{"id":25740,"date":"2017-09-08T09:31:23","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T13:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=25740"},"modified":"2017-09-08T09:31:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T13:31:27","slug":"10000-maniacs-show-highlights-big-mushroom-fest-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=25740","title":{"rendered":"10,000 Maniacs show highlights big Mushroom Fest weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

10,000 Maniacs<\/p><\/div>\n

After three decades, anniversaries begin to take on a special significance. They almost demand more attention.<\/p>\n

This weekend marks the 32nd anniversary of the annual Mushroom Festival in downtown Kennett Square (http:\/\/mushroomfestival.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

A special highlight will be a live performance by 10,000 Maniacs. This year marks the 30-year anniversary<\/strong> of the release of their critically acclaimed, break-out album, \u201cIn My Tribe\u201d \u2013 an album <\/em>that Rolling Stone Magazine <\/em>included in its \u201c100 Best Albums Of The Eighties<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 The band will perform most of the songs from this recording at this show.<\/p>\n

The Mushroom Festival will run from September 8-10 at various locations in downtown Kennett Square. The 10,000 Maniacs\u2019 concert is scheduled for September 9 at 8 p.m. in the Special Events Tent.<\/p>\n

Founded in the fall of 1981 in Jamestown, New York, 10,000 Maniacs\u00a0won the hearts and ears of music fans around the world — and sold more than 10 million records. Together with artists like R.E.M. and The Replacements, they helped define \u201ccollege rock\u201d and the first wave of \u201calternative rock\u201d bands with their pop-conscious, literate and lush aesthetic.<\/p>\n

The current 10,000 Maniacs\u2019 line-up includes founding members \u00a0Steven Gustafson (bass guitar) and Dennis Drew (keyboard, vocals) along with Mary Ramsey (lead vocals, viola), Jeff Erickson (guitar, vocals), John Lombardo (guitar, vocals) and Jerome Augustyniak (drums).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still based in western New York \u2013 in Jamestown,\u201d said Ramsey, during a phone interview last week from her home in Buffalo, New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Fredonia, New York and then moved to Buffalo in 1985. John lives here in Buffalo too. We\u2019re all still in this part of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy joining 10,000 Maniacs as their singer just sort of happened. John and I have had a folk-rock duo for 25 years called John and Mary. We opened for 10,000 Maniacs on tours in 1990 and 1993.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did the tour when Natalie (original lead singer Natalie Merchant) departed the band. The group asked John and me to write songs with them. The first CD we made with them was \u2018Love Among the Ruins\u2019 in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cReplacing Natalie was challenging. But, any kind of transition is challenging. The band wanted to keep going \u2013 and to keep its signature sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Natalie\u2019s vocals, I just sing them and respect them. I just try to sing from my souk and hopefully sing in tune and do a good version of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the band, I sing, write and play violin and viola. There are songs in there that I\u2019ve written. The support from then audience was the affirmation to keep doing what we were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2016, 10,000 Maniacs released \u201cPlaying Favorites\u201d on Omnivore Recordings<\/a>. The live recording was the follow-up to the band\u2019s highly-acclaimed 2015 release\u00a0\u201cTwice Told Tales,\u201d a full-length collection of traditional British Isles folk songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are piecing together a new studio album,\u201d said Ramsey. \u201cWe\u2019ll be working on it in December. I write a lot of the lyrics and melodies but everybody contributes. We bring what we\u2019re working on to the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we play a show, we do a variety of things \u2013 hits, songs from other albums and some new songs too. Time travel wipes away the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for 10,000 Maniacs \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/0-1GFgbPCik<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fun-GUS makes the rounds during last year’s Mushroom Festival.<\/p><\/div>\n

On Saturday, gates at the Special Events Tent open at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $40 and VIP seating is $65.00.\u00a0 Admission to the festival is $3 per person (12 and up).\u00a0 For more information call 610-295-3373 or visit http:\/\/mushroomfestival.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Mushroom Festival supports the old southern Chester County axiom \u201cThere\u2019s a fungus among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now in its 32nd year, the annual party is expected to draw more than 100,000 festival fans and mushroom lovers. Some of the main attractions are the Amateur Mushroom Cook-off, an Antique and Classic Car Show, the National Fried Mushroom Eating Championship, and a Mushroom 5K Run\/2-Mile Walk.<\/p>\n

On September 8, the Mushroom Festival kicks off with its annual parade. The community parade starts at 6 p.m. at State and Willow streets. Post-parade activities include live music, dining in the borough\u2019s acclaimed restaurants and dancing in the street.<\/p>\n

On September 9, the festival gets underway at 10 a.m. with the Amateur Mushroom Cook-Off in the Special Events Tent at State and Willow Streets. The theme for 2017 is \u201cMushrooms and Chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six finalists will prepare an original recipe with hopes of winning a $500 first prize and an opportunity to compete in the World Food Championships.<\/p>\n

The feature car at this year\u2019s auto show is Jungle Jim Lieberman\u2019s 1973 Vega Funny Car.<\/p>\n

The National Fried Mushroom Eating Championship is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Special Events Tent. Contestants will be competing for a $1,000 prize by eating the most fried mushrooms in eight minutes.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s activities begin with the Mushroom Run and Fun Walk at 8:30 a.m. — with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. The Walk goes off at 8:35 a.m. The race begins on South Street in front of Kennett High School, follows Red Clay Creek and passes by a number of mushroom houses.<\/p>\n

The Soup and Wine Event will be held at 11 a.m. in the Special Events Tent with guests sampling local wines and voting for the festival\u2019s best mushroom soup.<\/p>\n

Other festival activities include a mushroom soup sale at the Masonic Lodge, a Cute-as-a-Button (Mushroom) Baby Photo Contest, cooking demonstrations in the Culinary Tent, the Painted Mushroom Silent Auction, live music on the Community Stage and a visit by 6-ABC\u2019s Katherine Scott (Saturday only).<\/p>\n

There will also be an \u201cOld-Fashioned Carnival\u201d at 600 South Broad Street across from Kennett High School in the Genesis parking lot from 6-10 p.m. on Friday, 3-10 p.m. on Saturday and 1-6 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times After three decades, anniversaries begin to take on a special significance. They almost demand more attention. This weekend marks the 32nd anniversary of the annual Mushroom Festival in downtown Kennett Square (http:\/\/mushroomfestival.org).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[9429,9428,6518,217],"class_list":["post-25740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-000-maniacs","tag-9428","tag-featured","tag-mushroom-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25741,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25740\/revisions\/25741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}