About the Album

Trek: A Nashville Tribute To The Pioneers

            Trek is the sequel to Deseret Book’s best selling album Joseph: A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet, seen in concert by more than 200,000 people across the United States.  “Dan and I never had the intention of making another album.  Joseph, honestly, was something special to us that we did for ourselves, and more people than we ever imagined just happened to like it.”  Deere says, “But while out on tour for Joseph, one night we played the Logan Tabernacle, whose walls were built by the hands of our great pioneers and it was like there were ghosts talking, we felt that we needed to take our people on from Nauvoo to Salt Lake.”  Trek explores the feelings, trials, sacrifices, joys and shining triumphs of the many thousands who crossed America’s plains to establish a home for the Saints in the Rocky Mountains. Understand the pioneers' story through powerful songs and narration.  Trek: A Nashville Tribute to the Pioneers continues the story, with world-class songs and musicians.

Album 'Trek' is a musical tribute to spirit of the Mormon pioneers

By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News

            The story of the Mormon pioneers is one of the great stories of history, says Nashville singer/songwriter Jason Deere. "Never in modern history has there been a larger exodus for the purpose of religion."
            The depth, the scope, the spirit of that great event is the subject of the latest project put together by Deere and co-Nashvilleite Dan Truman, keyboardist for the band Diamond Rio.
            "Trek: A Nashville Tribute to the Pioneers" follows a similar CD that honored Joseph Smith on the bicentennial of his birth."We never really planned a sequel," Deere said by phone from Florida. Then came a pivotal performance of the Joseph tribute at the Logan Tabernacle. "The ghosts started talking."
            Truman, speaking by phone from Las Vegas (where Diamond Rio is performing), said, "Jason and I asked each other why we were having such a special experience. We definitely felt the spirits moving; we felt an urge to keep it going." The idea "scared them to death," said Deere. "How could we possibly do one that meant as much to us as 'Joseph'?' We were not sure the concept was as interesting as the Restoration, and we also worried it was overdone, too saturated."
            But one thing both men have learned in their years in the music business is "you can't always go by the textbook," said Deere. "Sometimes you have to do the things you know. I've always thought that if you do something that means something to you, it will mean something to someone else."
            That was about a year-and-a-half ago. Both men are so busy with other projects that it took awhile. "Then in March, Deseret Book called, and they wanted to get it out by July," said Truman. "A deadline's good. We clicked into gear. Within two days, we had five more songs done."
            The men bring somewhat different backgrounds to their pioneer tribute. "My life has been steeped in pioneer history," says Truman. "I have six great-grandparents that were in Nauvoo and Kirtland. One of them, I've learned, started out in Tennessee. We have a 30-page account of his life. He went to Nauvoo and then on to Salt Lake and was sent to St. George. Jason read that and came up with the idea of quoting journals. I love that."
            For Deere, pioneers were not his personal history. "I grew up in Oklahoma, surrounded by a few other Mormons. I always felt a little separated from the body of the Saints, a little like an outsider."
            This experience has changed all that, he said. "I read over a hundred journals. And as I read about their journey and their sacrifices, I realized that they are all my people. It doesn't matter if I had direct ancestors there, I felt like I was as much a part of them as anyone. The trek is a part of all of us."
            That was why he urged Truman to name an instrumental piece he wrote "My People." "Through this process Jason really felt they became 'My People,"' said Truman. "That was so neat for us, and that's what we hope everyone else will begin to feel. "
They hope the combination of spoken texts and songs will help people see the human side of the pioneers, said Deere. The songs cover a wide range of experiences from sadness and sacrifice to daily life on the trail, but also the faith and joy of the trek.
"Somewhere There's a Mountain," for example, shares the sense of adventure that some of the children felt. It's sung by Deere's daughters Josie and Maddy. Other artists who appear on the album include local singers David Osmond and Mindy Gledhill; Greg Barnhill and Carl Jackson, who are legends in Nashville; and Tim Gates, a member of the up-and-coming group Due West.
Not all the musicians who worked on the project are LDS, and "that created some very interesting conversations, questions and feelings that we've never experienced in a studio," said Truman.
            "We came up with the right people," added Deere, "fantastic, creative people who have really made names for themselves in the music industry but leave the attention on those they are singing about."
            And that, they both say, is where the focus should remain. This is obviously not a money-making venture. "Cool things have happened — more than we dreamed of," said Truman, "not for our pocketbooks, but our hearts."
            Feeling "the spirit of the pioneers has really changed my view, my commitment," he says. "Now that we're another generation further away, it's important to remember. Whether we're fifth- or sixth-generations away, their story is still as important."
            Deere concurs. Working on this project, he said, "has been monumental in my own relationship with my religion." He has come to love, appreciate and feel part of the pioneers in deep and abiding ways. "Those pioneers did some incredible things, as they left what they know to find something they hoped for."
            And in that, he said, there is an important message for our times: "All of life is a journey."