Winter Jam: One night of praise packed with 12 artists

Photo Gallery

Winter Jam

Newsboys keyboardist/bassist Jeff Frankenstein knew there were pitfalls to the group reuniting with its original singer, Peter Furler, when the idea surfaced in 2017.

Furler left the group in 2009 after leading the Newsboys to the top of the Christian music scene. Over that span, the group from Queensland, Australia, won five Dove Awards and released nine straight albums that all went top five on the Christian music chart (with four hitting No. 1). He was replaced by another notable figure in Christian music, former DC Talk singer Michael Tate.

The "new" Newsboys spent the next several years trying to prove that they could be a successful band without Furler, who was the group's songwriter. Their efforts paid off with three albums - "Born Again" (2010), "God's Not Dead" (2011) and "Restart" (2013) - that topped Billboard's Christian Albums chart and a fourth album, "Love Riot" (2016), that reached No. 2 on the Christian chart. The song "God's Not Dead," meanwhile, became the group's first platinum-certified single and inspired three Christian films: "God's Not Dead," "God's Not Dead 2" and "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness."

So when the idea started gaining traction in 2017 for reuniting with Furler, as well as long-time bassist Phil Joel (who had left the band in 2006) to create what is being billed as Newsboys United, several issues had to be considered.

Did the current Newsboys want to create a situation where they were competing with the original group? Would there be confusion over what group was the "real" Newsboys?

In the end, one factor made the idea of bringing together two eras of the Newsboys make sense.

"I think as an artist you have to keep the fan first in mind. And that's the way I've approached it the whole time," Frankenstein said. "If I was a fan and I saw this whole concept coming together before my eyes, how thrilled would I be? How excited would I be? We were kind of between records and it just kind of made sense."

It already looks like the Newsboys United reunion will last longer than some may have expected. The six-man lineup of Furler, Joel, Tait, Frankenstein, guitarist Jody Davis and drummer Duncan Phillips began touring in February 2018 and continued through much of the year.

Now the group is headlining this year's 43-city Winter Jam 360 Tour, Christian music's largest annual tour. Winter Jam stops in McKenzie Arena on Sunday, March 10. It is the first year the tour has utilized an in-the-round center stage.

And perhaps the biggest news of all is that a new studio album featuring the full Newsboys United lineup is on the way.

The reunion began when the Newsboys were trying to finish a song called "The Cross is the Final Word."

"We were kind of at an impasse with the song," Frankenstein said of the song, which was released last spring as a single. "And Wes (Campbell), our manager, it was kind of his idea. He was like 'Let's call up Peter and see what he's up to,' with Pete being a songwriter and all that. Pete helped finish the song and that kind of put us back in touch with him And one thing led to another and we started talking about doing some shows together."

The headlining shows Newsboys United have done have been generous affairs, running nearly three hours and featuring some 30 songs. Winter Jam, though, features short sets from each of the acts, with the Newsboys allotted about 45 minutes to close the evening, creating plenty of challenges in crafting a set list for the tour.

"It will basically be a 45-minute medley where we can play as many songs as possible," Frankenstein said of Newsboys United's set. "As a music director, it's like trying to solve a puzzle and make all of the pieces fit and make it flow."

Frankenstein said there's a chance the group will even play a song or two from the forthcoming Newsboys United album, with single, "Greatness of our God," released Jan. 19, a good bet to be in the set.