"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."