Transcribed and edited by Melanie Seibert
photos courtesy www.cornerstonefestival.com

Over the past twenty years, musicians and music fans from all over the United States have congregated in Illinois for what has become a beloved annual tradition -- Cornerstone Festival. But what makes Cornerstone so special? Last Fourth of July, the Phantom Tollbooth asked this question to four longtime attendees of the Fest. Musicians, Andy Prickett (The Prayer Chain; The Violet Burning), Michael J. Pritzl (The Violet Burning), and Tim Taber (The Prayer Chain, CEO Floodgate Records), and John J. Thompson (The Wayside) shared their earliest and most meaningful Cornerstone memories, and discussed the Fest's future.

Q: How and when did you first hear about Cornerstone Festival, and what was your general impression?

John J. Thompson: I'd gone to see Rez Band in Chicago with Steve Taylor, and they were talking about this thing that they were thinking about doing, and then they started promoting it on the radio. I won a ticket the first year, for Cornerstone '84. That was when I was 14. I've never paid to get into Cornerstone -- before I was able to build a business that would justify me getting in for free, I always won tickets on the radio. I did a store called True Tunes, and a magazine called True Tunes, but all that stuff came about because of what I saw at Cornerstone. There's just no way around it. I write songs because of Cornerstone, I wrote a book because of Cornerstone, I opened a business because of Cornerstone, and then two years ago, I started full-time working for Cornerstone. So the circle is complete, I can die now.

Jars of Clay at Cornerstone '96

Q: What are you doing this festival?

Thompson: My main job is, I'm the marketing coordinator. I handle the advertising that the festival does to promote itself. I also handle the sponsorships. On-site, I also manage the coverage team: we have five video camera operators, audio recordists, a team of about ten digital photographers, and six writers all scouring the grounds so that at CornerstoneFestival.com, we can bring this experience to the people when they get home and want to relive it. Because when I was a kid and I left Cornerstone, I was depressed, crying. I mean, we got out the front gate, went down the road to Denny's, and would just cry that it was done. We didn't want to leave. With varying degrees of success, that's what I'm trying to do with CornerstoneFestival.com -- to keep the community in touch with what's going on all year.

Q: Thank you for 45 minutes of your day! Let's have our next panelist -- Michael?

Michael J. Pritzl: I first heard about Cornerstone when I was a teenager. I think I saw Rez Band play at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. I knew that they were part of this thing called Jesus People USA, and that they had these warehouses, or something, in Chicago. I started playing music with The Violet Burning around 1989, our first record came out in 1990, and a couple years later, we were invited to come to Cornerstone. I was really excited for my first trip to Chicago ever, and then I ended up here, on this farm. I was confused, because I thought we were gonna play indoors.

The Prayer Chain: Tim Taber, Wayne Everett Andy Prickett & Eric Campuzano

Tim Taber: My name is Tim Taber, and I basically found out about Cornerstone from Mr. Pritzl, who was benevolent enough to take out this young, unproven band [The Prayer Chain] that, he liked a couple of our songs and said, "Let's go on tour together." We found out later that we did have to be his roadies and set up his gear. It was a small price to pay.That tour, our first US tour as The Prayer Chain, opening for The Violet Burning, we were lucky enough to land a slot on the New Band Showcase, and just fell in love with the Fest, and played pretty much every year of our existence as a band. It was just an amazing, amazing time for us. And now here's Andy Prickett.

Andy Prickett: I found out about Cornerstone from Tim Taber, who found out from Michael J. Pritzl. Just like Tim described: summer of '92, we came out and played the New Band Showcase, and the crowd stood and stared. They didn't leave though, that was the good thing. They just stood there like, what is this music that they're playing? We had so much fun. And I have actually been here playing with one act or another every year since then. I might have missed one, I can't remember, but I've played with DA [Daniel Amos], I've played with Fold Zandura, Starflyer 59, The Violet Burning, played with the Choir once, Cush. So I've been here for eleven years. I love Cornerstone.

Q: When anything starts out, I think it begins with great idealism. What were some of your idealistic thoughts and hopes for this event, and maybe some of the things that disappointed you the most in those very early years?

Thompson: Well it's interesting, I've been logging video for this documentary that we're putting together, so I've been watching old Cornerstone footage like you would not believe. But the thing I've come [to realize], as something of a small-age historian looking at this whole Cornerstone experience, is that, I don't really believe any group other than the Jesus People could have pulled this off. Because the entire intent comes from a heart of community. I mean, if you set out to make money doing this, it would be the stupidest thing you could do. It loses so much money. The first year I was on staff and they actually were in the black, they had a little bit of money. What did they do? They went and spent it on making new roads so people didn't have to wait in line as long, and clearing more camping area so there was more elbow room for people. I'm thinking, "Man, this is so cool." The phenomenon wouldn't have happened if it wasn't put on by people who could care less about the money side of it. Disappointment-wise ... sometimes, getting to do what you love for a living is a mixed blessing, because I'm working all the time. Those moments of getting to sit and just absorb a show are few and far between. I'm always being pulled off to take care of something else. But it happens every year at least once for me, and that's enough to keep me going. It doesn't happen for whole shows sometimes, but last night, seeing the 77s, there were moments there when I was -- I tend to act like a little kid at a 77s show.

Glenn Kaiser of Rez Band. He and his wife, Wendi founded Jesus People USA. Kaiser is the current pastor of Jesus People USA Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago.

I regress. You gotta geek out a little bit. I remember just kinda feeling like, I'm not gonna try and be cool, I'm just gonna be an idiot and have fun. [It's hard] to divide the professional side of me that says, POD is a huge band and I've got to try to work my butt off to get them back here next year. But frankly? I'm gonna be sitting at the Lost Dogs, if I get a chance to go see the Lost Dogs. And, you know, The Prayer Chain coming and doing a reunion show is bigger than POD to me. So, sometimes you've gotta detach from the professional side and be a fan, and other times you set that aside, unfortunately. That would be the biggest disappointment.

Pritzl: Well, I think that I mostly was just humbled that somebody would invite us to come to what was, in my mind, this massive thing called Cornerstone. I was humbled at how many people enjoyed our music and were blessed by what we do. And to this day, for me the thing I love about Cornerstone is to just be here at the booth. I try to just talk to people as much as I can. Because I love that people in the Midwest are nice -- in California, people just aren't as nice. Also, like John, I'm a huge fan of music. I love all types of music. So, I was up right by the PA last night watching the 77s play "Nobody's Fault But Mine," and I was loving every second of it. I felt like I was 13 again. I just love music. A few years ago, I remember I just felt like a giddy kid. I write these journals on our website from time to time, and I got home from Cornerstone 2000, and I just couldn't stop writing. John ended up publishing this thing that I wrote about the loaves and the fishes... Basically, I got to stay up all night talking with Mike Roe. We talked about how we feel God has given us these fishes. And you know, they're kind of stinky and slimy -- it's who we are, we're not perfect men, we're not great, but God's given us a gift, a fish. And then we give it back to God and he takes it out and just multiplies it and blesses all these people with our music. Mike Roe and I watched the sun come up, sitting there at the Days Inn, talking about the things of God, and it was just such a blessing. Because a lot of people don't get to do that with somebody they've looked up to and respected. So for me, the blessings of Cornerstone [are] hearing people like Glenn Kaiser teach, meeting people like Mike Roe, and being around the booth and just talking with the fans who come here.

Josh Mc Dowell teaches at Cornerstone '89

Q: How about you, Tim? Can you talk about your early idealisms, and some of the disappointments?

Taber: I don't know about early disappointments. I think my disappointment now is that I'm so overwhelmed that there's like -- how many bands are playing?

Thompson: 330 performance slots, and that's not counting the campsite stages.

Taber: So, that's like 400 bands that play here. I just remember back when we were starting that it was like this huge honor and privilege to get to play the Cornerstone Festival, and now it seems like, if you don't play the Cornerstone Festival you must suck! Because out of 400 bands, you couldn't get a slot? It's like, one of my new bands [on Floodgate Records] that we started working with too late to get booked, we were like, just show up, we'll get a slot, it's no big deal. And, sure enough, they're on the Rock for Life Stage. I don't know if there's something that's taken away. Would 200 bands maybe be enough, or does it have to be 400? And Henry used to say you couldn't play every year in a row. And there's bands that got away with it, like the Violet Burning, that played all the time, but ...

One of 400. Headnoise whose members work at JPUSA in the innercity of Chicago.

Pritzl: Aw, I take offense to that!

Taber: Because they're such fan favorites!

Pritzl: Oh. Used to be fan favorites.

Taber: Over the Rhine was, like, inducted into the hall of fame.

Thompson: They're gonna get their own stage next year, I think. The Over the Rhine Stage.

Pritzl: And they should, because they're awesome.

Thompson: Like, paisley stuff, and candles, and tea.

Taber: I mean, I think it's kinda cool that POD's not playing. I mean, it's not good financially, but it's nice that when they come back next year, if they do, it's gonna be like, "Wow, we didn't get to see 'em last year." I dunno. There's something special about that.The other thing for me is just getting caught up in my business. When I was just a band guy, I could float around to every show, have fun, and now there's responsibility. I don't like it.

Prickett: In California, it kind of feels like an island, especially in this genre of music. So when I came out here, the idealism that I had was that, we're connecting with the rest of the country by hitting this one place. 'Cause that's what it seemed like. You know, people were like, "I drove 40 million hours from wherever just to see you guys." And so that was a big thing for me. I always loved that going to Cornerstone was the one-stop place to hit the rest of the world, basically. I really haven't had any disappointments, except I'm always a little disappointed that it's hotter than I remember. But I do remember the days when you could actually see all the bands you wanted to see. Whereas these days, there's at least three bands playing at the same time that I want to see all of, so I end up missing out. I think next year I'm bringing a video team, and I'm just going to send out people to everything I want to see, and watch it when I get home.

Thompson: Be careful what you ask for, man. You end up spending the next four months watching videotapes.

Q: Alright, think back over 20 years. I'll give you 3 minutes to tell your favorite Cornerstone story.

Thompson: Mine's pretty easy. Picking your favorite shows, that's hard, but... In '90, my band didn't make the New Band Showcase for the third year in a row, but that was the first year True Tunes ran the record store for the festival, and we basically turned over all the profits to the Fest. So I was able to go to Henry the first day and say, "Hey, two things. First, we've sold more today than we sold all of last year. And your cut is gonna be this." And he was just like, "You're kidding me." And I said, "Yeah, it's going really well. Second thing is, I've got a little PA, and a friend of mine and his band wondered if we could just set up in the road over there and play." And he was like, "Yeah, you can play wherever you want!" You know, it's like I had just earned the right to set up and play. And so we did, and it was in front of the swine building up in the Lake County Fairgrounds, so they called it the Swine Stage, and we played with Mission of Mercy, our friends. And the next day the Throes borrowed our gear, and they did it, and they got signed as a result. We didn't. So, we invented the Impromptu Stage that day because we figured we'd better put all these people who are bringing PAs in one spot. The other thing is, that was the first day that my wife and I kind of made that transition... That was the day that we went from being just friends to a little bit more than friends.

Toby Mac of DC Talk at Cornerstone 91

Prickett: No more details, please.

Q: Who else has a story?

Prickett: One of the biggest things for me personally, and the Prayer Chain... In 1993, we played on the Indoor Stage at three in the afternoon, and our record had come out in spring, and before we started playing the first song, everybody was chanting that song. And the year before, we were playing on the New Band Showcase in front of a bunch of people going, "What are you?" In one year's time, we came out here, and all of a sudden, everybody knew us. That actually was a great moment.

Taber: I remember it was gonna be our last year as a band, and I was like, "Henry, we're breaking up, we need a slot." And he stuck to his guns and didn't give us one. So 7-ball Magazine had launched sometime before that, and they had a little tent, and Hoi Polloi brought their PA. So we play this little tent, and it was dirty. It just seemed like there was no grass in this tent. It was just people swirling about kicking up dirt, and the PA wasn't so good. And my voice sucked; it was going out after the second song because I couldn't breathe.And in the midst of all this chaos and feedback, this guy is approaching the stage in the middle of some song (that is probably about getting back at somebody), and he's screaming and crying. And I'm like, "What is going on?" And this guy's like, "I have to accept Jesus! I have to accept Jesus!" And he just comes, crying and yelling, the music's going on, there's dust flying about, and we just pull him up onstage and our manager takes him back right behind the drum kit, and just prays with him right there to accept Christ. It was just like, "Woah. This is so much not about us, and so much about whatever God wants to do, in His time, with His Spirit." I don't even know if we were willing participants, but for some reason, God chose to use that time to grab that guy and bring him home for eternity. I'll never forget that.

Pritzl: I think that my favorite story is also a non-music one. As a kid, I stopped going to college, because I felt that God wanted me to work with homeless kids. So I would drive up to Hollywood from Orange County, and hang out with these kids who lived on the street. This one kid, his name was Twin-Fin -- because he had not just one Mohawk, but two -- and he had accepted Jesus. And he said, "Look, Michael, would you baptize me?" I was like, "I'm not like an ordained minister or anything. But God's ordained me, so sure, I'll baptize you." So we went down to Santa Monica and I baptized him. A few weeks later, my car broke down and I moved out of my parents' house. And I always wondered what became of Twin-Fin. A couple years ago, I'm standing at my booth after one of our shows, and there's this crowd of people. And I looked through the crowd, and there's this guy. I recognize him immediately: it was Frank -- Twin-Fin. And he goes, "Hey Michael, do you remember me?" And I go, "Frank! What are you doing here?" And he goes, "Man, I just want you to know that I never forgot that you took the time to spend with me. I live in Alabama now, I have a job, I have a wife, these are my kids." He goes, "I've had the great privilege of leading about 50 people to the Lord" -- and he sets his hand on my shoulder and he goes -- "they're all yours, man.

Is this Twin - Fin? The 80's full throttle! Cornerstone fans circa '86

They're all yours."You talk about community -- and really, that's what the Body of Christ is. We each have this place. None of us feel special, whether we get to write and people publish us, whether we get to have a radio show -- I mean, come on, I don't feel any more special because I get to stand in front of people. I just feel like a normal guy, and I just wanna do my part within the Body of Christ. I believe that each of us here feel the same way. I know all of these guys personally, and I know that their heart is to serve. I know that's why Tim has a record label, because he's good at business and he loves music, and he wants to bless bands that he thinks are good. I know that's why Andy works his butt off making records; he wants them to sound as great as they can, because he hopes peoples' lives will be touched. I know that's why John carries around a crew, and is always writing and watching video and talking to people. Every time I see him, wherever in the country, he's talking to people, and he's serving, and he's putting things together. And it's really the Body of Christ. We all have [a] role to play.

Q: What has Cornerstone meant to your faith, your walk with the Lord?

Thompson: I had a really messed up childhood. And I had become pretty good at building versions of myself -- I'm still decent at it -- that aren't fully real. They're layers that I can hide behind. I always knew God, I always felt God's presence, but I had a lot of pain, a lot of bitterness over stuff that had happened when I was a kid. Cornerstone was a way to completely obliterate the artifice that I had become so skilled at putting around myself. The first time I let someone pray [for me], they didn't really ask my permission. But at Cornerstone '85, when Steve Taylor was playing, I wanted to enjoy it so much. And my back was hurting, and someone just started praying for me, put their hands on me, and by the time I looked up, there were dozens -- fifty -- I don't know -- people around that didn't even know what they were praying for, praying for me. And when they were done, the pain was gone from my back. I'm convinced that God was telling me something about paying attention to Him and admitting my needs, instead of just getting into the entertainment side of things. Charlie Peacock in '88 [or] '89, the first time we did the acoustic trio thing at the midnight encore, I was right up front. And when he did "My Mind Played a Trick on Me," which is about his substance abuse problems, it was completely appropriate to me about lying to myself, about learning how to be honest and be broken. I just sat with my elbows up on the big stage and wept. Really, most of what I've learned, most of the moments I've had where God has been able to get my out of my bubble, have been here, when you just get pummeled for days, and your mental ability to separate yourself goes away. All of a sudden, it doesn't matter if I'm working, if I'm onstage playing, if I'm hanging out with some friends of mine, talking -- the artifice goes away, and the Holy Spirit kicks me in the head.

Forerunner of progressive Christian music, the late Gene Eugene of Adam Again, Lost Dogs and label exec of the now defunct Brainstorm Artists International (BAI) at Cornerstone 89.

Q: That's great. Anybody else?

Prickett: I'd like to say that, after everything that I've seen personally in the Christian music world, this is the one place where Christianity and music both meet correctly. And always, Cornerstone is a beacon of light in the strange world of Christian rock 'n' roll. It actually works here, in ways that are pure and right. Unlike most other places.

Q: Just to close things off, let's ask an employee of the Cornerstone Festival: are we gonna have a thirtieth birthday?

Thompson: Well, God's in control. This thing doesn't happen any year unless God ordains it to happen. I think that this year's gonna probably be a struggle, honestly, financially, and I'm sure that it's gonna lose money. But we're dealing with an aesthetic and a whole process of decision making that has to do with trying to discern what God's will is, not trying to see what the profit line is. So, I don't think anybody on the staff would be so bold as to say what God is gonna choose to do in ten years. But if you're looking at the fruit that comes from it, my instinct would be that you can't keep something like this from happening in some form or another. Tim mentioned earlier that the scope and the scale, the number of bands, number of stages, that kind of stuff. And there's an economic reality to it that is just unfortunately something you can't get around. If most people knew the cost and the risk that Jesus People go to to put this off, they would become dizzy. The first couple times I heard it -- still, sometimes it really overwhelms me. It only happens because of God's grace, it only happens because of God's provision, and it only happens because of God's people.You know, True Tunes, it was really heartbreaking for that to go away. But I look back in time and I feel that served a purpose, and it opened a door and provided something that was necessary. And as painful as it was when it went away, I'm glad that I'm doing what I'm doing now. And God is that way. So I certainly hope that my kids are celebrating and putting together video clips for Cornerstone 80, my grandkids, and using old footage that we put together this year, and saying, "Man, can you believe that thing's been going on 80 years, or 100 years?" But frankly, I'd really prefer the Lord just come back, and we celebrate Cornerstone 30 in heaven together forever. That would be my first hope.

Pedro The Lion at Cornerstone '01

Q: That sounds like a country song.

Thompson: Thank you. I take that as a compliment!

Q: "Will there be a Cornerstone in heaven?"

Thompson: It's not a "will," it's just when. Actually, in 1984 a group of people that I met, we were camping together, and they decided that Cornerstone was such a buzz that we needed to make plans. They said, "We make plans for life, but nobody seems to make plans for heaven. What's keeping us from booking dates?" So they came up with the idea that 30,000 years after Cornerstone '84, we would celebrate what would be Cornerstone 31,984. We would all mark it down, so wherever we were when that date came, we would all get together. And David would start with the harp, and we would work our way through and spend a few millennia just rockin' out, starting at 31,984. So mark that on your day timers.

Q: And in heaven there'll be time to see all the shows.

Thompson: No golf carts, no sound checks.

photos courtesy www.cornerstonefestival.com

The Exhibit Hall at Cornerstone Festival where fans get to meet bands, artisans from painters to sculptors to instrument makers, and buy very cool stuff!

Mainstage a Cornerstone 89. This year Mainstage will be headlined by Payable On Death... errr.. P.O.D.