Pop band Newsboys is scheduled to play 8 p.m. Saturday, July 1, at Wild Adventures Theme Park.

VALDOSTA – Jeff Frankenstein recalls auditioning for Newsboys on a whim in the 1990s.

The Christian-focused pop band already had several hits and recordings but Frankenstein wasn’t familiar with the group.

He was in college at the time. He played keyboards. But he had to borrow a Newsboys CD from a friend before going to the audition for a new keyboard player.

He auditioned. He got a call back. Frankenstein got the job. He played his first Newsboys gig with the band. He dropped out of college. He moved from his hometown of Detroit to Nashville, Tenn.

That all happened within less than a handful of days. Frankenstein has been with the band nearly 30 years.

Jeff Frankenstein and the rest of the Newsboys are scheduled to play 8 p.m. Saturday, July 1, at Wild Adventures Theme Park. The band has hits stretching back to the late 1990s from its several eras of various band members.

But there’s no end in sight for the Newsboys, Frankenstein said.

“Being in a band and playing in front of people, why should we ever stop doing this? It’s so enjoyable,” Frankenstein said in a recent phone interview with The Valdosta Daily Times. “… It doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun. Touring’s hard … with families but you find ways to be present in their lives in bigger chunks.”

But overall, he said, with touring, “you get to do the things that people wish to do. You hang out with your friends all day, play music and release a new single every couple of months.”

And he said Christian pop is more popular in the 2020s than it was in the 1990s.

“We have three generations of fans now,” Frankenstein said. “It’s really awesome to see three generations of fans in the audience, to hear their stories about how the music affected their lives.”

Newsboys plays 8 p.m. Saturday, July 1, Wild Adventures Theme Park, Old Clyattville Road. More information: Visit wildadventures.com.