Fifteen years in the making, "Joseph: A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet," has been a labor of love from start to finish.
Love of country music, love and appreciation for musicians who have shared their talents, and above all, love for "the men and women upon whose shoulders The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was built," according to Jason Deere, one of the driving forces behind the project.
While serving an LDS mission in Las Vegas, Deere wrote a song titled "Lamb to the Slaughter" about Joseph Smith (who was martyred in a jail cell some years after establishing the LDS Church, which faithful members believe is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ).
Deere always wanted to do something more with that song, "but after I got home I got involved in all the rigmarole of getting my career established in Nashville." (Deere is an award-winning songwriter and producer who has worked with such artists as Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina, LeAnn Rimes, and most recently, SHeDAISY.)
A couple of years ago, Deere was asked to teach an early-morning seminary class in Nashville. "I started reading everything I could about Joseph Smith, and the main characters of the time period began to come alive for me. Then the songs started dropping out of the roof."
He made a demo tape of some of the songs and took it to his good friend and fellow LDS ward member Dan Truman, pianist for the award-winning country group Diamond Rio.
"He gave me the demo just as we were going out on tour," said Truman. "I took it with me. I have four sets of grandparents who lived in Nauvoo, and I had just been learning more about them. I heard these songs, and I sat in my bunk and sobbed.
"Jason and I have wanted to do something together for years; I knew we now had a great place to go."
The project has been an "incredible experience" for both men. "A lot of wonderful things have happened in my life," said Truman. "I've had success I never thought I'd have as a piano player from St. George, Utah. But I can say that the impact this project has had is greater than anything I've done in my musical career. We've felt things; we've seen things happen that we've never seen before."
Their goal is to bring a new dimension to the understanding of these early church leaders, said Deere. "If the Restoration were a statue, we, as members of this church, know the view from the front very well. But every once in a while, we come across a person or have an experience that causes us to take a step around the statue and view it from angles never before seen. And only then does it start to come to life.
"My desire is for us to see these main characters of the Restoration without judgment, with all due respect and with the utmost appreciation for their sacrifice and endurance."
Songs in the collection talk about Joseph's First Vision (in which he said he saw and received direction from God the Father and Jesus Christ), about "The Rising" of the new faith, the persecution of Joseph and his followers, and Joseph's ultimate sacrifice.
There are also songs about the "American Dreams" of emigrants who joined the saints, and about the pain and experience of Joseph's wife Emma as she "never had an ordinary day," and how Porter Rockwell felt in getting to the jail in Carthage, Ill., too late to save Joseph.
One of the album's most touching numbers tells of Hyrum Smith, Joseph's brother. That song was a last-minute addition, said Deere. "We were ready to go into the studio, and I just felt something was wrong, something was missing. About an hour before I was to be there, I sat down and wrote this song about Hyrum."
Truman finishes off the album with the instrumental "Farewell to Nauvoo," which also captures the feelings of the times.
"These are voices we think needed to be heard," said Deere.
The story is woven together with narration provided by Dale Murphy. He may be a former baseball player, "but he has a wonderful deep, authoritative voice," said Deere. "It was just what we needed."
An exceptional group of performers and musicians participated in the project. Performers include David Osmond, Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, Dan Cahoon, Mindy Gledhill and Jimi Westbrook. Musicians and technical crew include some of the finest Nashville has to offer, said Deere. "All the right people ended up on this record. They listened to what the project was and worked to deliver that. All the attention is on the people they sing about, not themselves."
Dan Cahoon, who for three years sang with Marshall Dyllon before going on an LDS mission and is now back in school at Brigham Young University, is one of them. "It was such an honor to be included."
David Osmond agrees. "It was awesome. When they sent me demo songs, I could tell these were sincerely from their hearts. I love that it's a tribute to Joseph Smith, and I love how you get to know him through the people around him. They say that's how you can tell the character of someone, by seeing who they surround themselves with."
Since the album has come out (released by Deseret Book's Highway Records label earlier this summer), "we've already done a lot of firesides," said Deere. And the response has been great. "A lot of people tell us they don't even like country music, but they like this."
Matt Lopez and Brad Hull are two of the musicians who have helped take "Joseph" on the road. They are part of "the close-knit group of LDS artists in Nashville, who, no matter what level they're at, are willing to help each other," said Lopez. "This is a hard business to break into, but we all get together and play together and cry together and have fun."
In Nashville, "we've sung harmony for everyone who couldn't pay to have real people sing harmony," adds Hull. They've learned a lot about the music business and the people in it.
Working on this project has "been so cool because those guys (Deere and Truman) are our heroes. They are a spiritual rock. They stay true to who they are," says Hull. Because of that, he said, "this is going to touch a lot of people."
"It's more than music," adds Hull. "It takes you to a different place."
The stories and songs here have an ability to transcend religion and culture, said Krista Mauer, director of media relations for the Shadow Mountain Music Group. "It's very real. It will do for country music what Gladys Knight has done for soul."
"These guys are part of the magic of Nashville," said record producer and executive Jeff Simpson. "When you ask them to give their best to God, this is what you get. It's such a wonderful tapestry. They are just being who they are, telling you how they feel. It's passionate, real, powerful, impactful, fresh. I love it."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com