• Sean and Daniel from Blood & Ink Records (we love you guys)

• Kevin from Beacons (we both live in NC and have to go to TN to hang out?)

• Jesus Steph

• The With Increase posse (and Doug, if he is coming….)

• Our homies in Venia

• Matt B from Carrying the Fire (coming out of mosh retirement?)

• XLooking ForwardX – let’s talk about Cormac McCarthy books please!

• Debater (aka Debtor) – bring me a cheese steak please…..

• Cool Cough – John & Harbor – can’t wait to hang again buddies!

• Strengthen What Remains – Joshua and crew – Miss you guys!

• Fravel – nuff said

• John Jackson – keep me from getting into trouble (he helps out at HXCChristian.com)

• FF56 – hope we can hang and finally get some kind of interview

• This Moment in Hardcore Crew (Matt and Nick)

• Clint (from Jawbone) and his wife Heather (YES I WILL FILM THE JAWBONE SET THIS TIME PROMISE)
• Friends – I loved you guys at Cornerstone last year, can’t wait to see you guys play again (and I need to pick up your album)

• Grumpy Old Man – Will he show up? Will he provide a PSA on stage during the fest? We’ll see….

I am sure that I forgot some people, and if I did, sorry, catch you at the show.  John and myself (Josh) are staying at the Marriott downtown.  I am flying in and get to the airport early on Friday morning, I will be around to hang out and do interviews if any bands are interested in doing a fun video interview or goofing off.  (you bring the goof, I’ll bring the camera).  Hit me up on facebook (if you are friends with me already), or email me at josh @ HXCChristian.com if you want to hang or setup a video interview and I can give you my cell number so you can text/call me.  We would love to meet you if we don’t know you already (or even if we do).

See you there!

There were so many great bands playing this year, in particular, Blood & Ink records did a B&I family and friends day at the Solace Stage (which spanned two different days).  What was cool about this show is that it included such great B&I bands as Venia, Jawbone, Friends, Dependency, Thin Ice, Ironwill, Thirtyseven, Divide The Sea, and Debtor, but also bands including Cool Cough (side project of the guys from Call To Preserve), Strengthen What Remains, Beggars, Call to Preserve, Messengers, Dynasty, and Gideon (whom are not on the B&I label).  What makes the fact that this was going on extra cool is the fact that our tent was wedged in between Solace Stage and Legacy Stage where all of these great shows were taking place.

Some of the highlights of the week were the following:

1.  Meeting so many of you that visit our site and post on the forum, and finally meeting many of the bands we interview in person and getting to know everyone better.

2.  Catching a few Dynasty sets.  I (Josh) really like this band and I think they are solid, their testimony is also very moving.  I think I almost broke my hand and wrist when I was dancing and clobbered some poor kid right over the head.  Turns out my hand is OK, if the kid I hit is reading this, sorry, hope you are OK!

3.  Getting Officer Negative to play the Legacy Stage on Thursday may have been a highlight of the week as well.  I knew of the band, but have never really listened to many of their songs.  Hanging with Chad (the singer) and Justin, Casey, and Rick (who was filling in on drums) was great, awesome bunch of guys, strong in the Lord.  It was awesome to watch everyone getting into their set, singing along, and dancing like a bunch of maniacs.  Plus, I am sporting my new Officer Negative shirt today!

Officer Negative – “JCHC” on Legacy Stage

Click here to view the embedded video.

4.  Final Call To Preserve sets at Cornerstone, while everyone is bummed that these guys are breaking up, it was cool to catch their last shows at Cornerstone.  I picked up their 7″ “Validation” as well, which I highly recommend everyone go and pick up.  These guys have grown musically over the years.  It was also fun to see Cool Cough, their side band with Harbor singing, and John playing guitar.  Good stuff.

5.  Debtor’s new material is awesome, nuff said.  The guys in the band are super cool, easy to talk with, and they blew up every set with their new songs.  Go and buy their new album Bloodseeds and Blood & Ink Records.

6.  Catching a full Graverobber set.  If you have not seen these guys live, then you are missing out.  They are like the Misfits of the Christian punk world, their music is tight, and their stage show is extremely entertaining.  Just a word of advice, if they are singing any song that includes the word “blood” in the title, run for cover.  Catch their midnight shows, way more fun then their daytime shows.

7.  True Liberty and FBS – again, both of these bands just keep getting better, and they are both tons of fun to hang with.  Make sure to catch them live if they happen to be coming through your town.

8.  Branching out – I checked out A Hill To Die Upon, I am not normally a metal fan, but these guys are actually really really decent, and when I listen to their stuff, there is a heavy undertone of hardcore in it.  Go and check them out.

9.  Strengthen What Remains and Clear Convictions – their split set was probably one of the most fun sets at Cornerstone.  Strengthen What Remains is out of Florida and the guys in the band are among some of the coolest you will meet.  Their music just keeps getting better and better.  Clear Convictions came all the way from Puerto Rico to play Cornerstone.  I was pissed that so many people slept on the this band during their set on Texas Stage, but I was glad that I was able to tape the set (check out video page).  Both of these bands are signed to On The Attack Records run by our friend Sammy.  Love you guys!  Make sure that you pick up both of their albums from On The Attack, worth every penny, and how often do you see the record label owner in the pit???  Now that is support for your bands!

Clear Convictions Set from Texas Stage

Click here to view the embedded video.

10.  Discovering new bands that everyone needs to check out.  Beggars, With Increase, Blackhole.

And number 11.  The super secret show at the barn.  WOW, Debtor and Beggars both played a set, and then there were three cover sets including songs by Minor Threat, Advent, Seventh Star, and Shockwave.  This was by far THE best show, held in the storage shed by the skate park.  There where probably two hundred people that showed up and only enough room for 50 in the venue.  I was lucky enough to get up in the storage rafters to tape some of the show.  It was insane.  And as one of the guys from Debtor told me, “I just had a huge smile on face the whole time cause it was so awesome.”  I agree that it was awesome and I think there should be more intimate shows at Cornerstone like this.  Check the video page for coverage of the event.  Sorry you missed it!
Over all, the event was great, seemed fewer people were there this year, actually seemed kind of empty this year.  Rumors are floating around that they may not have Cornerstone next year because they did not sell enough tickets this year.  I say, don’t listen to rumors and sit tight, they may change the look and feel of Cornerstone next year, but I find it hard to believe they will altogether cancel the event, it touches so many people’s lives.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for all your support and for everyone that stopped in to say hello, your kind words and blessing edify what we do and why we do it. Until next year, God bless and be safe!

Check out our video page for more videos, you can find our youtube channel here, and make sure to “like” us on Facebook!

Josh and the HXCChristian.com crew (John, RJ, Katie, Seann, Doug and special helpers like Mike!)

And one more fun video of the “best of” Cornerstone!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Doug (one of the contributors at HXCChristian.com) did a pre-show in Campbellsville, KY the Sunday before Cornerstone.  I drove 9 hours to get to Campbellsville, it was an easy trip.  The show was awesome.  Doug is working with the University to put on show for all the kids and peeps in the area.  Apparently, like most small towns, there isn’t a whole lot to do there, so putting on shows is a great way to blow off steam and stay out of trouble.  The lineup was Restore the Roar (Doug’s band), Debtor (Philly hardcore), Worker (Tennessee hardcore), Dead Icons (Lexington hardcore), and The Showdown (Metal).  I was really impressed with Debtor and Worker (Debtor is a Christian band, Worker is not although their message is positive, and the dudes in the band are really cool).  It was a fun show, and I was glad that HXCChristian.com could be part of it.  After the show, RJ (HXCChristian.com contributor) thought it would best to drive straight through the night to Cornerstone.  I think Doug and I could have strangled RJ when we got to Cornerstone at 6:30 AM and the gates weren’t open, but we forgive RJ (just kidding RJ).  When we got in, we immediately found our tent and started to setup.  We made homemade Gatorade (DIY hardcore style baby) and were a place to just come and hang.  We later became known as the place that made good food and usually had leftovers.

General Mayhem and Trouble from the HXCChristian.com at Cornerstone 2010

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first couple of days were a blur, meeting people and going to shows, sleep deprivation.  In the first couple of days, I saw Debtor, Call To Preserve, Send out the Scuds, True Liberty, The Meek Estate, and probably one of my favorite shows The Great Commission (where I decided to throw my old butt off the stage).  My man Micah at The Legacy Stage really put on a lot of the best shows, he kept the stage limited to traditional hardcore for the most part.  Good job Micah!  Look for good stuff from this stage next year.  Thin Ice and Dependency (new to Blood & Ink records) both played multiple shows and were fantastic.  I highly recommend picking up their albums from Blood & Ink, well worth it.  I was fortunate to catch the Grave Robber show at midnight at the Sanctuary stage which was right next to us.  It was hard to miss it actually, quite and interesting band, if you like The Misfits and other type horror punk, then these guys will make you happy, plus their stage act is really unique.

Check out the Cornerstone 2010 Video Page

The second half the week I started to get used to the confusion and get my wits about me.  I was tired from getting into the pit, and I proved to myself that a 35 year old dude can still throw down in the pit and handle himself.  I think I even out danced some of the younger kids!  The Sleeping Giant show was awesome, I had a run in with the Holy Spirit, I am sure people thought I was crazy, but I was moved, and God touched me.  Their set was great as usual, and they played a new song, and honestly, I was not that crazy about it.  However, sometimes playing new material live is tough because you cannot get a feel for what a clean recording of it sounds like. Look for new stuff from Thom Green and the gang soon.   Also, the Great Commission rocked another show on the Undergound Stage, it was awesome, they also played a new song, it was decent.  I think there is some big stuff coming down the pike from these guys, I think they have been working on new material.  The last day was the craziest, I went from show to show to show.  Mason Summers (my punk friends), to Thin Ice, to Sovereign Strength, to All Or Nothing (what up Laz?), to Call To Preserve, back to back to back.  Then, it seemed as soon as we got there, we were gone.  Doug and I traveled together from Kentucky.  Doug is a cool dude, and we laughed the whole way home and told stories about shows and the people we met.

I think that the best stuff of the week was some of the punk bands, True Liberty, Desiring Dead Flesh, The Meek Estate, The Last Hope, Flatfoot 56, Mason Summers.  The only ska band there, Send Out The Scuds (I love these guys, and girl!)  had to get my skanking in, and I miss good ska! In the hardcore world, I don’t think I saw one bad band.  Thin Ice, Dependency, The Great Commission, Call To Preserve, Wild at Heart, Strengthen What Remains, Strength Within, Sovereign Strength, Debtor, Venia, All Or Nothing, Take It Back.  All bands that you need to check out.  One band in particular from Pittsburg, Those Who Fear.  I was happy to hear a band that is still playing old style beatdown hardcore.  These guys are awesome, and the dudes in the band are cool guys, so check them out.  Plus they had a turtle named XSteveX.  They kept me entertained.

We were lucky to have meet and greets with some of the bands, Andy from A Plea For Purging came by in the morning to discuss the band and life in general, it was cool.  Leroy the singer from War Of Ages also came out and did a meet and greet, great guy with a great story.  On Wednesday night we decided to do a spaghetti dinner, I think we cooked 30 pounds of spaghetti and made about 10 gallons of sauce.  I think everyone enjoyed the meal and fellowship.  I think we fed about 200 people.  On Thursday morning we did a meet and greet with Harbor from Call to Preserve and a pancake breakfast. Again, we had a huge turnout, more people that pancakes, but again, it was a huge success.  I am glad that we could be a blessing to the people and bands.  That was our mission, and I am glad that we accomplished it.

We had to leave a day early.  My family was sick at home.  Funny how Satan can attacks your weak spots when you are closest to God, he was attacking my family, coward.  The ride home was long, but gave me a lot of time to decompress and think about the experience.  I realized that Cornerstone is not really about the music, but about the people.  The people are what makes it worthwhile.  I met a lot of great people and even talked to people who were not Christians about Christ.  On the long trip back after I dropped off Doug in Kentucky,  I cried, half tears of happiness that I would be seeing my wife and two beautiful sons, the other half for the all the new friends that I would not see perhaps until next year.

Take a Look at the HXCChristian.com Cornerstone 2010 Photos

Takeaways – Lots of cool people, finding out that different genres of people still have the same core beliefs, that Christ is King.  Great shows, I can still throwdown in the pit.  People love free food, especially Eastern style BBQ (NC BBQ).  The bands are really cool and fun to hang out with, if there is a band coming to your area, go hang with them.  They usually hang in the parking lot behind the venue, go introduce yourself.  Bring them some goodies, food, baby wipes, stuff they might need, let them crash at your place, have a shower, do laundry, etc. help them load and unload their gear.  Metalcore and screamo still suck.  Ska needs to make a comeback.  Punk is alive and well.  Don’t use megaphones at Cornerstone or security will come and cart you away (see below). Have fun and fellowship with you future neighbors in heaven, after all, we will all be together in heaven forever!

God bless and thanks for everyone who came out and visited us.  See you next year.  Join the forum.

Josh

In other news East Coast Christian hardcore band TEN33 unofficially officially announced (to me at least) that they are doing a reunion show in the near future.  If you know anything about these guys, then you know that they put on a great live show.  I caught up with Stephen who sings for the band and asked him about the upcoming reunion.  He didn’t have many details (he is currently working on setting up dates).  He said that they are working on some shows for a weekend in the fall.  It sounds like they may have a couple of shows.  Interestingly enough, they are not going to be playing their hometown of Richmond, Virginia.  They are trying to pick somewhere neutral to play because there is another well known band that is also reuniting to play some shows with them.  Stephen would not reveal the details of who that other band is, but I have my guess (although he would not confirm it).  I guess we will have to wait and see.   So check back with Ten33 on the their Facebook page, that seems to be the best place to catch up with them and to find out more about the reunion show.  I also asked him if they might be laying donw some new tracks “We may release a song, we may not. depending on recording studio time,” according to Stephen.

New Call To Preserve album is dropping on June 8th on Facedown Records.  The name of the album is Life In Defiance.  I was lucky to get an advance copy of the album the other day and have been listening to it non stop.  There are so many great songs on this album and it is sure to please Call To Preserve fans and hardcore fans in general.  Again, the band fuses together many styles of hardcore music and even slows things down a bit for one of their songs (still hardcore, just a bit more dark).  The lyrics are spot on.  The album was recorded at Warrior Sound here in North Carolina (the folks that did the last Advent album) and the production quality is fantastic.  I won’t give away to much about it, but I can tell you that you will not be disappointed.  If you want to hear a few of their songs, check out their myspace page.

Overcome is back together and has new material.  According to the Facedown Records website, this was the first band that signed with Facedown.  They disbanded a while back, but wanted to put out new material.  They are also playing Cornerstone Festival this year.  I am looking forward to catching the band live.   If you want to check out their new stuff, go visit their myspace page.

Blood & Ink Records released two albums the week of April 24th.  Two great hardcore bands have albums that are a must have.  The first is Thin Ice, we did an interview with them you can check out HERE.  Thin Ice’s new album is called “Revelation Through Tribulation.”  I really like these guys, they are a young band and I think that this is great starting point for them.  The album is traditional style hardcore, they compare their sound to bands like Figure Four and Advent.  The other band that put out their album was Dependency, the name of the album is “Convicted.”  I confess that I don’t know a lot about these guys, however, their album is really growing on me.  I don’t really know how to categorize these guys musically, but their base sound is definitely hardcore influenced, the vocals are pretty solid too.  I highly recommend going to the B&I website and downloading both albums (they are both available for digital download, and for only $5.99 each, it is a steal).

Ever wonder what happened to the dudes in xLooking Forwardx?  Well, look no further.  Justin is leading up the band Carrying the Fire out of Maryland.  Matt from the band posted on the forum about the band.  Justin delivers his vocals in classic xLooking Forwardx fashion and the band is fantastic.  I have listened to their free demo (which you can download from their myspace page) over and over.  While the band doesn’t really claim to be “Christian” it is hard for Justin’s belief in God to know boil over into the bands songs.   Matt also informed me that the band is looking to do shows out of state in the next couple of months, probably East Coast shows since most of the dudes in the band have families and kids.  Go and get their demo, you will love it, plus it is free!  Can’t beat that!

Thin Ice very recently signed with Blood & Ink Records, good catch guys, I am glad that you are getting back to your hardcore roots.  I certainly look forward to hearing Thin Ice’s first full length on Blood & Ink.  You might also want to check out the bands hardcore cousin Goldmill, It would be really cool if B&I would also get some of their stuff out there.  Be sure to support Thin Ice, buy their merch, see the live, tell them you read about them here!

Band Name: Thin Ice
Music Style: Hardcore
Home Town: Texas
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thinicehc

Q: When did Thin Ice form?  Where did the name Thin Ice come from?

A: Thin Ice formed in June 2009. My guitarist, Chris, and I started writing some heavy riffs and decided it would be fun to find other members and start playing shows. As far as our name goes, there’s really no meaning behind it. It’s Just something Chris, me, and a few other friends (not in the band) came up with.

Q: What does everyone in the band do when you are not playing?  Which members are also members of Goldmill (which I might add is also a pretty sweet HXC band, when is Goldmill signing to B&I)?

A: We’re all in school, besides Bruce who is already out and is a high school geometry teacher. Chris and Phil both go to school about 3 hours out from San Antonio, so we have to work around that. Some of us work too. Other than that, we still like to play music outside of the band, and I actually write songs for other projects as well. All of us, besides Chris and Phil, are in Goldmill.

Q: What bands have influenced Thin Ice?

A: Turmoil, Figure Four, Advent, Trial, Terror, you get the idea. Heavy bands.

Q: How do you describe the sound of Thin Ice?

A: Energetic, heavy, and “dark” at times.

Q: Thin Ice recently signed with Blood & Ink records, congrats to you guys, what does this mean for the band? How did you get hooked up with the B&I team?

A: Thank you! Well, we want to make this band the best it can be. We are planning on touring and taking the band to new levels in the coming years. Blood & Ink actually came to us. They came across Goldmill’s myspace page and saw Thin Ice on the top friends. They messaged us and said they dug the tunes and the rest is history.

Q: Has Thin Ice started recording a full length album yet?  If not, when are you planning on getting into the studio?

A: We are planning on releasing an E.P., which I recorded at my home studio, with Blood & Ink digitally sometime this month or next month. We have started writing material for a full length, but recording is far in the future.

Q: I assume that Thin Ice is a Christian band since it is signing with B&I?

A: It is!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thin Ice – Brainwashed

Q: Where do you guys place your faith in your music?  Can you share how Christ has influenced the band?

A: The lyrics in nearly every song talk about our faith and sometimes our lack of faith in Jesus Christ. Through our ups and downs, He has been there and He will continue to be.

Q: What is the purpose of Thin Ice?

A: Our purpose is to show God’s love and play hardcore music.

Q: Have other bands or people been surprised when they learn that Thin Ice is a Christian band?

A: Some people have been surprised.

Q: I noticed that you guys have a pretty big show coming up on February 26th at the White Rabbit in San Antonio, Texas.  Looks like Thin Ice is playing the Abominable  Snow Tour with Living Sacrifice, War of Ages, Shai Hulud, Lion Heart, and The Great Commission.  Who is the band looking forward to seeing and meeting out of that lineup?

A: Living Sacrifice for our bassist and singer. Chris, Drew and I are really into Shai Hulud.

Q: What other shows does the band have lined up for 2010, will you guys be touring in 2010?

A: We don’t have much scheduled right now. We are planning on doing a summer tour, and before that, hopefully a small spring break tour.

Q: If you could give the hardcore scene one message, what would it be?

A: We love you.

Q: Feel free to share anything else, shout-outs, bands we should be listening to (or the band really likes), links to sites you like, etc.

A: Thanks for the interview and good luck and God bless!

Thank you! Check out Goldmill www.myspace.com/goldmillhc and Hope of Divine Mercy www.myspace.com/hodm