By Emma Hawkins
Josiah Queen, a 22-year-old Christian music artist, gained popularity fairly recently. Within the last year, his album “Prodigal” was suddenly everywhere, followed by his most recent song “Dusty Bibles”. This song contains one of his most famous lyrics, “We got dust on our Bibles, brand new iPhones, no wonder why we feel this way.”
Josiah Queen models humility in his presentation without the distracting outfits or costumes of other artists, but instead with a plain sweatshirt. He worshipped alongside his brother who played the drums and even joined the crowd at different times. He is a performer, yes, but not a typical one. He is not there to perform, but to lead a body of praise and fill a room with God’s presence.
Queen’s social media and efforts with the Campus Nights Tour show his passion for the younger generations. College-age students are in the stage in one’s life where they may not make smart decisions and struggle with newfound independence. He decided to go on a college campus tour, – accepting the small stages he may have to perform on or the audience he may or may not get.
During Josiah Queen’s time at Samford, he sang on the Wright Center stage. His merchandise that did not have his name on it, but rather, the lyrics in which he believed held the most significance.
He had a set list of 11 of his own songs, then a cover of another worship song that everyone most likely knew.
In the middle of his set, however, he brought his wife out onto the stage. She gave a striking message as she evangelized alongside her husband who was playing the piano and seemed to appreciate her words — words given to her by God to proclaim to these college students.
During the show he remained intentional about the fact that he was at Samford in Alabama. He would repeatedly make “Roll Tide” jokes and put on a poorly done country accent, which made the audience laugh, especially when he kept saying “Go Bulldogs!” instead of “Bow Wow!” His involvement did not stop there. He made the effort to run up to the balcony and high five as many students as he could. He then crowd surfed his drummer, his brother, with the entire drum set in the audience.
Josiah Queen has the perpetual goal of leaving a lasting mark of Jesus’ love on the hearts of young people, praying that his music will be humble guidance towards God’s light. His campus tour illustrated to us the importance of our proximity to Christ in these four years of temptation and transitional growing pains. Is there dust on your Bible?
