'Newgrass' music winning over fans for Tim Neufeld and the Glory Boys

CTV Windsor: Tim Neufeld and the Glory Boys Moving from gospel to country, this Canadian band arrived in Lakeshore with ‘newgrass’ music in their saddlebags. Melanie Borrelli reports.

You might not have heard of "newgrass", but Tim Neufeld and the Glory Boys are trying to change that.

"It's sort of a blend of gospel and bluegrass and country, so we just called it newgrass to be cheeky, but maybe it will catch on," says Neufeld, who grew up in Winnipeg.

The Abbotsford, B.C band has been touring across Canada focusing on smaller towns and community churches, including a stop at St. Andrews in Lakeshore on Wednesday night.

"We love them and it's about those people and the off the beaten track towns are usually the most fun and the most genuine,” says Neufeld. “We love the big cities too."

While Neufeld is the lead singer, other members of the band are Colin Trask, Matt Stride and Jon Mushaluk.

The group has moved away from some of the more serious Christian music, instead centering their shows around fun and humour.

"It is something that we take pride in and that's just sort of not taking ourselves too serious," he says.

It's helped with their transition into country music.

"Finding ourselves in this new genre has been surprising to us because it's a lively genre," says Neufeld.

‘Blessed’ is one of their new singles making waves on country radio.

"Blessed was a song that was inspired by the lives that we get to live,” says Neufeld. “We have the greatest job in the world and we also get to have these families that love us."

Neufeld says they could never forget their Christian roots, something that helped earn them Juno awards for Contemporary Christian/Gospel album of the year in 2014 and 2017.

"It does what it's supposed to do I guess,” he says. “It fills me with confidence to keep going and knowing that we're doing something right."

The group has big plans for 2019, including releasing more new music and playing in new towns.