Early years The band was formed as Still Life in 1981 in
Jamestown, New York, by
Dennis Drew (keyboards),
Steven Gustafson (bass), Chet Cardinale (drums),
Robert Buck (guitar), and Buck's ex-wife Terri Newhouse (vocals). Gustafson invited
Natalie Merchant, who was 17 at the time, to do some vocals.
John Lombardo, who was in a band named The Mills (along with brother guitarist/vocalists Mark Liuzzo and Paul Liuzzo and drummer Mike Young) and used to play occasionally with Still Life, was invited to join permanently on guitar and vocals. Newhouse and Cardinale left the band in July, and Merchant became the main singer. Various drummers came and left. The band changed its name to Burn Victims and then to 10,000 Maniacs, inspired by the 1964 low-budget horror movie
Two Thousand Maniacs!. They performed as 10,000 Maniacs for the first time on Labor Day, September 7, 1981, with a line-up of Merchant, Lombardo, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, and Tim Edborg on drums. Edborg left and Bob "Bob O Matic" Wachter was on drums for most of the 1981 gigs. Tired of playing cover songs—though their first notable American hit was a cover of the
Cat Stevens hit "
Peace Train"—the band started to write their own music, usually with Merchant handling the lyrics and Lombardo the music. In March 1982, with Jim Foti on drums, the band recorded an
EP album titled
Human Conflict Number Five, financed by Drew's mother. More gigs followed in 1982. During this time, they lived in
Atlanta,
Georgia, for a short period at the encouragement of friends who said that many gigs were available there. Discouraged by the lack of actual gigs, and by having to sell plasma and rake leaves to buy food, the band moved back to Jamestown in November 1982 to regroup. At the beginning of 1983,
Jerry Augustyniak joined the band as their permanent drummer. The Maniacs met Augustyniak when they played in
Buffalo, New York, where he was in a punk band named the Stains. Between March and July, the band recorded songs for a second record,
Secrets of the I Ching, their debut album, which was pressed by Mark Records for the band's own label Christian Burial Music. The record was well received by critics and caught the attention of respected
BBC Radio 1 DJ
John Peel in London. The remaining five members started recording a new album in Los Angeles with
Peter Asher as the producer, who had worked extensively with artists such as
James Taylor and
Linda Ronstadt.
In My Tribe, a more pop-rock oriented record, was released on July 7, 1987. In 1990, with the help of Lombardo, they remastered their first two records,
Human Conflict Number Five and
Secrets of the I Ching, and released them as a compilation titled
Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982–1983. The band played a handful of local concerts in 1991, but largely took a break from touring and Merchant spent most of the year working with homeless youth in
Harlem. Merchant then revealed to the other members that she would be leaving 10,000 Maniacs for a solo career in two years' time, allowing for additional 10,000 Maniacs albums, while also acknowledging the financial implications of her departure. A new album,
Our Time in Eden, was released on September 29, 1992. In 1993, the band performed at the
MTV Inaugural Ball for
President Clinton in January and on
MTV Unplugged on April 21. Merchant made her departure from the band public in an interview on
MTV on August 5, 1993, saying she "didn't want art by committee anymore." The
MTV Unplugged album was released on October 26, 1993. "The last 10,000 Maniacs gig (July 28, 1993) was the first time I'd got drunk in nearly two years," Merchant later recalled. "I laughed a lot and threw lots of flowers out of the hotel window."
1994–2001 After Merchant's departure, Elektra Records dropped the band while signing Merchant as a solo artist. In December 1998, Buck took some time off from the band, moving to Texas to focus on a new project named
League of Blind Women. 10,000 Maniacs recruited Buffalo-based
Michael Lee Jackson of the band Animal Planet to step into the lead guitar role. Buck returned to the band in the summer of 1999. On November 3, 2000, 10,000 Maniacs played with the
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Buffalo, New York. It was the last concert they performed with Buck. On December 19, 2000, Buck died of
liver failure at the age of 42. He was buried in the Mission Covenant Church Cemetery in
Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. Following Buck's death, 10,000 Maniacs took a break. Gustafson and Drew, with Jeff Erickson, started a band named
The Mighty Wallop!. Augustyniak joined a band named Only Humen. On December 5, 2001, a 10,000 Maniacs line-up comprising Gustafson, Drew, Augustyniak, Lombardo and Ramsey played a benefit concert in Toronto, with Buck's former guitar technician, Erickson, on lead guitar.
2002–2007 In 2002, Gustafson, Drew, and Augustyniak decided that they wished to continue 10,000 Maniacs with a new lead singer. Lombardo showed up at the first band practice, found out that the band had hired Erickson to play lead guitar and
Oskar Saville of the Chicago-based band
Rubygrass to sing, and quit the band. This lineup toured sporadically between 2002 and 2006, playing at various festivals. On January 27, 2004, Elektra/Asylum/Rhino Records released
Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings, a two-CD set compilation, with 31 digitally remastered songs, four of them demos and one unreleased. The second disc contained B-sides and outtakes throughout the band's career up to that point, including many covers.
Jackson Browne's "
These Days" and
Tom Waits' "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" were among those included. In 2006, John & Mary formed a folk-rock band named the Valkyries. John & Mary & the Valkyries are composed of several longtime Buffalo music scene stalwarts. Ramsey rejoined the current edition of the band for several dates in 2006, playing viola and singing backing vocals. Saville left in 2007, and Ramsey regained the lead vocalist spot.
2008–2022 The band—consisting of Augustyniak, Drew, Erickson, Gustafson and Ramsey—remains active, playing shows throughout the United States. In June 2011, the band released the EP
Triangles on its own label, Ruby Wristwatch Records. The band celebrated its 30th anniversary in October 2011 with two sold-out concerts at the Scharmann Theater on the campus of
Jamestown Community College. The band spent most of 2012 recording a new album at their studio in Jamestown, New York. In February 2013, they released the album, titled
Music from the Motion Picture. Former drummer Robert Wachter died on March 26, 2013, at the age of 49 due to a long illness.
Twice Told Tales, an album of traditional British Isles covers, was released on April 28, 2015, on
Cleopatra Records. Founding member
John Lombardo was brought back into the fold as creative director and to play guitar on the album and following tour. 10,000 Maniacs released its live album
Playing Favorites on June 3, 2016, their first live album with
Mary Ramsey on lead vocals.
40th anniversary The band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2022 with an extensive tour, billed as 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey, to avoid any confusion as to the status of Natalie Merchant in the band. Ramsey acknowledged the legacy of the band, and the band with Merchant, stating "There are still times when I get mistaken for her, and I feel like it's just part of the story. In the beginning it was different, because people obviously wanted to see her — that's an understandable situation. But time has healed things up a bit, the wounds and the expectations." In 2002, when Merchant was asked if she would ever get back together with the band for a tour, she stated that due to Buck's death they could never again play together as a band. Keyboardist Dennis Drew reflected on the 40-year history of the band, "You don't grow up thinking you're going to do anything for 40 years. To get to this point, it's amazing. It doesn't feel like 40 years. It's been as natural as everything else. We have families, kids and grand-kids on the way. It's just been our life. You don't retire from this, I don't think. They'll have to take us off the stage on stretchers." Both Nash and Slocum are founding members of the band
Sixpence None the Richer. In January 2024, 10,000 Maniacs announced on their Facebook page that Nash and Slocum had left to devote time to Sixpence None the Richer, and that Ramsey had returned as lead singer, with guitarist Joe Rozler also joining the group. In April 2024 it was announced that Illinois-based musician, Ben Medina, will be joining on lead guitar. ==Band members==