Local artist and musician John Newhall first picked up a guitar as a freshman in his high school band room, and from that moment, he knew he was hooked. Newhall released two singles in 2024, “Song Nobody Knows” and “Something With You,” and looks to release new music in the coming months.

According to the music streaming service Spotify, Newhall has 5,651 listeners monthly as of Monday, March 19. Spotify has recorded “Something With You” as Newhall’s top streamed song with 21,732 streams. Newhall has also released a series of cover songs on his Youtube channel, from Coldplay to Stevie Wonder to Olivia Newton-John, and the Bee Gees, to name a few.

Newhall, 22, was born and raised in the Town of Newburgh and even before he picked up a guitar, he was a singer. His interest in music grew while attending Valley Central High School, where he picked up his first guitar and during his high school years, he also involved with school bands and various school productions.

As a teenager, Newhall was a member of the All Star Band group through the New York School of Music in Walden. Through this program he had the opportunity to play on the mainstage at Bethel Woods with the band Foreigner and Kidz Bop. He even performed at some local venues.

After completing high school, Newhall wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. However, Newhall’s pursuits did not work out and so he left after two years. He returned to the area and this was when businesses began re-opening following COVID.

Newhall went to work at the School of Rock in Beacon for about a year, which led to a transition to teaching private lessons. His teaching would take him to various schools in the area. He currently holds a teaching position at Bishop Dunn Memorial School in the City of Newburgh.

At Bishop Dunn’s annual talent show during Catholic Schools Week, one of Newhall’s students performed his song “40 Years or 15 Minutes” before the school community. It was a surreal moment for Newhall. “That’s why you teach music. You love something and you show them [students] and then hopefully, they accept it and feel the same fire that you do, and that was a very grounding full-circle moment,” said Newhall.

For most of Newhall’s music today, he uses the acoustic guitar. When it comes to his music, Newhall is still trying to figure out what is his genre or how his music is defined. “I have no idea what I am. I guess genre is something that I’m still kind of figuring out for myself where I fall. I remember a couple years ago, I was like, I am gonna write pop music. That’s gonna be what I do forever,” he said. “I think something special about music that nothing else can do is that it gives you this feeling. You can instill a very specific feeling into people. If I pick up something, and I play something that gives me a feeling that I know I could translate, I guess that’s really what I’m trying to do. I guess whatever feels good, is kind of what I’m putting out.”

As a songwriter and creative, he provided a look into his creative process. “It should make someone feel something just upon first listen, right? But the way I’ve gone about doing that is, the music should match the words. So whatever feeling the music is giving off, I feel the words should kind of do the same,” he said. “I’ll sit at either a piano, or my guitar or whatever, and then I’ll play something and if it feels nice, if it feels really, really nice, then maybe I’ll sing a melody on top of it. That [melody] always comes first to me.”

Since the release of “Song Nobody Knows,” Newhall has noticed an uptick in his recognition as an artist through social media. He said he plans to release more music in the coming months, explaining how he would go about releasing it. “Now that I have people kind of watching and eyes on me, I think there’s an opportunity to be super selective and precise about the things I’m doing and what I’m putting out, who I’m making stuff with,” he said. “For sure stuff is gonna come but I think it might just take slightly more time than I had anticipated.”

Newhall’s music is currently available on Spotify and Apple Music for those interested in hearing and following along on his musical journey. “A huge thanks to my parents and my family, brothers, sisters … They have not doubted me once, even when I said music was my thing,” said Newhall. “If you have a message, totally try to share it, as much as you can. I think that’s what being an artist is.”