It was in Jazz Band playing jazz festivals that Jeff met the talented jazz and rock musicians of greater Sacramento area High Schools. “A few of us from different schools decided to start a jazz/rock band and we called it Milestone. The original members were Rex Klein on drums, Tom Knickerbocker on B3 organ, Joe Hougnon on guitar, Jeff Newland (me) on bass guitar, Patti Jump lead vocals, Dennis Moody trombone, Scott Smith trumpet, Mark Tulga sax and congas and Rick Crusin on B3 organ and trumpet. We played almost every high school dance in the area and eventually wound up playing in local clubs. It is here that we got discovered by a San Francisco based Agency called Golden Gate Artists. 

During our tenure as a band other players joined up with us including, Jimmy Malone B3 organ, and Bishop Mayfield and Ted Longly on lead vocals. Once signed and all out of High School we were road bound. We played the Bay Area and Northern Ca, Portland, Seattle, all thru Canada (mostly in the winter) following shows by Lover Boy, The Mob, Crackin, Cold Blood, and BTO and then to the heat of Arizona. The last tour took its toll on me as it lasted over a year straight. I decided the touring life was not for me and left the band when we got back to California.” 

“It was then that I met up with a drummer that I idolized who was in the Bay area. I admired and had seen the band play before called Cold Blood. His stage name was Sandy Mckee, but his real name was Cecil Stoltie. Cold Blood was taking a break as a group, and he wanted to start a new band with some bay area players from bands he admired. (see Cold Blood youtube) . I became Sandys roommate, and we lived in a nice house in San Mateo Ca. The band was called Squeeze and soon after rehearsals, we were on the road again. This time playing dates behind classic artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, The Platters, and other 60s and 70s bands. After a year or so of this, I decided to leave the music business and get away from the fast life I had been in for the past 4 years.”

“I became a ski bum in Squaw Valley Ca. and then after a time changed careers (ran out of money) and got into the restaurant business. It was here that I spent many years trying to work my way to the top of another crazy line of work.

 For some reason, I had lost the desire to play music, until I met a recording engineer in San Francisco. I had been toying around with some original songs and he wanted to hear them.”

“We went to his studio and recorded and I found out that I was back in love with music, but this time only doing my own originals. I met Cory Fite when he was playing at a restaurant and club that I was managing called Jon Pier Point Daley in Old Sac Ca. He was performing with a band called Clancy at the time. They featured a lot of original music written by Cory and it sounded fantastic. I loved the group.”

Sometime in the mid 70`s Jeff met Skip Maggiora who owned a music store in Sacramento called Skips Music. Skip, himself an accomplished guitar player, would remain close friends with Jeff until his passing Feb. 28^th, 2023. Skip was always there, a groomsman in Jeff’s wedding, at a lot of performances, and especially as a great friend. “Skip introduced me to Rodger Voudouris who worked with me on my vocal style and then he became involved in our song production and brought his musical talent into the studio also as a player.”

Around 1980, after working at different restaurants in Sacramento and then the Bay Area in California Jeff returned home to Sacramento working as a General Manager of a restaurant company called El Torito.  Jeff looked up Cory Fite who was busy playing and writing original music and they got together to listen to each other’s original music. They both were impressed with, not only their songs but how easy it was to work together. They both were open to comments and changes, and it was easy. This was the beginning of a 40-year song writing team. 

As they co-wrote Commercials for clients such as banks and the Army, they started to get serious with the music they were doing together and since Cory was a master engineer and producer on Pro Tools they could record anytime, and they did. They then decided to play (“I think it was Cory’s idea”) live gigs as a Duo doing their own originals and their own version of other people’s music. That is how “Bob’s Your Uncle” started.

They spent the next 25 years writing together. The Arsenal of songs range from POP songs to Soundtracks for a movie Jeff had written and during a 40+ year time frame none of their songs were ever released on any platform until now. Jeff spent the rest of his career in the restaurant business as well as composing the band’s music. After Cory passed away, Jeff decided to keep the BYU legacy going and continue, by releasing the music they all did together which they never released before.

The new BYU album “The Puppet Strings” will start to come out to the public in the next few months.

Jeff met the love of his life Rachel in 1985 and they have been married for 39 years. They have two children, Brandon and Ashley. Jeff and Rachel now live in Florida.

“My goal is to continue working with super talented musicians and friends who have already put their skill and individual stamp on a lot of the previous recordings. It is about time for the world to hear us!” Jeff says.