch of decent looking chaps, soberly dressed and playing a very DIFFERENT kind of music

The Maniacs did three gigs in London to packed houses then disappeared back to Jamestown USA, a remote country town in the far north of New York State. Country music it played constantly on the radio in Jamestown; Lucille Ball was born there and that's about it. It's a neighboring town to those occupied by the Amish folk - a cult whose weird lifestyle has recently been highlighted in the film Witness.

The sound of 10,000 Maniacs has something to do with their hometown origins, and a lot to do with the fact that this group of keen intellects have absorbed a wide spectrum of musical traditions and interpreted this in a unique way. The result is a complicated blend of country, bluegrass, R'n'B. folk and rock, and it's even led to a few suggestions that the Maniacs are derivative of bands like Lindisfarne and Fairport Convention.

"But nobody else is doing it," argues vocalist Natalie. "Nobody else is keeping that music alive. If you analyze the traditional music of the Irish, Scottish and British, then compare it to the traditional music of white America - Appalachian music, bluegrass - it is all from the same source."

The name comes from a tacky 50's horror movie and was chosen when the group first got together over three years ago to play at a Halloween party. They proved so popular that after twenty gigs in quick succession, they hadn't found the time to change the name, so, effectively, they were stuck with it. They delight in incongruities however - Natalie's sweet voice belies her sometimes savage lyrics, and contrasts with the solid rhythm section and Rob Buck's searing guitar solos. "A lot of people have read the words of our songs and feel guilty that they've danced to the music." she confesses.

Since that Halloween party this determined group of musicians have arranged their own bookings, touring, maintained their own vehicle and equipment, traveled over 60,000 miles and somehow found time to independently record a 5-track EP Human Conflict Number Five and an album Secrets of the I Ching.

"I if you live in a major city you can play once every two weeks and media people will be there. But coming from Jamestown, which is so distant, we knew no-one was going to come up there to see us. So we made these records and sent copies to clubs, radio stations and so on, and just HOPED."

The result was not unlike a musical chain letter. They got feedback from other parts of the states, Europe and from John Peel, who played their records on his show, and started the ball rolling in the UK. The end product was a deal with WEA and now the new album, The Wishing Chair, should be out by the time you read this.