By Robert Hicks

Rev. Jeff Mosier, brainchild of Blueground Undergrass, challenges his new band mates to define their own musical self-identity.

“You can’t lead a band,” he says. “You can facilitate creativity.”

Mosier, 47, has abided by this principle throughout his career, shaking up the jam band and newgrass scenes with bluegrass-inflected psychedelic rock along the way. Taking his cues from Col. Bruce Hampton, maverick pioneer of Atlanta’s underground music scene for three decades, Mosier sees live performance as an opportunity for growth.

“I think the stage can become a platform for change, healing, thought and new ideas,” he says.

On its new CD, Faces, Blueground Undergrass fits squarely into folk and bluegrass songwriting traditions before jumping head first into rock, funk and psychedelic improv. Mosier is a maverick who still loves telling a story. Just consider his near-drowning experience recounted in the title track—a personal tale of he and his young daughter caught by a rip tide at Tybee Island near Savannah, Ga.

“We’re really a song-driven project,” he says. “We really tried to create a CD that has continuity. We’re a rock band with bluegrass sensibilities.”

Mosier shares songwriting duties with young guitarist Matthew Williams. With his love of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Nick Drake and Gram Parsons, as well as his passion for pioneers Bill Monroe and Col. Bruce Hampton, Mosier plants his roots in experimental folk, country and bluegrass while 27-year-old Williams embraces funk and rock with an eye toward Wilco and Phish.

Underlying Mosier’s new songs are riveting personal experiences that have given him a new appreciation for the role forgiveness plays in love, death and life. As a maverick thinker, he rejects xenophobic group behavior and conformity in favor of personal cooperation and acceptance among men to achieve spirituality.

“It’s about real freedom and real human credibility,” he says. “Without getting too political, I try to rant and rave about how group behavior is coming back at a level that is terrifying to me. It has nothing to do with being a Republican, Democrat, Christian or Jew. It has to do with whatever is driving it. We’re clumping together and being fearful.”

July 27. Coda, 34 E. 34th St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212-685-3434, 7:30, $10/$12.