twenty years later, it’s a jewel of a
family reunion Family Jewels
Reunite to Help Celebrate 20 Years of Lokal Loudness
The paper is now old and slightly discolored. Ten years ago, it was encased in a frame to help preserve its black and white Xeroxed simplicity. For a while, it was displayed on the wall of a tiny downtown record store that shared its name. Since 2009, it has hung on a rec room wall next to other framed artifacts from the past 20 years, its copy machine look and one typographic mistake marking a time well before spell check design desktop publishing became possible for nearly every home in America. These days just about anyone can put out a professional looking fanzine. But in February 1992, when the first print issue of Lokal Loudness was put out, such endeavors had to be done by hand using a method then known as “pasteup.” By today’s standards it was crude, and in some ways very much punk rock, but in 1992 it was simply a means to an end – a way to show love for the Augusta music scene. That worn out relic of love, the first issue of Lokal Loudness, was released Feb. 10, 1992, and featured Augusta rock ‘n’ roll band Family Jewels on the cover. On Feb. 10, Family Jewels will reunite as Lokal Loudness celebrates the 20th birthday of that first issue and present the winners of the annual Choice Awards at Sky City. “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years,” said Family Jewels guitarist/vocalist Fred McNeal. “I guess it’s actually been 18 years since the four of us played on a stage together. We’ve gotten together several times during the years to play a birthday party but we haven’t actually played in public in like 18 years.” While McNeal, drummer Pat Turner and bassist Brian Stachura tried their hand at resurrecting Family Jewels in the late ‘90s, the Sky City show will be the first time in almost two decades that Family Jewels will perform an actual set on a venue stage with the 1992 lineup that also included rhythm guitarist/vocalist Paul Sieg. While McNeal says the guys are all excited about the show, he keeps coolheaded about the upcoming reunion gig. “I like the bar, I’ve played there before,” said McNeal. “Hopefully we’ll see some people we haven’t seen in a long time. But, yeah, we haven’t even gotten together and rehearsed yet. We’re still arguing about what songs to do.” McNeal is quick to note that an Augusta Family Jewels show in 2012 is a huge difference from the band’s Augusta shows in the early ‘90s, many of which were shut down or shortened by police. “Colossal difference from 1992,” said McNeal. “Now there are more venues to play and downtown has been cleaned up. Back then, to play original music we had to throw our own shows, rent a place, and get PA, building a stage out of milk crates and lumber. Now there’s a lot more opportunities and a lot more venues.” By the time the first issue of Lokal Loudness came out, Family Jewels had already begun playing in Atlanta. But while the band had their sights set on stretching out to a bigger market, the four members did not foresee the separate migration to Atlanta that would eventually take place. “We never really felt that there were better bands in Atlanta,” said McNeal. “We just figured that being a bigger city that there would be more bands to pair up with. We learned a lot playing up here (Atlanta) about things we were clueless about. Back then, it was book the gig, play the gig, kinda live for that night. There was no long term goal about it.” While the allure of making a name for themselves in a big city with a strong musical history might have been an attractive notion – partially backed by the obvious thought that the bigger and brighter the city, the bigger and brighter the bands – McNeal says that idea could not have been further from the truth. “Augusta was great in that era of having a lot of odd original bands,” said McNeal. “I guess you can call it alternative or something but they all had a very unique thing about them. Where in Atlanta, I don’t want to call it cookie cutter, but you had like 10 bands trying to sound like Ministry, 10 bands trying to sound like the Black Crowes. You didn’t have a lot out of those one-off unique Hundred Year Sun or Smile kinds of bands.” Like most bands, Family Jewels eventually broke up, the members choosing to find their own musical paths. Ironically, those individual paths took all four Family Jewels guys to the same place – Atlanta.
“Brian and I moved up here (Atlanta) at the same time,” said McNeal. “Pat had already been up here a year playing with Salvation. Brian and I moved to either join a band as a package deal or put a band together. After playing with a few people, we found a couple guys and put together a band and pretty much just called it Family Jewels, for lack of a better name.” While this was going on, Sieg also found himself in Atlanta working on an entertainment law degree and, while Turner eventually ended up in the Atlanta version of Family Jewels with McNeal and Stachura, Sieg never again become an official member of the band. In the past decade, Stachura hung up his bass to concentrate on running his own construction company while Turner took a break from the drums before jumping back into the Atlanta live music scene a few years ago and eventually reunited with McNeal in recording/touring band the Hot Rods. Since relocating to Atlanta, McNeal has been the only member of Family Jewels to have never taken a break from music playing. He has performed with members of several notable Atlanta bands along the way including Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites and original Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt. But while he is certain that the Family Jewels reunion show will more than likely be a “one and done” deal, McNeal has strong feelings about getting the chance to close things off where it all started – in Augusta. “I’m kinda excited,” said McNeal. “It’s something we actually talked about two years ago and it just never happened. We talked about it but we never booked anything. This is sort of perfect timing and a good reason to get back together. Better than us just booking a show ourselves and playing in a bar somewhere instead of getting to play for friends and family.” And what does McNeal have to say when contemplating the possibility of having to return for a possible 40-year anniversary of that now old and slightly discolored first Lokal Loudness? “We’ll have to hope for wheelchairs and a handicap accessible venue.” by JOHN “STONEY” CANNON
see the show WHAT Family Jewels at the 2012 Lokal Loudness Lokal Choice Awards WHERE Sky City | 1157 Broad St. WHEN Friday, Feb. 10 | 8 p.m. TICKETS $5 MORE | lokalloudness.com
vergelive.com | community driven news | February 1, 2012 15