Just the roadie...

My buddy Brian has his own Cornerstone blog here: http://flabbyironman.blogspot.com/   He has some great stories and pictures from the fest.   Go check it out!

Wow!  I sat through near record heat, sat in stand still traffic for nearly an hour, ran for cover from the absolute downpours; and I'm not even at the festival! Cornerstone Festival that is.  Usually at this time of year, I would have been on the grounds of the most amazing music and arts there is on the planet! (you still have time to get there, it goes through Sunday night! - stop reading - go now!!)  Of course I'm biased. I've lived for the Fourth of July weekend for over 17 years because it meant one thing. I was going to "THE Fest". Anyone from the Midwest especially knows it as "The Fest". Most people I know that are creative, culturally relevant, and into the arts and music know that Cornerstone Festival doesn't need to be described, it needs to be experienced.  Oppressive heat, damaging downpours, sulfur tinged water (major props to my JPUSA family for slowly bringing the water at the fest to a lot more drinkable state), sleepless nights (I...

It's been a rough week here in the dark wood but tonight I had a tiny chance to get away from northwest Indiana and see some of my favorite artists, The Lost Dogs . Another big fan of the boys (in all of their inceptions - Daniel Amos, da, The Choir, 77's, etc.) managed to snag the boys for a pre- Cornerstone show in their little fellowship hall of their church.   Rein Bontreger of Reinforcements Design managed to get them to his church, Fellowship of Living Hope, in Rensselaer, Indiana. I went with my buddy, Hippy, his wife, and their son, Levi. Our pal, Wally, would have made it but he backed out because of something called "worship practice". Wuss...  I read on the Lost Dogs listserv a couple days before about Mike not doing well physically. I read the details about the problem but it has to do with a lung infection and I know it's been tough for him on this tour. Stop and say a prayer for Doctor Love if you will. I know it's appreciated. Anyway, the sho...

An Open Letter to my Family at Cornerstone 2005 For so many reasons beyond my control, this is the first year in eighteen years that I will be unable to get to the festival. I'm still dealing with the reality of that statement. Yes, that IS longer than the majority of the festival-ites have been alive. I've said it out loud (at least through my fingertips) and am slowly coming to grips with it. It's hard, unbelievably hard, to realize I can't get to the one place on the planet that is my yearly sabbatical and source of sanity. I've been praying for a miracle but God seemingly has other things for me to learn this year. I've volunteered for the fest (I don't think anyone can ever emphasize how important volunteers really are to the fest) in one way or another every year, in every way imaginable. From trash pickup, to manning vendor and artist booths, to security in the old metal barns at Greyslake (Hi Ed), to (most recently) working with some absolutely amazi...