Cornerstone 2003: Liz’s Diary, July 2

First official day of the festival. Melissa and I went to the Alliance World Coffee tent, next to the Subway. They had some seating and tables and magazines with shade, and a fan… so we spent a couple of hours there just reading and drinking coffee. Michael Pritzl stopped for some coffee and saw us and asked me again if I had any beer. Nope, still no beer, Michael.

I went to a poetry seminar that afternoon, too. It was pretty interesting, but it was mostly about Blues poetry, which I’m not particularly interested in, so I appreciated it, but I didn’t go to any more of the poetry seminars that week.

After that, I took a stroll through the merchandise tents, ran into some more people I know, and Michael Pritzl gave me a free copy of the new Violet Burning CD. I then checked out the art gallery, which had some decent stuff. Only a few things really stood out to me, though.

The Cornerstone Magazine Stage was where it was at Wednesday night. I basically just stayed at that tent the entire night, where I saw the following bands:

The Party People — A solid rock band comprised of Jeff Cloud, the lead singer from Denison Marrs, the drummer from Ghoti Hook, and some other guy I don’t know. They played really well; I’m looking forward to hearing more of their stuff.

The Billions — I saw these guys a few years ago on the New Band Stage, and let me tell you, they’ve come a long way. They sounded really great and looked like they were really enjoying themselves up there. I’m not too familiar with their music, but after their show, I was definitely persuaded to get some of their stuff. And everyone else who went said the same thing, pretty much.

Havalina Rail Co. — I actually didn’t stay at this show for very long, which I know is kind of a sacrilegious thing to say. I enjoy them and all, but I’ve never really gotten into them, or maybe I just wasn’t in the mood, who knows. So I went over to the Rock for Life stage to catch some of Michael Pritzl’s acoustic set, which was really good. Then it was back to the C-stone Mag stage for my favorite Cornerstone band ever…

Unwed Sailor — “Dear Unwed Sailor, please come live in my house, and surround me with beautiful music constantly. Love, Liz.” If there is one band that’s an absolute must-see at Cornerstone, it’s Unwed Sailor. They played an absolutely beautiful set, a mix of their older songs, as well as stuff off of their new album The Marionette and the Music Box.

Let me side-track here a minute to mention this album. If you don’t have it, and even if you don’t like Unwed Sailor, get it purely for the artwork. They printed a book along with the CD with some of the most amazing artwork I’ve ever seen. They had artist Jamie Hunt do the artwork, gave him a storyline, and trusted him completely. If you look through the book at the same time as listening to the album, you get even more out of the book and the music.

My interpretation is that it’s about searching after your heart’s desire… finding it for awhile, getting distracted, chasing after what you think you want, but isn’t really what you want, and then finding your way back to your true heart’s desire. It might be a simple theme, but I think it’s one that speaks to most of us, and one that Unwed Sailor found a way to put to music with beautiful illustrations.

Ester Drang — I love Ester Drang, so I was really excited to see them play. I kind of wish they hadn’t played at midnight though, because people were getting tired, and leaving the tent early. Also, I guess the sound went kind of bad halfway through their set, so they didn’t play as long as they intended to play. So, even with all that… I still think they sounded great, and I really love their new album more and more every time I listen to it.