Joslin: King of the nations took a total of 7 years to write and a whole year to gear up for the first set of concerts. I came up with the idea for 'King of the Nations' in the fall of 2007. At that time I had just returned from watching 'Trans Siberian Orchestra' Live. I thought it would be cool to do something like that. But when I saw them again in 2008, I thought to myself "That is an awesome Live show, but it had NOTHING to do with the 'ACTUAL' Story of Christmas...The Reason for the Season."

So between 2008 and 2010, I started writing, and in 2010 I recorded the first song in the studio with real instruments and singers. It was 'King of the Nations.' Once we had a basic mix, I knew 'instantly' that this was going to be something special. Other than just mere finances and scheduling, the other reason it took so long to bring this to life was because I wanted to research and study each and every character in the story. I wanted to write the songs from being in their shoes. The Premise of 'KOTN' is the nativity story being told by Angels to humanity. I (We) have seen many interpretations of the nativity story being told in books, pictures, TV, etc. but they were all told to us by a human perspective. Never from above.

So I decided to write KOTN in a way that was entirely original and would be culturally relevant.

Joslin: This will be our third year of performances. It consists of a 15 musicians and singers, from different walks of life. They are all professionals in their own field of music. The story is being projected on the screen while each character sings their song. The beauty of the show is such that through the medium of music and visuals, we try to connect with people with material that is culturally relevant. So for example, the visuals will always be new every year.

Oh, and we also have a spectacular light show :)

Joslin: Yes, unfortunately in my studies, I realized that there are so many basic things about the Nativity story that have been misinterpreted. For example, there is the famous Christmas carol called 'We Three Kings," when in reality, the Bible never says 'three,' nor does it say 'kings.' It only says wise men from the east bringing three gifts. And with commercialism and secularism, of course we leave out King Herod. We are made to think that the Nativity Story was an 'everything is going to be fine and peachy' story. When, in actuality, it must have been the opposite. You had 2 people who said 'Yes' to God and were probably very scared. On one side, you had the Roman Empire which was ruthless, and on the other side you had King Herod the great who was paranoid about his throne being taken from him by anyone or anything.

The idea for King Herod came from a guest priest who came to our church and gave a sermon based on the gospel reading Matthew 2. It's the part in the story where King Herod wants to find baby Jesus and kill him. Joseph then gets a message from the angel telling him to take Mary and the child into Egypt. After the reading, the pastor said "I'm here to tell you that King Herod is alive and well. He is in our Politics, Our Communications, Our internet, Our government, our churches, our schools. In fact he is everywhere there is a family...trying to destroy it.

He then went on to say "If you want to destroy a country, don't kill its leader! You destroy the families of that nation. Same goes for churches, temples, schools. The evil one is on a rampage to destroy the bond of the family. So whether we like it or not, the evil one still says to humanity "I'm Alive....(and Well)". I for one am bad at remembering sermons. But for some reason, that sermon stuck in my head and I thought it was well crafted and very culturally relevant. I have never seen that priest since. His name was Fr. Dat. He is Vietnamese. I then went home and researched King Herod's character and really found him fascinating.

Joslin: Favorite track/song I love performing live is 'King of the Nations.' It captures all the elements in music that I love. And playing it with some of the best musicians is a humbling and rewarding experience. The song that ends up being a crowd favorite and one I could never get tired of singing is probably 'There was No Room'. This one easily touches everyone really fast.

Joslin: Most of the singers in the group were people I had worked with through the years. Most of them my closest friends. When I decided to perform the show live, I met some new faces through trusted friends and am honored to be sharing the stage with these amazing talents. Very few were auditions.

Joslin: Let's just say, seeing your name and song on a ballot next to the likes of Kirk Franklin, David Gilmore of Pink Floyd, Foo Fighters, Michael W Smith, HillSong and more... just made my day.

Joslin: Yes, Oman is a Muslim country. I was born there. I grew up there, went to school and church there. When I was growing up, there was only one church. Then 2, Now about 5 or 6. If you ask any immigrant in Oman (like myself and my family), they will tell you that they owe their gratitude and respect to the King and ruler of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. He is probably one of the most tolerant and accepting Kings you will ever meet. He has done a lot of good work to help foreign relations between nations and peace in the Middle East. Until about a few years ago, no one in the west knew where or what Oman was. That's because it is really that peaceful. Oman is also the second cleanest country after Singapore. It is because of the respect for a King like Sultan Qaboos, everyone lives in peace and harmony in that country. Between india, the U.S and Oman, I have more respect towards him. Lastly, but definitely important... he is a lover of classical music. Oman saw the very first Opera House in the Persian Gulf.

Joslin: Yes, the word is definitely getting around in Dallas and TX. This year, we will be airing our single on national radio. We will also be developing a script to make this into an actual musical. And the last step is to make it into a screenplay. The final goal is to have 3 mediums of performance, Live Concerts, Theater and Screenplay/Movie. And yes, we hope to travel to more places and perform KOTN outside Texas.