Consultant talks about involvement of mainstream and CCM artists in The Passion album.
AUTHOR of the book Faith, God And Rock & Roll and a consultant for Walden Media, Mark Joseph spoke recently to CCM magazine about his involvement in the recent 'The Passion Of The Christ: Songs' various artists album. Said Joseph, "We invited hundreds of artists and many didn't even want to come in to see the film. Others were into it. I reached out to Lauryn Hill and she asked for a private screening. I thought she was being a diva, but she wanted to see it alone so she could work on her song right there in the theatre because she was so moved. She is a preacher. Once I got a straight-shot, 30 minute sermon from her over the phone. She told me that our problem was that we were more interested in the praises of men than the praise of God. I invited Scott Stapp (Creed) out to LA to see it. And, of course, P.O.D. and MxPx were excited to be a part of it. I'll never forget Kirk Franklin's reaction when I told him about our rather limited budget. He said, 'I'd do it for a ham sandwich!' That was the kind of artist we were looking for. If we got a whiff of 'attitude', we said, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' We just wanted people who really wanted to be on the record. Getting Steven Curtis Chapmen, MercyMe and Third Day on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno [for that] was a highlight."