Greg Neufeld

Updated Tue. Jan. 22 2008 11:43 AM ET

Age: 23
Hometown: Abbotsford, BC
Audition City: Vancouver, BC

With the exception of a few days spent camping after his shocking elimination at Top 7, the sweet-sounding Greg Neufeld has been pushing his dream career further forward with each passing day.

The almost immediate kick-start to a long train of successes came when he received a call from Amy Foster-Gillies, a songwriter for artists including Michael Bublé and the daughter of legendary musician David Foster.

She told an amazed Neufeld she'd caught only one episode of Canadian Idol this year, but was intent on helping him put some songs together.  He hopped on a flight to Nashville in late September and came home with three of his very own songs, which he just finished recording in Toronto with Foster-Gillies at his side.

"She flew me to Toronto to record them," he told Eye on Idol. "That's what I just finished... They're really great and she's happy with them too. We're going to try to get them out there. I'm very, very excited."

Despite still living with his family in Abbotsford, B.C., Neufeld has been spending plenty of time in Toronto lately. While there recording his music, he played three concert dates with Rock Star Supernova winner Lukas Rossi, who apparently caught the Neufeld fever when the two played together at an earlier show in Vancouver.

"I came off the stage and he was like, 'I want you on my whole tour. We've got to do something together. I loved you so much,'" said a pleased-as-punch Neufeld. "I was like, 'ok, sweet.'"

These days, he's prepping for one of the biggest shows of his career - a double bill with Top 18 competitor Andrew Austin at the Berkeley Church theatre, a historic venue in downtown Toronto that's hosted acts including The Fugees, Sam Roberts and Coldplay.

The event will be recorded and used to create a DVD supplement for his upcoming album.

"It's just an amazing room," said Neufeld, referring to the building's legendary acoustics. "We were like, 'we have to play a show here. We have to do it.'"

In between all this madness, Neufeld also managed to hit the road with Keith and Renée, an alt-pop duo featuring none other than Season 4 Top 14 competitor Keith Macpherson. Opening a series of shows between Winnipeg and the west coast gave Neufeld his first experience of life on tour.

"It was a lot of fun to hang out with Keith again," said Neufeld, who finished in the Top 18 in Season 4 before returning the following year to improve his final score. He said his two years on the show have given him more insight on how to become a professional musician than he ever could have bargained for.

"I'm more aware of the audience than I was before," he said. "You can't just close your eyes and be off in your own little world for an entire concert.

"It's really helped me out so much. I am very, very excited about how things are going."