Lon McNeil Archive

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Putting Fletcher to work puts Albany to work

– June 14, 2011Posted in: Lon McNeil

For as long as I have known B.J. Fletcher, she has been singularly focused on making whatever she is involved with better. Her secret is real simple. She combines hard work with a positive attitude and a desire to help others, coming up with the missing ingredient Albany needs today — jobs. A few years back, when she took over the operations of Old Times Country Buffet on Dawson Road, it was floundering. No more. Today, it is one of the real turn-around success stories in Albany. She did not stop there.

With her business partner Sarah Edmonds, she opened Cafe 230 on Broad Avenue, and gave downtown exactly what it needed — a quality venue for weekday and Sunday lunches, and special events. It too, has been a hit, and continues to prosper. That effort led them to open several other businesses downtown that today, hold out a real chance for growth in a section of our community that has struggled for years. It was in one of those new businesses, The Downtown Farm Market on Washington Street, that Fletcher announced she intends to be Albany’s next mayor. This actually came as no surprise to me. It is a logical extension of her desire to create jobs for people. Now she wants to do it on a city-wide scale.

Her announcement is very good and very needed news. It is past time for the long-serving, bureaucratic types, as well meaning as they may be, to step aside and give an honest, real, hard working businessperson the reins. We have had some well intentioned, and some not so well intentioned people serve our city in the recent past. The problem is they were, or quickly became politicians, working for their own self-interest, or striving to keep the various factions, (and there are many), content. Their belief that government has the solutions has cost us valuable tax dollars and time, with only declining job numbers and rising crime rates to show for it.

In her remarks, Fletcher revealed her vision of Albany. It is not built on false hopes or expectations. Like Fletcher, it is a very real and practical vision. She pointed out that today Albany has around 8,300 people unemployed that are seeking work, or just under 10 percent. She made it clear that number would drop under her administration. She applauded the 50 new jobs recently added at Coats and Clark, and challenged other large employers in the area to look for creative ways to do the same thing. Fletcher is a natural leader.

She is not oblivious to the other issues facing our community like crime and education. Fletcher is committed to making Albany a safer place to live for everyone, and getting the best results possible out of our school system. But she has a common sense understanding that jobs are the key. Fostering a pro-growth environment through tax policies and creative, hard work with area employers, will generate good jobs. Good jobs will reduce the desperation that drives so many to crime. Good jobs will also keep more of our young people here after they graduate. That is how a community rebuilds itself, and Fletcher is right on target.

Fletcher is new to politics, that’s true. Any other time that could be seen as a weakness in her campaign, but today it is a strength. She comes at this challenge with the can-do attitude of a successful businessperson that no politician could ever match. She has no desire to play politics, or to pit one side of town against another along economic or racial lines. She knows, as do most of us, that those ways of thinking have only served to weaken and divide us, while other communities in Southwest Georgia have prospered.

If you know B.J., and I do, you know she is not one to set goals, state them publicly, and then not meet them. She believes she can give Albany the right leadership, spirit and determination to get those jobs on the books and make Albany the “Good Life City” again. I believe she can too. Albany needs B.J. Fletcher as it’s next mayor.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant.

Tags: Lon McNeil
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Roles revisited after 12 years

– March 18, 2011Posted in: Columns, Community, Events, Lon McNeil, People

Lorber, White

By Lon McNeil

For Doug Lorber and Glenn White, Theatre Albany’s current production of “Scapino” must surely have an element of deja vu mixed in with their performances. Twelve years ago, both were hitting their marks in the same play, as the same characters; Scapino, played by Lorber, and Geronte, played by White.

The plot has the two at odds with each other in a fast-paced comedy that is expected to be as much fun today as it was the first time around. In real life, the two have become good friends through their mutual love of the theatre. They are among a devoted group of actors that Theatre Albany has come to rely on over the years for professional level performances, giving the commitment of time and effort that it takes.

For Lorber, acting has been in his blood his whole life, taking the stage in high school and then getting accepted to Boston’s Emerson College for theatre. At the time he was living in Virginia and economics, logistics, and some fatherly guidance found him instead at Mary Washington College, in Fredericksburg. Having just been converted from an all girl school to a coed college, Lorber said that auditioning for roles almost always had him on the stage, as there were only a few hundred male students on campus. He joked, “Usually I got the old men parts because I could grow a beard in a few weeks.”

His first performance for Theatre Albany was shortly after moving here in 1983, in “The Rainmaker”. It was the beginning of a long run of shows, and his long-running marriage to his wife, Nancy, as well.

“We had just been married, and because I was in the show we didn’t get a honeymoon until five years later,” Doug Lorber said.

The couple, business partners with Albany Audiology, are strong supporters of the area’s community theatre. “My wife has been incredibly supportive of my acting over the years”, added Lorber. “Acting gives me a chance to be somebody else, to do dialects, and just crazy stuff for a few hours.”

Glenn White has been a service technician for Johnson Controls in Albany for 16 years. He has been acting for about 21 years.

“I just love it. It feeds my ego,” he said.

White, Lorber

White is a thespian that Theatre Albany can rely on year after year. He has performed in more than 20 shows, and has no plans to stop.

White said he enjoys sharing the stage with others like himself; people with a genuine passion for the craft, and an appreciation for the hard work that goes into every performance. “It’s a good group of people, getting together to do something very special. We have a lot of fun,” said White. He is certain that his second time around with Lorber as comedic adversaries will be fun to do, which will only make it that much more entertaining for the audience to watch.

This performance of “Scapino” will have some style and pacing differences from the first because of the venue. Twelve years ago it was presented in the more informal studio upstairs. This season it’s on the main stage, and although it is still a very energetic offering, will probably not be quite as physical.

“I was actually in the audience back then more than I am now,” said Lorber.

Beyond their own personal calling to act, the bonds they have developed over the years with other performers make it an enjoyable process. They are each also quick to point out that the reactions from those that come to see a show, make it all worthwhile.

Said Lorber, “The applause you get at the end for a job well done is a great feeling.”

You can catch these two reprising their “Scapino” roles beginning March 17th. The play runs for two weeks, with evening performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

For more information and reservations, call the Theatre Albany box office at 439-7141.

Tags: Scapino, Theatre Albany
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Is a revolution due?

– May 5, 2010Posted in: Lon McNeil

Is it actually possible to make real, system-wide changes in our government, using the processes and procedures put in place by the very politicians, judges, and bureaucrats that now run this bloated, deficit spending monster? Probably not, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Revolutions are messy.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Albany’s stubborn ignorance

– February 4, 2010Posted in: Lon McNeil

Everyone can be stubborn and or ignorant. Many things can cause us to behave stubbornly. Being ignorant about something does not imply stupidity, but simply a lack of knowledge. I am totally ignorant about car maintenance, beyond checking fluids and tire pressure. Ignorance is a deficit that can be filled with information and education, but you have to want it.

What happens if you are ignorant on an important matter, and your feelings of insecurity make you defensive about it and even paranoid? You may find yourself stubbornly defending your own ignorance, refusing to grow in knowledge, settling for a lesser position in life simply as a matter of pride.

Refusing to admit there is something you don’t know, and perhaps even boasting that you don’t need to know what you know you should know, only magnifies your ignorance, making the situation even worse. I cannot think of a more helpless, self-inflicted way to lose in life, than to be stubbornly ignorant. For expediency in these fast paced times, let’s just go with “SI” for short. Albany is a SI place to live these days.

We suffer from this more than we should, and it seems like recently it’s only grown worse. Many of our young people have come to believe that their lack of an education and a good job is the fault of someone else, and the system is stacked against them, so why bother? Many of us have a hard time seeing a better future for ourselves, so we lower our goals to simply living for the weekend, when we know deep down that is not the best course to take.

Those that serve the community in local government, and on various boards, seem to be more inclined to take the SI approach and dig in their heels with positions that fly in the face of common sense. They very rarely admit to a mistake, a shortcoming in experience, or a lack of knowledge on legal and proper procedures. Left unchecked, the SI leadership of Albany will continue to make foolish, short-sighted, politically correct but poor decisions that only serve to lower the standards, and drive away more and more people that want something better from the place they call home.

The most recent example of SI leadership is the ridiculous “finalist” list for Dougherty County School System Superintendent position being vacated by Dr. Sally Whatley. If there is only one name on the list, why is he, Dr. Joshua Murfree, even referred to as a finalist? It’s silly, and it makes Albany look more like Hooterville than the hub of Southwest Georgia that it is.

Those members of the Dougherty County School Board that voted for Dr. Murfree as the only “finalist”(two did not) should be ashamed of their action. It reeks of favoritism, particularly to select someone that was so poorly ranked under the search criteria. It shows our school board as a collection of folks that need to go back to school themselves before they start trying to make decisions about our children’s education.

Another issue of late has been the controversy over the multi-million dollar transit facility being pushed and pushed hard by City Manager Al Lott. If the concerns raised over this project by the local media and citizens are unfounded as Lott says, then why did the federal government, that has no problem wastefully spending money it does not have, pull the plug on the project? Is Lott saying the federal government is wrong, too? If there is any SI mixed in with this problem, it is coming from the city manager’s office. They have mastered the art of defending foolish positions and still keeping their jobs.

I’m sure these leaders of our community will continue to take the SI stand, and keep doing what they do, fully expecting the hard working people of Albany, too busy just trying to pay the bills, to give this more that a passing complaint. Maybe not. Just maybe the days of SI governance is seeing it’s end in Albany.

Old ways of doing business could find themselves up against the new media and a more informed public. It will still take action on the part of the citizens to stop the SI express from running away with our future, but knowledge is power. We just have to use it.

________

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

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Searching for Jyquez Miller, missing child found

– January 11, 2010Posted in: Lon McNeil

Sometimes events play out in ways that you never see coming, wish had never happened, but nonetheless stick with you as critical moments, conveying something important and special. Recently, such an event pulled in Albanians from a wide cross-section of our community, including yours truly. One such event was the search for 9-year-old Jyquez Miller.

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, Jyquez was reported missing.

Years ago, the only people that would have known about it so quickly would have been local law enforcement agencies, family members, and close friends. But this is 2010, and in just minutes, the rest of us knew he was lost via Internet social networks. That’s how I got involved.

I had just come home from work and sat down to check my e-mails before going to bed. There was a Facebook posting from WALB’s Karen Cohilas marked “urgent”, asking anyone that could, to ride out Gillionville Road toward Lockett Station and Beattie roads, and assist in the search for Jyquez.

Others had already begun the search effort shortly after his disappearance. Surely, they had found him by now and did not need anymore volunteers out looking. I was very tired, it was now late and dark, and it was very cold outside. Then, on instinct as a parent, I restructured that thought; Jyquez must be very tired, it was now late and dark, and it was very cold outside. I got dressed, found a flashlight, got my dog on the truck, and headed out.

As I drove, my mind kept flashing back to times when my own children were in trouble and needed me there. When my oldest was about the same age as Jyquez, she fell face-forward on the sidewalk while playing with friends in the apartment complex where I lived at the time. I should have been right there to catch her, but instead I was in the second-floor apartment, working on something I thought was important at the time. I heard her crying, and a knock at the door. The neighbor had walked her up the stairs. There was my angel, bleeding terribly from her mouth and knees, her front tooth chipped. That image and the look on her face will be with me forever.

Then I thought of the time when we took my youngest girl to the school playground on a Saturday for a fun little family outing. She was then, and still is, a child of energy, and wanted to show me how good she could move across the horizontal bars.

She took off running, and before I could get close enough, my other angel darted up the ladder and across. In a split second she lost her grip and hit the ground, fracturing her arm. I should have been underneath to catch her. I’ll never forget that moment either. Both can still wake me up at night.

As I arrived to the search area for Jyquez, it was obvious that many others were having the same kinds of thoughts. All that was known was that there was a child in danger. That’s all we had to know. I don’t think it was about trying to be a hero for anyone, or even an effort to do a good deed. It was simply a natural reaction from parents and concerned citizens. You could see cars and trucks slowly moving through neighborhoods, and small groups of people walking back allies and wooded areas. Flashlights and occasional shouts of “Jyquez!” cut the cold night air. It was an amazing display of our better nature. With all the concerns over crime and such in our city, this was one event, if we could help it, that was not going to end up badly. Early the next morning, Jyquez was found. When the news of his safe return spread, you could feel a tangible sense of victory over a bad circumstance.

Some still have questions about the details surrounding his disappearance, but there are two facts that are not in doubt. The first, and obviously most important, is that Jyquez Miller was found and returned to his family. The second fact, I don’t believe anyone out searching for Jyquez saw coming at all. Even after so many years of hardships, Albany still has a core of community that all the strife and darkness has not touched.

We have a lot of problems to face. We have prejudices and shortcomings to deal with in order for our city to move forward. We can be fractured and divided along economic and racial lines. But when we know that one of our own, in particular one of our youngest, black or white, rich or poor, is in harm’s way, we act.

We may never know what led Jyquez Miller to not go directly home after school that day, setting him on the path of a desperate and terrible ordeal that he will remember for a long time.

Do we really need to? I don’t think so.

What we do need to take from this is that Jyquez set many of his fellow Albanians on a quest for the child that showed us all something we desperately needed to see in ourselves as individuals and as community. Regardless of the distance, differences, and divisions, we still matter to each other.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

Tags: community, featured, jyquez, miller
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RiverQuarium luring in wrong fish

– December 18, 2009Posted in: Lon McNeil

It’s hard to be critical when someone does something for you that is sincerely meant as a nice gesture, but it actually does you more harm than good. You just say, “Thank you,” and move on. In this case though, someone needs to point out the kindness of the Flint RiverQuarium’s offer of a $5 admission cost for residents of Albany and Dougherty County as a foolish effort. Now before everyone, including my good friends that work there, start calling me Scrooge, give me an opportunity to explain.

Why do we even have a multimillion-dollar fresh-water aquarium in downtown Albany? Is it there to give us locals something to do? Partly, but that’s not its primary mission. It is supposed to be one of the crown jewels in attracting visitors — dare I say the word: tourists — to our fair city. To come up with discounts and gimmicks to get us locals coming through the doors again and again, does nothing to grow our local economy. It is simply moving money from our wallets to theirs. No new dollars are generated for Albany this way.

We are already paying for this facility through local government support. To “lure” (sorry) us in with a special holiday “Thank you, Albany” discount, is just taking more of our money, even if it is only $5. If they want to thank us, let us in for free during the special period. The staff still has to show up, cut on the lights, and feed the fish, whether anyone pays to get in or not.

Then, while us Albanians that are already “on the hook” (sorry, again), for the operational costs of the RiverQuarium via our taxes, are there enjoying ourselves and adding the hustle and bustle of a holiday crowd, offer the five dollar deal to residents of Macon, Columbus, Tallahassee, even nearby Tifton, Thomasville, and Moultrie. There is a very good chance that unlike us, who will most likely eat and sleep at home, some of these out of town folks will have a meal here, and perhaps, just maybe, they will stay the night to see some of our other attractions or holiday offerings. That is the whole point of building the thing!

Reaching out to our sister cities in the region with such discounts does the people of Albany a lot more good than shaving a few bucks off our ticket price. It brings new dollars into the local economy. And what a better time than to offer it while visitors from out of town are probably coming here to shop. Tell me the local retail businesses would not love that kind of kind gesture.

Sure, it would take a little something called promotion and marketing to those areas, but it can be done and it can be done in a cost effective manner. This is the information age, and I know the staff at the RiveQuarium. They are some very talented marketing people. So, RiverQuarium, if you want to show how thankful you are for the support of Albany and Dougherty County, don’t waste this good idea on us, use it on the outside world and draw them into your “net” (sorry, last time, I swear). We need the new money, not the discount.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

Tags: featured, riverquarium, Tourism
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Stepping forward Sam Shugart

– December 11, 2009Posted in: Headlines, Lon McNeil

In the last year or so, Albany has seen an overt move by community-minded citizens to change things. New faces and new groups have come to the forefront, motivated by a desire to serve the city they call home, and to counter what they see as a lack of leadership and questionable ethics.

This year’s election of Chris Pike, who soundly defeated one of Albany’s long-time political icons, Arthur Williams in the Ward 3 race, was welcomed by voters across the spectrum as a sign of new blood stepping up to lead Albany to better days. Now, Albany businessman Sam Shugart makes no secret about his long-range plans to be a candidate and to do whatever he can to steer Albany in a new direction.

“I think I will be a good leader, not a politician, and do intend on running for office at some point,” Shugart said in an interview with The Albany Journal. “I would have a tell-it-like-it-is platform, certainly speak my mind, and push to do the right thing, no matter the consequences.”

Shugart says that it will be a matter of timing, both personally, and politically, adding that right now, “I don’t think we have the adequate political environment for me to be beneficial once elected”. It’s clear however, that he sees that day on the not too distant horizon.

Shugart was 2 years old when his parents moved to Albany from Pennsylvania. The 38-year-old partner in Reynolds, Shugart, and Associates, a local insurance firm, is a product of the Dougherty County School System and received a bachelor’s degree in risk management and insurance from the University of Georgia in 1994.

Upon returning to Albany after graduation, Shugart quickly found himself stepping up in a wide array of civic and social organizations, saying, “My nature and personality simply would not allow me to be an inactive or sideline member. When something needed to get done, I would raise my hand,” he said.

After almost 15 years, with businesses concerns and personal matters to attend to, Shugart pulled back.

“In 2008, I found myself with a daughter that needed more time with her daddy, a mother that I had to put into a nursing home, and five companies to run. Something in my world had to give,” he said.

Shugart resigned from the 11 organizations that he was involved in at that time. Today, Shugart looks for more manageable ways to stay connected to the community, taking on smaller projects like the Big Brother Big Sister fishing rodeos, fund-raisers for area nursing homes, and helping with various civic groups when he can.

Shugart sees Albany as a city with many things going for it, including a valuable supply of fresh water, its proximity to vacation destinations, beautiful woodlands, wildlife, clean air, nominal traffic, and a low cost of living. He even sees its size as a plus.

“One of Albany’s strong points that I often point out is that our size makes us a relatively small pond. The ‘sharks’ are weeded out very quickly,” he said. “If you are a good person and do good things the community will know quickly and associate themselves with you.

“The same applies adversely to the bad people. They are quickly labeled and pushed out via lack of association.”

A major hindrance for growth that he does see is an exponential encouragement for poverty.

“We give free food, free utilities, free housing, free welfare, free legal counsel, free school, free health care, free everything, all with little to no stipulations for the person receiving aid to better themselves,” he said.

Citing that other cities in our region do not offer the same level of support, or have a degree of accountability greater than ours, Shugart says this leads to a steady migration of those unwilling to work and be productive members of the community, and a way of life being passed on to their children that holds Albany back.

“I fully understand the need and reasoning for temporary governmental subsidies to help people get back on their feet, but they have to be just that; temporary,” he said.

The level of passion that Shugart has for Albany is obvious.

“I love Albany. I have made this my home and therefore I will constantly work to improve it for myself, those around me, and those that will follow,” he said.

People in the know say that Shugart will be a serious factor in Albany’s political future.

”I don’t see myself doing any more or less than others,” said Shugart, “but the reason I seem to stand out is due to the contrast of so many citizens doing nothing.”

To him it’s simply a continuation of his approach all along. He’s just raising his hand again.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

Tags: sam shugart
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Put the pen down, ADICA

– November 19, 2009Posted in: Headlines, Lon McNeil

And this group is still meeting to decide how to spend millions of our dollars? You have got to be kidding me. It is one of three things; the powers that really run things downtown are either corrupt, ignorant, or apathetic. Actually, I believe it is all three.

The Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority will be using their entire bank roll of $400,000 on hand, plus another $100,000 off their new line of “credit” through a $6 million bond, not to spur business, or attract residents and visitors to our city, but simply to pay back the city. ADICA has a mission to aid in the progressive improvement of the downtown Albany area, but it seems that all they do is cut checks, then cut more checks to cover the misspent funds from previous checks. Even if it were their own money, this would seem like a foolish process and a waste of effort toward the stated goals of the group, but it’s not their money; it’s yours, so it’s a bit more serious than that.

I challenge anyone that believes ADICA has served this community well, to show some specifics to back up that claim. Even Albany Tomorrow Inc., an organization that was not without controversy itself, knew how to manage a simple facade improvement program. They contracted with a designer to establish a certain style for a particular area, accepted applications and filing fees from any downtown business that wanted to be involved in the facade upgrade, and then took care of the work. True, there are some questions about this particular contract or that in the ATI program, but everything done was for facade work, not ground-up development, computer systems, merchandise, and internal upgrades that were common in the ADICA “façade” plan.

Instead of managing the program, ADICA simply asked businesses to supply invoices and requests so they could do what they do best; cut checks without a lot of that pesky and bothersome thing called oversight. This was blood in the water to a man with a history of financial fraud like Don Buie. You can only imagine the claims that were staked out for some of your tax money. I think they called theirs a facade grant program because it was to cover all sorts of expenditures that we were never to know about. Had Buie not been exposed by a handful of citizens and media, it would have worked. The only obvious facade work done in the ADICA plan, was $50,000 dollars worth for a restaurant on Radium Springs Road, well outside the territory authorized for the grant money.

And this group is still meeting to decide how to spend millions of our dollars? You have got to be kidding me. It is one of three things; the powers that really run things downtown are either corrupt, ignorant, or apathetic. Actually, I believe it is all three. The best thing for Albany right now is for all of the meetings, public and private, all the budgeting and planning, all the debates and the activity that seems to go on regardless of the obvious lack of practical thinking and common sense, to come to a grinding halt.

Just think of the money we could save for more police on the streets, more emergency services, more meals for our hungry, tax breaks for residents and private businesses to move in, and programs for our children, if these folks just shut up for six months, decided nothing, and spent not one more dollar. For all their efforts and check writing, any real movement forward in the downtown area is microscopic. Real progress has waited this long, it can wait a little longer. I’ll be willing to bet that if ADICA and the city were to simply back off and let the natural flow of business and residential development grow unhindered by their “service to the community”, downtown Albany would find new life and a new future that we cannot even imagine today.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

Tags: ADICA, Albany
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Time’s up; Lott must go

– November 4, 2009Posted in: Lon McNeil

Although there have been no charges by any law enforcement agency against Albany City Manager Al Lott, there is certainly enough of a work history to date to clearly show that our City Manager has not performed his responsibilities effectively.

People are fired all the time for simply doing a poor job, never having broken any laws. Lott has lost the respect, backing, and the required moral authority from the vast majority of the people of Albany to do his job. Our city manager should resign from his position right away. Barring this, the City Commission should relieve him of his responsibilities.

Barring that, the people of Albany should demand action through a petition. I hope that will not be required. It will take a lot of time and energy from citizens that are already overworked, underpaid, and burnt out with the failings of our local leadership and their mismanagement of people and finances.

We have plenty of issues on our plate as a community that require a city manager that is ethical, effective, and proactive in addressing the needs of Albany. Lott has shown no ability, or even a desire to get front and center on the difficult issues, such as downtown Albany and the ADICA board mess. Here are just a few concerns that I believe, stand as evidence that Albany needs a new city manager right away:

Mismanagement of downtown redevelopment, including having Don Buie, a convicted felon, on the job as manager and criminal conspirator for 18 months.

* Another Lott hire, former Police Chief James Younger’s performance was substandard by most accounts. His officers deliberately manipulated crime statistics by reporting felony crimes as misdemeanors. Lott gave Younger $40,000 of taxpayer funds to resign.

* Lott stated the only way to award Christopher King a liquor license to open an East Albany nightspot would be to break the law because of its close proximity to another club. Lott then broke the law and King got his license to open Club Fahrenheit.

* Ethical concerns over Lott’s hiring practices, including his arrangements with a hired “headhunter”.

* Systematically, Lott and his staff commit misdemeanor crimes by withholding information from the public.

Recently, some in government and the business community have charged that there is too much negativity in Albany, and that we need to “come together”. I agree. Some may see my comments here, and my blog in general, as a small component of that negativity. I disagree. I am a big believer in teamwork, in working together to solve shared problems. Albany is my hometown, and I believe it has the resources, talent, and desire to not only correct the problems, but to also become an example of how a city should be managed.

But before we can fix a problem, we have to first address it. Nobody likes to say that part of our problem is an individual in a leadership position, but if that is how you see it, you have to say so, regardless of any attacks you may get for going “negative”.

All this is of course, just my opinion. I would sincerely like to know what you think, so please add your comments below. There is only one way we are going to put Albany back on the right track — together.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

Tags: alfred lott
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Albany Music Scene: Relapse (sort of) reincarnated

– October 30, 2009Posted in: Lon McNeil

Way back in 1992, Russell Martin, Bill Harrell, Mill Brooks, Larry Foreman, Tommy Lashley, and Henry Hart use to get together and play the kind of music they loved: beach music, the classics of Motown, and just good old rock ‘n roll.

They had a blast

Lashley, Foreman, and Brooks had been tossing around the idea of starting up a band as a hobby for years. When they raised the idea with Martin, he went to work, securing a PA system and a place to rehearse. As the lead vocalist and lead persona of the bunch, Martin saw the whole thing as simply friends relapsing into the days of their collective youth, and from that thought came the band that Albany and Southwest Georgia knows today as Relapse. The guys simply kept doing what they liked to do, the performances kept getting better, and the crowds kept getting larger.

Half the fun of hearing Relapse play, is watching how much fun they are having. It is as it has been from the very beginning — a group of guys getting together to do what they love doing.That is their secret. If they are happy, you are happy.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Relapse had become one of the most popular local bands to come around in a long time. Not since the days of Eddie Middleton and Cotton had an area band garnered such a loyal and supportive fan base. If you wanted your party or fund=raiser to draw a crowd, you booked Relapse. It was just the beginning of a journey that would bring the name “Relapse” into the 21st century, with no end in sight.

Every member of the band then had, and today has, real jobs, and full lives. There has never been a plan to shuck it all and hit the road for fame and fortune. Instead, play dates were worked into everyone’s schedules. They turned down more gigs than they played, never doing any more than eighteen shows in a year. Yet, somehow they managed to build up a reputation as a serious party and special event band. The formula actually required no mixing other than getting these life-long musicians together, amped up, and ready.

With raw talent, and Martin’s connections in the area, Relapse played to large crowds that had the social networks to spread the word fast. In a few short years the group offered much more than just the standard, guitars, vocals, and drums. Relapse soon rounded out their very full sound with a brass section that today, sets them apart from most area bands. They had quickly become the local show band of first choice, and all they had set out to do was have a lot of fun and share it.

Over the years, because of job changes, life changes, and such, the membership roster shifted now and again. The Relapse we know today began to take shape in 1994, when Benny Lomineck joined as the group’s base player. Then in 1996, Tommy Presley took over behind the drums and added more vocals, and Mark Davis signed up as the band’s sound and lighting technician. All through the 90s, Relapse continued to deliver the goods. The turn of the century saw the addition of Mac Alexander on trumpet, and Graham Crosby on sax and vocals in 2003, and Joe Maxey on trumpet in 2006. Having more fun onstage than anyone attending a show, the group continued to give every performance their all, seeming to pick up more energy with every new addition. It looked like these old boys could keep on keeping on for as long as they wanted to do it. But in 2007, things changed. That’s when Russell Martin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Martin continued to perform, and for a while things kept right on going for Relapse. In time however, Martin’s illness and energy level began to take its toll, and fewer performances were booked, some without their lead vocalist. The last thing in the world Martin wanted to see was the breakup of Relapse because of his condition, so the guys stayed together and dealt with the situation as best as they could. It had become more than a band by now. Relapse was a part of their lives, and at a time like this, the friendships and support it meant were priceless. Band members recalled the last time that Martin appeared with the group in public. It was at a performance in Destin, Fla.. Midway into the set, Martin came up from out of the crowd to sing a few songs.

“He had Mark give him a wireless microphone, and all of sudden we heard him singing as he walked up,” said Maxey, “We had no idea. It was a nice surprise.”

That powerful moment was ingrained in their memory forever. Everyone knew this would be the last time their front man and driving force would share the stage with them. They also knew that Relapse would keep playing. It is who they are.

Martin passed away on Sept. 8, 2008, and for a few months, as the group dealt with the loss, Relapse stopped performing. But not for long.

Later that year, keyboardist Ed McRee came on board. The next step was to find a permanent lead vocal replacement for Martin, if the band was going to maintain the format and style that everyone had come to expect. Albany chiropractor Davis Kinney, who had auditioned for the slot, was the obvious first choice. Kinney accepted the offer, and found a way to blend right in, doing what everyone agrees has been a fabulous job. Like the founding members, and the newest ones, his motivation was the same. Relapse is about the music and the joy of playing with kindred spirits.

There is one thing Relapse is not. It is not about the business of building and scheduling a band. Nobody is giving up their day jobs.The guys have been playing music for so long, many since childhood, that rehearsals are not a part of the process. They are quite capable of knocking out tunes on the fly, having never played them together before. If they mess up, they are usually the only ones that notice. Half the fun of hearing Relapse play, is watching how much fun they are having. It is as it has been from the very beginning — a group of guys getting together to do what they love doing.That is their secret. If they are happy, you ar e happy.

The other element of their popularity is the fact that they are “us”. Being in Relapse is almost like something they do as a way of offering a little community support, adding a bit of excitement to the lives of area folks. They manage to perform around their own family lives and work, which makes the level of performance even more amazing. It’s fair to say that Relapse has been “reincarnated” in some manner, but the process has been gradual over time. There was never a moment when the band shut down for good, only to be “reborn” with an all new group of guys under the name. The original spirit and motivation behind Relapse has been slowly and easily passed from member to member, holding on to a real sense of continuity.

When Tommy Lashley and Henry Hart recently decided to retire from the band, Jeff Lindquist stepped up this past spring to take over at lead guitar. When Lindquist had to drop out because of a move with his job, Lashley returned to help out as needed.

Today, the ’09 Relapse permanent lineup, in the order of when they joined, looks like this:

  • 1994 – Benny Lomineck, base player / Bridge Inspector for the GA DOT
  • 1996 – Tommy Presley, drums and vocals / Sales Rep for Cintas1996 – Mark Davis, sound and lighting tech / Owner of AVM Audio
  • 2003 – Mac Alexander, trumpet / Engineer for ATT
  • 2003 – Graham Crosby, saxophone and vocals / Pharmaceutical Rep
  • 2006 – Joe Maxey, trumpet / Retired Military
  • 2008 – Ed McRee, keyboards / Ed Jordan Music
  • 2008 – Davis Kinney, lead vocals / Chiropractor

A side development associated with Relapse is the attention they get from younger crowds. It was assumed at the outset that the band would attract the older folks with its format and style. The kids today that come out for a Relapse show were not even close to being born when many of the songs were on the charts. It doesn’t seem to matter. Good music is good music, and a party is a party. Relapse has managed to bridge the generations without making a serious effort to do so. It just happens.

LonMcNeil 09Written by Lon McNeil. Mr. McNeil is an Albany independent marketing consultant. Find him online at AlbanyOnPoint.

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