There's a strong focus and purpose to the message of NewSong's music, and the group is excited to bring it to Southern Manitoba for the Corn and Apple Festival. "We're trying to sing uplifting music that points people in the right direction, that has a strong spiritual message that lets them know right away where we find hope," Russ Lee, lead singer of NewSong, says. "To be able to take something like music and say something that matters and that is not just trivial or culturally current, but some message that is very current and yet eternal at the same time, is very rewarding." NewSong has been sharing the message of hope in Jesus for 45 years, and Lee says it never gets old. "We get to hear stories of people who say, 'I was in a really dark place and I came across your music and God really used it to encourage me or to help me walk through a difficult season or your songs really encouraged me and they point me in the right direction and help me in my spiritual life.' We love those kinds of responses." After 12 years with NewSong, Lee says he loves that the other members are authentic. "They love what they do. They do it really well. They love their families. We've got world-class musicians on stage with us who have been with us for many years and are just as big a part of what we do as the guys out front." Listen to the full conversation with Russ here: .audio-player-container { max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; display: block; } audio { width: 100%; height: 50px; border-radius: 5px; } Your browser does not support the audio element. Highlights for Lee Over the years with NewSong, Lee says there have been many memorable moments. "We've been blessed to do lots of amazing things. Many years ago, we wanted to make Christian music affordable to families, so we started an event that has become the largest Christian tour and one of the largest tours in the world, called Winter Jam. In the US, it hits about 40 cities and about 400,000 people. We have some of the biggest artists in Christian music who travel with us every year and are a part of it." More than a concert Lee says the tour has become more than a concert. "It's like a music festival on wheels. About 150 people make it happen every single night. We've got folks that have been coming since we started. So being a part of that, knowing that we're going to stop the music at some point and share the message of the gospel and give people the opportunity to understand what it means to be in a right relationship with God and to accept this free gift of freedom that comes through Christ, every night makes every night special." RELATED STORIES: Christian music takes centre stage at Corn and Apple Festival Weeks Revival bringing new sound to Morden Corn & Apple Christian School on track for January opening between Winkler and Morden Oldest church in Morden saves roof through ice cream Morden teen earns Samantha Mason Friendship Award Four decades of memories Through all of the highlights over the years, Lee has also seen how God has used the music as encouragement during hard points. "A few years ago, we did a concert in Jacksonville, Florida; there was a youth group there. On the way home, one of the boys in the youth group was in a tragic automobile accident that took his life. He had brought a bunch of his friends to Winter Jam. He was very excited about it. He was very committed to us. "Every time we played, for the rest of the tour, we reserved two seats down front in honour of him. We left those seats vacant just in honour of Justin, this kid who had passed away. "One year, his parents had heard what we were doing, and they reached out to us and said, 'You guys meant so much to him. And we really haven't been big fans of Christian music. We haven't really listened to it. We don't dislike it. We just never paid attention to it. But he loved it so much and loved you guys so much. We've been listening and we just want you to know that we're coming this year to Winter Jam in honour of him.' "So we made a big deal about that. We reserved them seats. One of our tour pastors, he's kind of the mayor of Winter Jam. He met the family early and brought them back and introduced them to all of us. We took pictures and talked to them. They told us stories about their son, and how important what we do was to him and to his faith. That was very, very special. And we've had lots of those moments by God's grace, and we never get tired of any of them." Keeping the Gospel front and center Lee says the goal of the band is to always ensure that the Gospel is front and center in everything they do. "We want people to know that there's a God in Heaven who made them to know Him, and He's provided a way for them to do that through His Son. To rescue us from our own mistakes and bad choices so that we could be right with God. We love sharing that message." Last year at Winter Jam, Lee says every attendee hears the Gospel. "That's part of our ministry every single night. We stop the music and shut down the merchandise area and we have someone share the message of the Gospel and give people the opportunity to respond." After the message is shared, Lee says attendees are encouraged to text in. "We have them text in, 'If you heard this message and it moved your heart and you prayed this prayer with us, and you made that decision to follow Christ, would you text this in to us so that we can connect with you? And we won't solicit you for anything. We just want to help you grow in your faith and help you know what to do next.' "On Winter Jam, our 40-city tour, last year, over 55,300 people texted in and said they prayed that prayer with us." Bringing NewSong to Canada Lee is excited to return to Canada for the Morden Corn and Apple Festival on August 28. While it's been several years for Lee since NewSong has been north of the border, Lee is excited to show why it's called Friendly Manitoba. "I'll tell you what I love about Manitoba, the Winnipeg area and Morden in particular. People are so nice. I'm excited to bring NewSong up there because these are all Southern guys and they think that the South has the corner on the market of kindness. And they're about to find out that some of the nicest people they've never met are Canadians." Canada holds a special place in Lee's heart, after he met his wife in Vancouver. "I actually met my wife in Canada. She's from Florida and I'm from Tennessee, but we were doing a two-week tour across Canada and I met her in Vancouver and now we've been married about 42 years. So I owe a great debt to Canada just in general because my life was changed by meeting my wife many years ago. So we love to go to Canada. We've been back several times just to reminisce." For those who see NewSong take the main stage on Friday night, Lee says it will be fun and include some classics along with new music. "We're going to have fun. We're going to sing some of the classics and some new songs. We've got some world-class musicians who travel with us. Some may be surprised because a lot of people, when they think about Christian music and church music, they think about somebody barefoot, burning a candle, standing on a rug, playing an acoustic guitar. That's not what's going to happen when NewSong comes to play." When the night is all said and done, Lee hopes attendees cling to the message. "I hope the music is done so well that it gets out of the way and that the message shines through because music is wonderful. Music can help you in a lot of ways, but it can't change your life for eternity. But the message of the Gospel can, and it's woven through everything that we do. We sing about the hope that we found when Jesus found us. Hopefully, people will leave encouraged and pointed in the right direction and knowing that there's a God in Heaven who loves them."