The Cornerstone Tradition

Tuesday 07.22.2008 11:27PM

It is safe to say that after 12 years now, going to Cornerstone Festival is a summer tradition for me. This was the 25th anniversary festival and I realized that after next year, I will have been to half of them. It is truly an awesome, refreshing experience for me that I hope to continue indefinitely.

This year started out a bit rough. The plan was to leave Tuesday morning, and Monday night I started to feel sick – nauseous, cold chills, a fever. It came out of nowhere, so I was hopeful that it was just a 24-hour bug. I drank lots of water, took some more cowbell, and by morning my fever had gone down and I was feeling better. We (being Doug, Isha, and myself) left mid-day Tuesday as planned. We camped closer to the main area this year, got a good spot with some shade, right next to the pond. It was peaceful.

This was a light year for me musically, there were not a lot of bands I “had” to see, and honestly I did not go through the schedule in-depth, so I mostly hung out with Doug and Isha at shows they were going to. The favorites that I had to see were Cool Hand Luke (twice, plus the surprise of a new record) and Sixpence None the Richer (back together forever). I saw Photoside Cafe with Isha and was blown away by their acoustic rock (with violin and cello). Not sure about their recordings, but this band is great live. I cannot forget to mention that Skillet's main stage production was one of the best I have seen there – amazing lights and pyrotechnics.

For the 25th anniversary night on July 4th, they closed down everything except for the main stage, which had a diverse line-up of bands from Cornerstone past and present. It was a trip to see Michael Gungor Band – I went to Russia in 1996 with him! The Glorious Unseen was an ambient/indie worship group that I was really impressed with. Charlie Peacock led the thousands there in a candlelit communion service and played some worship, including “In the Light” (popularized by DC Talk). David Crowder Band closed out the night; his songs are not all really my style, but it's definitely a fun experience of worship music. The man is also very entertaining, not just in appearance, but with references to Super Mario Brothers and other throwbacks. Fireworks closed out the night. It was a very spiritually refreshing night for me.

Reading my post about last year, I'm struck by how much things have changed. It seems so long ago. My heart incident was much more fresh, of course. I had only come home from my mom's house about a week or so before and Cornerstone was my first “big trip”. I was really cautious, drank gallons of water, wore my emergency bracelet the whole time. Now it's like second nature and I hardly give those things a thought. Last year I wondered why that girl was so excited and emotional to see me. Now Isha is a really close friend who I quite fancy.

The dates for next year's festival are June 29 - July 4 and you should plan on going! We have already recruited a couple more friends to go. I'm really looking forward to it – the more the merrier!

You should also read Isha's longer, better account and Doug's review covering plenty of bands.

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A Floating Smile

Saturday 05.31.2008 03:29AM

Listen.

Cool Hand Luke - “A Floating Smile”

I'm sad that I don't think about You
Because I just can't get on without You
You speak in the funniest things
Glimpses of Heavenly dreams

Lately it seems that it's harder
For my legs to walk any farther
I need You to show me I need You
And give me the faith to believe You

One day You'll come back
Soon You will come back
One day You'll take me home (x2)

We'll fly away
We'll fly away
We'll fly away
Forever and ever
On a floating smile

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Once

Wednesday 02.20.2008 01:10AM

I should have mentioned this sooner – in fact last week would have been a good time considering VD – but I highly recommend watching the movie Once. It is a lovely little movie about music, life, and love.

It stars Glen Hansard (of the band The Frames) and Markéta Irglová, whose characters cross paths and make a musical connection. I was struck by the music right away; it was very moving, make-your-skin-tingle type of music. Interestingly, neither of them are experienced actors, but it is not noticeable because they are clearly comfortable in their film roles as musicians, and there is a very natural feel to the relationship between the characters. They composed and performed most of the songs in the movie, so in many ways it feels like you are watching a documentary of these musicians.

Check out the song “Falling Slowly” put to some video clips from the movie. Movie trailer below that.

Once Currently Listening
Once
by Original Soundtrack

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Happy Living Day Mix

Sunday 11.25.2007 04:21AM

It's been a while since I've put together a mix CD, and this is the first I am really posting publicly. Usually I make them for a specific person, like a birthday mix or a you-need-to-hear-this mix. This one was inspired by Jenn's mission to get people to make and share Autumn mixes, and initially it was an Autumn mix, but a) it's taken me so long to finalize it, and b) it's not strictly “Autumn-ish” (though many songs would fit). It's more of a “good to be alive” mix, I guess? This weekend when I decided to finally finish and post it, I was thinking about that theme and “Happy Thanksgiving” greetings – and came up with the name pretty quickly. Living Day obviously is not a holiday, but it is everyday, so I hope you are having a good one.

Please download (100MB) and enjoy. Leave a comment to let me know what you think.

01: “We Will Be Disappointed Together” – The Myriad
A melancholy start to a “happy” mix? I find this very passionate and moving (particularly live), shifting between desperation and hope. Making you feel happy isn't the intent.

02: “Cityscape” – Paper Route
This reminds me of winter for some reason, and inspiration to live life fully. Don't sleep your life away.

03: “Silent Sigh” – Badly Drawn Boy
I just love this; a great pop song.

04: “So Alive” – Pristina
The title of this one speaks for itself.

05: “The Center of the Universe” – Viva Voce
A dreamy rock tune. What's the center of your universe?

06: “We Are All Made of Stars” – Moby
We're all human.

07: “This Shameless Moment” – Saxon Shore
Music without words can still say a lot.

08: “Passenger Seat” – Death Cab for Cutie
The comfort of having someone there.

09: “Hey Ya (acoustic)” – Mat Weddle
Take a really catchy pop song, cross it with indie-fresh acoustic guitar, and you probably can't stop listening to it. I can't. Shake, shake shake. Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

10: “Secret Heart” – Feist
Whimsical. Not to be confused with “magical” or “fanciful”.

11: “Here It Goes” – Jimmy Eat World
Groovy.

12: “A Sight to Behold” – Eisley
Epic. Possibilities are everywhere.

13: “Parallel Universe” – Leiahdorus
I don't know, I enjoy some good synthpop and this song just fit.

14: “For Me This Is Heaven” – The Ransom Notes
Brilliant a cappella cover of Jimmy Eat World. I almost enjoy it more than the original, which is saying a lot. Can you still feel the butterflies?

15: “One Thousand Years” – The Violet Burning
Longing for a home.

16 & 17: “Daybreak” / “The Story of Our Lives” – The Echoing Green
One of my favorite songs ever. If you've received an email from me in the past few years, you've seen the lyric in my signature. Our hearts are burning bright, as we're lifted out of nowhere. Our songs all stay behind to sing the story of our lives.

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Spur of the moment

Tuesday 08.07.2007 02:44AM

Hmm, only one post in July. Dang. Guess it was kind of a busy month overall; work has been keeping me busy and in my spare time I haven't felt like writing much.

Last week, rather spur of the moment, I decided to go see Shiny Toy Guns play in Newport, KY. I found out about the show on Monday, but didn't think about it much since it was on a Wednesday night and I needed to be “responsible”. The next day when I read that they were the only band playing and would play an extended set with new songs, I decided it would definitely be worth going. Jeremiah and Suzi were game, so we headed out after some minor delays (such as Jeremiah deciding to wear his Dr. Pepper on his pants... in my car). The show was great, it was in a smaller venue and they were having a lot of fun playing. Unfortunately, they didn't play any new songs, but did play some I haven't seen them play in a while like “Rocketship” and their cover of Depeche Mode's “Stripped.” Fun times.

The weekend before that I got to see Myssi and Laura for a bit, which was great fun. Myssi's back in town for a couple weeks (from the hard life of staffing YWAM in Hawaii...), so there was a cookout/sorta-post-birthday celebration for her, with Doug, Shawn, Suzi, and Luke. We played our freestyle version of Apples to Apples which always leads to plenty of laughter. For example, did you know booty is for keeping your hands warm? That game is how I became Delicious, too, back in the day.

Tomorrow I'm going to Chicago to see Eisley's acoustic show. Their new album Combinations comes out August 14th, I'm looking forward to that. Check out the video for their song “Invasion”, it's a great song and interesting video.

This weekend I'm going to see Hairspray with some friends, then there's a pitch-in cookout followed by road trip down to Bloomington. We're going down there to see Autumn's Descent play, which our friend Doug plays bass in.

Together We're Heavy Currently Listening
Together We're Heavy
by The Polyphonic Spree

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