Our names are Dani Rocca and Joel Michael Herbert. We've been singing together since we first met in Bible school in 2007, where our friendship blossomed into the matrimonial duo Artist Formerly Known As The World In Lights.

Dani Rocca is the newest member of the CCM pop worship group Avalon, and is a worship leader and human development specialist, having earned a Psychology degree from Syracuse University and a Master in Human Development from Vanderbilt. She is available for hire as a worship leader and as a organizational consultant.

Joel is an accomplished writer and speaker currently working toward ordination in the UMC in Central New York. A progressive liberation theologian with a Masters of Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, he is available as a worship leader and speaker for churches and events.

Based in Syracuse, NY, The World In Lights started in an apartment north of Houston as a group of best friends making music together. We love telling stories with our music- stories of love and war and heartbreak and redemption... what it means to be human. We love haunting melodies, eclectic instruments, and great storytelling, and we've fallen in love with this form of art we call songwriting. 

Musically our musical influences range from John Legend to Muse to Simon & Garfunkel to Willie Nelson. We hope you will find us modern yet still classic in all the best ways, feeling like you never left the back porch of your Kentucky cabin on a still autumn afternoon. Join us as we tell a story we think is worth telling, and you might just be tempted to sing along.