Local music beat: Local Christian bands play Cornerstone
Anne Erickson
Lansing State Journal
Music festival is the biggest in Christian rock/metal/hardcore
Nothing goes together better than long summer days and rock music, and when it comes to Christian music festivals, Cornerstone is at the top of the deck.
Cornerstone Music Festival, an annual event in Bushnell, Ill., showcases the biggest names in Christian music, along with up-and-coming talent. This year's bill includes anyone who's anyone in the Christian hard rock/metal/hardcore vein: Flyleaf, Skillet, As I Lay Dying, The Almost, Demon Hunter, Haste the Day, Still Remains and tons of others. It takes place June 30 through July 5.
Two bands representing Lansing at the festival are As Bound With Them and Incarta. Local production and artist management groups involved with this year's festival include Mid-Michigan Massacre, which is an affiliation of PTProductions of Portland and Unique Mix Productions of Charlotte, and Reaction One.
"Most of us had been going to Cornerstone just to watch some of our favorite bands play for years now," said Adam Burmeister, who is the lead vocalist for As Bound With Them. The band also includes Simeon Lowe on guitar/vocals, Jake Simmons on guitar/vocals, Austin Germain on bass and Ben Schafer on drums.
"I'm excited to meet and watch the bands we'll be playing with," said Incarta drummer and synth guy Zach Darwin, who along with lead vocalist Joey Vernon, guitarist Tim Harmon, guitarist Ray Kinney, drummer and bass player Matt DeRose make up the band.
"So much of our effort is put into writing and especially performing our songs, so a chance to show thousands who we are will be a very humbling experience," Darwin said.
Both bands are not necessarily what you would think of when it comes to Christian music- makers. For starters, their aggressive, hardcore sound is heavier than what you might hear on traditional Christian radio.
But, that's a good thing. With inspirational lyrics and empowering riffing, these are the bands kids are telling their classmates about - and the bands that parents don't mind their kids checking out.
"People are sometimes almost shocked by the fact that some churches will have shows for bands like us. It says, 'Shout to the Lord' in the Bible, right?" Burmeister said. "I personally love doing it because I can play music I love but write lyrics about relevant and important topics, and not just generic stuff."
"Our band has been accepted by so many great people," Vernon added. "People just want to hear passionate music, and we'll be here to give our fans every ounce of inspiration we've got."
Their hardcore music can provide some interesting testimonies.
"One kid got baptized to one of our songs," Burmeister said. "Things like that blow me away. ... God can work in mysterious ways. I never thought someone would get baptized to a hardcore song. Things like that don't happen too often but it's humbling in a way when it does."
As Bound With Them recently signed with Tennessee-based Sancrosanct Records and has a new disc out, "A Safer World," which is available online at www.myspace.com/asboundwiththem, iTunes and BestBuy.com. They're doing a Midwest/East Coast tour with The Burial this August.
Incarta is heading out on an East Coast tour this summer, plus working on an EP. The band's current full-length, "Three Sheets to the Wind," is available at www.myspace.com/incarta.