NewFound Road

NewFound Road came together as a bluegrass outfit heavily flavored by gospel influences, launching on July 4, 2001, in southwest Ohio. Headquartered in Franklin, Ohio, the quartet—Tim Shelton on guitar, Rob Baker, Jr. Williams on banjo, and Tim Caudill on bass—committed from the outset to a strictly acoustic traditional bluegrass approach built around robust vocal harmonies. Caudill’s departure brought in Randy Barnes, a bassist previously associated with Rhonda Vincent. Working with producer Ben Isaacs, the band cut two gospel projects for Crossroads Records, among them the 2003 release Full Heart. Their third effort, 2005’s Somewhere Between, steered NFR toward secular material and prompted a deal with Rounder Records, which issued Life in a Song the following year. By the time the label put out the group’s second project, 2009’s Same Old Place, the roster had shifted to Shelton and Williams alongside Joe Booker on mandolin and Jamey Booher on bass, yet the ensemble maintained its longstanding commitment to classic bluegrass textures.