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Tuesday June 26th
Well it's 5am, time to get up and get ready to leave for this year's trip to the cornfields of Bushnell, Illinois. My flight leaves at 9am out of LaGuardia Airport in NY and I don't want to miss it. The Grand Central Parkway can be a virtual parking lot during the morning rush hour and I need to be at the airport two hours before the flight to give enough time to get through the security checks.The flight from NY to Chicago goes nice and smoothly and I even get a chance to take a nap on the plane. Being close to 58 years old and knowing I will be up until the wee hours of the morning for the rest of the week, I have come to appreciate the fine art known as the "Nap". The connecting flight out of Chicago to Peoria on the other hand is a different story altogether. We sit on the runway for an hour and the 28 minute ride is very bumpy. Oh well, I got to Peoria and got my car, a very nice Kia Spectra which will be my wheels for the next few days. The 75 mile ride from the airport is a very comfortable ride through mostly rural farm country broken by a few small mid-western towns. I get to Macomb at about 3pm and check into the motel. In past years I have stayed at the local college in a dorm room, a very economically sound deal. This year I decided to be extravagant and actually go for a full blown motel. Good choice, TV, a hot tub next to the swimming pool, what more could a man ask for. After settling in and unpacking I started the 20 mile ride to the festival sight itself. Being from a suburban area just outside NYC I am amazed and overwhelmed once again by the sheer expanse of the farms in this area, they seem so huge and it seems that the main crop in this region of course is corn. I arrive at the festival sight and wander off to find the Phantom Tollbooth Press Tent. We are located this year on the midway right next to the grocery store and one tent away from the Gallery Stage which is to be my main haunt for the week. I get to schmooze with a few old friends for awhile, Shari Lloyd, Tony & Linda LaFianza, and Dan Tackett. Musically it is a quiet night so I head back to Macomb with the intent of going to the movies to see Rise of the Silver Surfe". Instead though I end up going back to my room to watch NCIS, arguably the best show on TV and eventually fall asleep.

Wednesday June 27th
For the past 40 years I have been waking up at 5:30am and my body just normally wakes up at this time, I do, I look at my watch and groan realizing that it is actually 4:30am here. I roll over and go back to sleep for a few hours. Eventually I get up and go the the spa/ hot tub for a really refreshing time. After that is breakfast and the trip out to the fest site once again, a trip I will take at least twice a day. I like to hit the local Super Walmart to get my pictures developed. Wednesday consists mainly of wandering through the merchandise tents to check out the vendors hawking their wares. There is one guy in-particular who has some beautiful hand carved olive wood statues and goblets. The majority though are clothing merchants and colleges. The main stage area is about a mile walk from the rest of the festival and there is no one who I am really interested in seeing so I decide to stay in the main compound and stick to the stages around there. An early set at the Anchor Stage by a new band called Ilia sets the pace for the excellence that is to follow. 6pm and the evening session starts up at the Gallery Stage with a nice set by The Crossing followed by sacred steel artists, The Lee Boys. This Florida based band was nothing less than amazing, they were followed by The Glenn Kaiser Band and the newly re-invented Cool Hand Luke.

Thursday June 28th
Thursday morning held the same preparations as the day before. Hot tub, breakfast, getting photo's developed and the totally enjoyable ride from Macomb to Bushnell. The horses, sheep and corn fields are all some beautiful visual experiences to start the day with. The seminars that were scattered through the week on just what is "Christian music" were very thought provoking and along with semi-private conversations were just the shot in the arm that this old DJ needed to hear. The afternoon lineup at the Gallery consisted of Justin McRoberts, Erick Brandt of UHQ, Michael Pritzl, & a new group called Paper Route. After that back to the hotel to get photo's developed take care of some business and back to the fest for the evening which consisted of sets by The Violet Burning, Monk, Rosie Thomas, Leigh Nash backed up by Monk and of course Over the Rhine. A brief overview of the night would be: The Violet Burning were awesome, Monk featuring Ric Hordinski absolutely kicked ass,"Rosie Thomas was great, I personally think she is really Julie Miller & Victoria Williams somehow put together. No offense to anyone else but for me at least the highlight of the night was "Leigh Nash. As Dr. Tony Shore would point out, she was a total professional. Naturally Over the Rhine closed out the evening with their usual musical magic.

Friday June 29th
Friday morning rolled around bright and early so i decided to sleep late and skip the hot tub. Oh the sacrifices I must endure to realize and fulfill my artistic vision. The day starts off at noon with the "State of the Industry" panel discussion which consists of Joe Kirk, Doug VanPelt, John J. Thompson, Jeff Elbel & myself. A fine time was had by all. The afternoon line up at the Gallery Stage consisted of an amazing new band called Bluebirds & Bright Lights, really hot electronic dance music, Rue Royale an acoustic duo, Deas Vail whose album you need to check out. The afternoon closed out with an extraordinary set by the artist known as "Dr. Love", the one & only Mike Roe. The evening started off with a set by Roe vs Pritzl, as always, just so good. They were followed by Tess Wiley in her first Cornerstone appearance in around 10 years. The Myriad were up next and put on a first class rock n roll show. The evening closed out with the best band around, The Lost Dogs. If I weren't so financially challenged, I would see these guys anytime, anywhere. They are that good, once again to quote Dr. Shore, they are total professionals. I finally wandered back into the motel room at about 3am, as "The Four Seasons" once sang, oh what a night.

Saturday June 30th
Saturday was the last day of the festival, the musical highlights of the day were sets by Jeff Elbel & Ping, John Davis, and Timbre, Farewells were said all around, it is a bittersweet thing thinking that some of these folks I won't see for another year, but such is life.

Sunday July 1st
I leave Macomb at 5:30am to get to the airport in Peoria by 7am in order to return the car and get through security . Unlike last year all goes well, last time around I got lost going back to Peoria, missed my flight by five minutes and had to wait four hours for the next one. The Peoria to Chicago flight is uneventful, the Chicago to NY flight leaves late because they can't find a pilot. American Airlines should really consider changing their motto to "We Never Leave On Time". My son picked me up at the airport and brought me home. Cornerstone is sweet but there's no place like home.      

Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock