♫Two of those Maniacs happened to fall,....♫

...but don't worry. We found a cafe full of 'em:)

Following Natalie Merchant's homecoming show over the weekend, the co-founder and social media maven of her longtime 10,000 Maniacs band posted a one-word announcement:



That pre-announcement, posted two days ago, was followed by several yesterday: Two of the more recent additions to the current Maniacs- lead vocalist Mary Ramsey and guitarist Jeff Erickson- are leaving the band, at least as fulltime members. Mary had been a violist and backup singer in Natalie days before taking the mike after her mid-90s departure. Jeff, the baby of the family, had a sadder introduction to the group, taking over guitar duties after the tragic 2000 passing of their original guitarist Rob Buck. Both were integral parts of the three shows I saw them at between 2018 and 2022, and there is no acrimony in their leavings:

The magic they brought to all our lives will live forever in our hearts. They will be missed but, Mary and Jeff will always be a part of the Maniacs’ Family and will always be welcome to play with us in the future.

We are pleased to welcome two new friends into the lineup, two faces fresh yet familiar. Lead singer Leigh Nash and guitarist Matt Slocum are both founding members of Sixpence None the Richer, the band well known for its smash hit, “Kiss Me.”

The new lineup will make its debut for the fall 2023 run of shows, and fans can expect to hear new takes on Maniacs favorites, the band’s versions of Sixpence songs, and a few other surprises as well. Tickets will be on sale soon.

Closest confirmed date to us so far is Tarrytown downstate, but a Jamestown show of unspecified detail is also promised. They are also close to releasing a long-awaited new album that Steve says will include contributions from both the departing and arriving on Platform 10,000 and Three-Quarters.

The announcement came only after Natalie's weekend back in the Chautauqua County spotlight, which was a class move on the band's part, keeping any distraction from the events of that show. Words about at least some of the news had leaked over the past several months, including to me; I knew about Mary but not Jeff, and about the arrival of Leigh but not Matt. An actual Maniac alum also confirmed to me knowing about Mary's departure. I am Facebook friends with Mary, though she keeps a fairly low social profile there and I have not seen any comment from her or on anyone else's posts about the transition. I'd wondered if the group's health concerns from the past year or so were a factor, and maybe they are, at least in terms of the touring, but she is going to be at Sportsmen's three weeks from this Saturday night with three "friends" supporting her onstage. No ticket link yet, but I'm putting it on the calendar:)

----

That other occasional Maniac who'd also heard some of the news from the group? She was also one of several lower case maniacs we got to spend some time with last night at our biweekly poetry adventure. Maria sang backup with the band on a number of occasions, mainly in the 1990s, and she now lives right around the corner from Caffè Aroma, which has been hosting this rejuvenated poetry event for the last several months. She was in the company of several other poets she had met through one of her teaching day jobs, and they all joined us for the evening’s event.

I did not join the lineup this time, but no need, for 15 different poets signed up initially and at least one or two others joined in by the time we got a bit past 9 o’clock. One of the most powerful moments came in the words of our dear friend Abby Rose. They spoke about a real life experience of being stalked in their city home- by a housemate with hidden cameras all over, including in the bathroom.



There was anger, there was resentment, there was quite a bit of humor even, but most of all there was fire as this unnamed asshole got his head poetically handed to him.

It was enough of a burn that I almost made a joke about having to call the fire department. So imagine my surprise when, not five minutes later, the hook and ladder truck arrived right outside the café behind our car:




I WAS KIDDING!

Nobody came in, so the show it went on. I thought the event was ending, as it usually does, with a freestyle poem by local slam champion Ten Thousand- but this was a special night, and many of the poets returned to the stage.

It was no longer a reading, but a roast, because the cohost of the series, local poet and playwright Justin Karcher, is celebrating a birthday next week. His remarkable published stories of late-night trips to local 7-Eleven stores, his sartorial splendor in V-necks, and his possibly unhealthy bromance with Bills quarterback Josh Allen- all were fair game for the genuinely adoring assemblage.

You can’t really see the v-neck or the mound of chest hair it releases into the wild, but trust me. It’s there.



That's him, upper right, the Hawaiian shirt drenched and draped.

His host partner, his girlfriend, and many of the best poets over three area codes returned to honor him before we all headed our ways. I did not read then, either, but told him today that I homaged him this morning by waking up at the most appropriate time:



Home tonight, but sitting for standup tomorrow night. It's been quite an entertaining week, for sure:)