Jonathan Newell began his rock-n-roll career with his brothers, Rob (keyboards) and Paul (drums) and his cousin Chris (bass), while still in middle school.  He followed up with his high school mates Tony, Scott and Mark, playing high school dances and private parties.  They went their separate ways during their college years.  Jonathan went to Ithaca College to pursue classical piano studies but his desire to play guitar in a rock-n-roll band never waned.  He moved back to the Lake George area in 1988  and went on the form The Groove with Todd Glacy and Randy McGeoch in 1990.  From 1990 -1993 they were one of the hardest working bands in the northeast, playing 3-5 times a week throughout upstate New York and Vermont. 

     Jonathan had been teaching piano during the day, pursuing classical piano gigs and playing rock-n-roll in the late evenings but along with that he worked the coffeehouse circuit performing original songs and headlining legendary venues like Café Lena, The 8^th Step and Lively Lucy’s.  Those original songs formed the nucleus of material for a folk/funk/punk band called ArtFarm.  From 1994-1996 ArtFarm had become a favorite on the upstate college, coffeehouse and festival circuit. The bands’ self-titled release in 1996 debuted at # 9 on the local music charts and reached # 1 on the SUNY Plattsburg play list.  The album contained such classics as ‘Ride My Innertube’ and ‘More Than Enough’.  The band members went they’re separate ways at the end of 1996 and the Jonathan Newell Band had it’s first official gig in the summer of 1997.

     The Jonathan Newell Band quickly established itself as a premiere party band throughout the northeastern United States.  JNB contains those early power trio elements of The Groove and ArtFarm but is most often presented as a 7 piece act including female vocals, keyboards, saxophone and percussion.  They have become a go-to band for dozens of clubs throughout the Adirondack summer scene and the Vermont ski scene and have played private parties from New York City to Boston, Bar Harbor to Buffalo.

Jonathan still performs solo acoustic gigs and acoustic rock gigs like his early days but the Jonathan Newell Band has found its niche as a mostly 60’s and 70’s classic-rock cover band performing favorites from Led Zepplin, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Grateful Dead, The Who, Bob Marley, Bruce Springstein, Aerosmith and so much more.  They also perform classics from the 80’s – today by U2, Peter Gabriel, Dave Mathews, Sublime and many other crowd favorites.  The current line-up is:

     Jonathan Newell – guitar, piano, vocals

     Randy McGeoch – bass guitar

     Paul Newell or Jeff Ellis – drums

     Jennifer Newell - vocals

     Rob Newell – keyboards

     Tim Sawicki – percussion

     Adam York – saxophone

Jonathan Newell Band can be booked as a duo to a 7 piece act.  They have performed as much as 150 times a year since 1997, a testimony to their talent and professionalism.