Secondhand Serenade
Encyclopedia
Secondhand Serenade is an American
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you."
Secondhand Serenade is an American
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you."
Secondhand Serenade is an American
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you." While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you." http://www.lyricsmania.com/biography/secondhand_serenade_biography_8321.html
In 2005, Vesely released his debut album titled Awake
. It was recorded as a demo, after booking a few days at a San Francisco studio earlier in 2005, "using just an acoustic guitar and his multi-tracked vocals." The album was promoted through the Secondhand Serenade Myspace
page and by playing local shows. The CDs
were originally sold through mail order with a PayPal
account by Vesely, eventually he signed up with distributor TuneCore
, making Secondhand Serenade's songs available on music portals including iTunes.
The album experienced tremendous online support, and by the end of 2006 Secondhand Serenade had received millions of plays on Myspace
and had been the social-networking site's No. 1 Independent Artist for months. Financially, he was said to be bringing in up to $20,000 a month from downloads and merchandise sales out of his home. He sold over 15,000 copies of the album on his own, and on the strength of these sales and the support, naturally, the labels came knocking. Secondhand Serenade was signed by longtime label executive Daniel Glass
, on his new label Glassnote Records, which is distributed through Warner's
Independent Label Group. In 2006, Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Serenade as #3 in the magazine's reader's poll for Best Myspace Artist.
was reissued by Glassnote Records
with an additional two songs. It was released on January 31 and gave Vesely his first chartings, debuting at #16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers
chart. Added success lead to it peaking at #164 on the Billboard 200
, #3 on the Top Heatseekers
and #19 on the Independent Albums
chart.
In support of his first label release, Vesely was featured on MTV's
You Hear It First, AOL Music's Breakers Yahoo! Music's
Who's Next? and appeared on talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien
. He also played numerous shows, including tours with the likes of Hawthorne Heights
and The All-American Rejects
and at music festivals South By Southwest
and along side My Chemical Romance
and Linkin Park
at Bamboozle
.
Secondhand Serenade released only one song as a single from the debut album, "Vulnerable". The song spawned a music video, which was created by Frank Borin who was responsible for the Red Hot Chili Peppers
' video for hit single "Dani California
". "Vulnerable" peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100
, #64 on the Pop 100
and #56 on the Hot Digital Songs
charts.
was released on February 19, 2008 and features songs from Awake
such as "Maybe" and "Your Call," but reproduced with a full band. The bulk of the album however is a list of new songs written by John Vesely and recorded with a full band. Two tracks on A Twist In My Story were produced by famed producer Butch Walker
, while the others were produced by former Nine Inch Nails
member Danny Lohner
. The first single, "Fall for You
," was released January 21, 2008. The album was leaked, and was made available for download one month before its official release. On January 28, 2008 the music video for the first single from the album "Fall for You" premiered on the MTV show TRL
. In support of the release, Secondhand Serenade spent most of March and April touring with American bands Making April
, Automatic Loveletter
, and The White Tie Affair
. Members of his touring band include Steve Shebby on bass guitar, Lukas Vesely (Vesely's brother) on keys/vox, Ryan Cook(former bassist of the White Tie Affair) on lead guitar/vox, and Tom Breyfogle on drums.
The title A Twist in My Story is a reference to Vesely's 2008 divorce with his former wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. Vesely had separated with Candice in August 2007, the time when the tracks for A Twist In My Story were being created.
In November 2008 the album's first single "Fall for You", was certified Platinum by the RIAA
.
As of December 5, 2008 "Fall For You" was still #13 on the American Top 40 songs in the country.http://www.at40.com/song/692/index.html
The "Your Call" video premiered on FNMTV on December 5. It can be viewed on the FNMTV website.
He released a video for the song "Maybe" on his Myspace page on May 4, 2009. Its a video about his concerts and trips around the world and was shot and directed by his tour manager Preston Jones and his drummer Tom Breyfogle.
A Twist in My Story (Deluxe Edition) was released on February 3, 2009. It contains 5 bonus tracks including "Your Call" (Radio Version), "Fall for You" (Acoustic Version), "Like A Knife" (Acoustic Version), his single "Last Time", and the Coldplay cover "Fix You".
, and was released on August 3, 2010. The album's track listing has also been announced. In a recent interview, Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships.http://www.billboard.com/column/dailynoise#/column/dailynoise/secondhand-serenade-kelly-clarkson-talk-1004059910.story
On June 1, "Something More" was released onto iTunes
as a deluxe single with a bonus track "You Are A Drug", a video showing the making of "Something More", and a digital booklet
to the new single.
On July 21, while on tour in Dallas, Vesely announced that a downloadable track pack for Rock Band would be made available soon, featuring multiple Secondhand Serenade hits including "Fall For You".
On July 27, Vesely added the eleven tracks off of the new album to his Myspace
and made them available for streaming for fans. Many of these songs have also leaked onto sites such as Youtube
. On November 23, 2010, Vesely released a free online download for a demo of a new song off the new EP
entitled "Let Me In." The next single off the new album is a new version of "You & I" featuring Cady Groves
In March 2011, Vesely announced he was mastering the new EP and that it would be entitled Weightless. Weightless was released digitally on May 3, 2011 and consists of five songs: "Our Time," "Let Me In," "Animal (Neon Trees Cover)," "You & I (Acoustic)," and "Never Too Late".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
Awake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
A Twist In My Story
A Twist in My Story is the second studio album from Secondhand Serenade. It was released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote. The album features the songs "Maybe" and "Your Call", which are new versions of the songs from Awake produced with a band. The first single, "Fall for You" was released on...
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
Hear Me Now (Secondhand Serenade album)
Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. In a recent interview, John Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships...
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
Early history, first release (2004-2006)
John Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade in his home town of Menlo ParkMenlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day is an American songwriter from Redwood City, California.In his sophomore year of high school, Day decided to drop out and pursue a career in music. After testing for proficiency, he began teaching guitar lessons and with his first earnings, bought a laptop and a microphone...
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
Second-Hand
Second-Hand was a 2005 Romanian film directed by Dan Piţa.-Plot summary:The film's plot surrounds the romantic involvement of two contrasting characters: Petre , a Mafioso, and Andreea , a young violin player. The pair meet and fall in love...
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you."
Secondhand Serenade is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
Awake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
A Twist In My Story
A Twist in My Story is the second studio album from Secondhand Serenade. It was released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote. The album features the songs "Maybe" and "Your Call", which are new versions of the songs from Awake produced with a band. The first single, "Fall for You" was released on...
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
Hear Me Now (Secondhand Serenade album)
Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. In a recent interview, John Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships...
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
Early history, first release (2004-2006)
John Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade in his home town of Menlo ParkMenlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day is an American songwriter from Redwood City, California.In his sophomore year of high school, Day decided to drop out and pursue a career in music. After testing for proficiency, he began teaching guitar lessons and with his first earnings, bought a laptop and a microphone...
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
Second-Hand
Second-Hand was a 2005 Romanian film directed by Dan Piţa.-Plot summary:The film's plot surrounds the romantic involvement of two contrasting characters: Petre , a Mafioso, and Andreea , a young violin player. The pair meet and fall in love...
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you."
Secondhand Serenade is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake
Awake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
in 2007, A Twist in My Story
A Twist In My Story
A Twist in My Story is the second studio album from Secondhand Serenade. It was released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote. The album features the songs "Maybe" and "Your Call", which are new versions of the songs from Awake produced with a band. The first single, "Fall for You" was released on...
in 2008 and Hear Me Now
Hear Me Now (Secondhand Serenade album)
Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. In a recent interview, John Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships...
in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.
Early history, first release (2004-2006)
John Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade in his home town of Menlo ParkMenlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He started getting into music at the age of 12. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day
Ronnie Day is an American songwriter from Redwood City, California.In his sophomore year of high school, Day decided to drop out and pursue a career in music. After testing for proficiency, he began teaching guitar lessons and with his first earnings, bought a laptop and a microphone...
. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
s' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand
Second-Hand
Second-Hand was a 2005 Romanian film directed by Dan Piţa.-Plot summary:The film's plot surrounds the romantic involvement of two contrasting characters: Petre , a Mafioso, and Andreea , a young violin player. The pair meet and fall in love...
.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.
While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you." While some artists may fear the rawness of playing with just an acoustic guitar, John welcomes the honesty it comes along with. He claims "In some ways a band is more powerful, but in other ways there are things you can do with one voice and one acoustic guitar that you couldn't do with an army of musicians behind you." http://www.lyricsmania.com/biography/secondhand_serenade_biography_8321.html
In 2005, Vesely released his debut album titled Awake
Awake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
. It was recorded as a demo, after booking a few days at a San Francisco studio earlier in 2005, "using just an acoustic guitar and his multi-tracked vocals." The album was promoted through the Secondhand Serenade Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page and by playing local shows. The CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
were originally sold through mail order with a PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
account by Vesely, eventually he signed up with distributor TuneCore
TuneCore
TuneCore is an online distribution service for music founded in 2005. TuneCore principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to place their music into online retailers such as iTunes, AmazonMP3, Zune Marketplace, Rhapsody, eMusic, and others for sale.-History and...
, making Secondhand Serenade's songs available on music portals including iTunes.
The album experienced tremendous online support, and by the end of 2006 Secondhand Serenade had received millions of plays on Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and had been the social-networking site's No. 1 Independent Artist for months. Financially, he was said to be bringing in up to $20,000 a month from downloads and merchandise sales out of his home. He sold over 15,000 copies of the album on his own, and on the strength of these sales and the support, naturally, the labels came knocking. Secondhand Serenade was signed by longtime label executive Daniel Glass
Daniel Glass
Daniel Glass is an American music industry executive whose output has included work with artists Billy Idol, Wilson Phillips, Sinéad O'Connor, Jon Secada, Warren Zevon, Blur, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Erykah Badu, Baha Men, Kurupt, Susan Tedeschi, The Pretenders, Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society,...
, on his new label Glassnote Records, which is distributed through Warner's
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
Independent Label Group. In 2006, Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Serenade as #3 in the magazine's reader's poll for Best Myspace Artist.
Awake re-release (2007-2008)
In early 2007, AwakeAwake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
was reissued by Glassnote Records
Glassnote Records
Glassnote Records is an independent record label launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists...
with an additional two songs. It was released on January 31 and gave Vesely his first chartings, debuting at #16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
chart. Added success lead to it peaking at #164 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, #3 on the Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
and #19 on the Independent Albums
Independent Albums
The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...
chart.
In support of his first label release, Vesely was featured on MTV's
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
You Hear It First, AOL Music's Breakers Yahoo! Music's
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
Who's Next? and appeared on talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
. He also played numerous shows, including tours with the likes of Hawthorne Heights
Hawthorne Heights
Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Their line-up currently consists of lead-singer and rhythm guitarist JT Woodruff, lead-guitarist and vocalist Micah Carli, bassist and backing vocalist Matt Ridenour, and drummer Eron Bucciarelli...
and The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....
and at music festivals South By Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
and along side My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
and Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
at Bamboozle
Bamboozle
Bamboozle! was a quiz game featured on Channel 4 Teletext in the United Kingdom. It was originally part of Teletext's "Fun & Games" category, though the rest of the category had been discontinued for some years before Bamboozle! ended...
.
Secondhand Serenade released only one song as a single from the debut album, "Vulnerable". The song spawned a music video, which was created by Frank Borin who was responsible for the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
' video for hit single "Dani California
Dani California
"Dani California" is a single from the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers's ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and then was officially released on May 2, 2006...
". "Vulnerable" peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, #64 on the Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
and #56 on the Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
charts.
A Twist in My Story (2008-2009)
A Twist in My StoryA Twist In My Story
A Twist in My Story is the second studio album from Secondhand Serenade. It was released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote. The album features the songs "Maybe" and "Your Call", which are new versions of the songs from Awake produced with a band. The first single, "Fall for You" was released on...
was released on February 19, 2008 and features songs from Awake
Awake (Secondhand Serenade album)
Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
such as "Maybe" and "Your Call," but reproduced with a full band. The bulk of the album however is a list of new songs written by John Vesely and recorded with a full band. Two tracks on A Twist In My Story were produced by famed producer Butch Walker
Butch Walker
Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
, while the others were produced by former Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
member Danny Lohner
Danny Lohner
Daniel Patrick "Danny" Lohner , frequently known as Renholdër, is an American rock musician who plays bass guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project...
. The first single, "Fall for You
Fall for You
"Fall for You" is a song by Secondhand Serenade, the solo project of John Vesely. It was the first single from Secondhand Serenade's second studio album A Twist in My Story...
," was released January 21, 2008. The album was leaked, and was made available for download one month before its official release. On January 28, 2008 the music video for the first single from the album "Fall for You" premiered on the MTV show TRL
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
. In support of the release, Secondhand Serenade spent most of March and April touring with American bands Making April
Making April
Making April was an American piano-based alternative rock band formed in Verplanck, New York, in 2005. The band consists of vocalist and pianist Sean Scanlon, bassist Gregory Federspiel and guitarist and backing vocalist Steven McCaffrey....
, Automatic Loveletter
Automatic Loveletter
Automatic Loveletter is a rock band, with acoustic and emo influences, based in the United States of America. The band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 2007, led by vocalist and guitarist Juliet Simms, her older brother and lead guitarist Tommy Simms, drummer Ryan Metcalf, and bassist Clint Fowler.-...
, and The White Tie Affair
The White Tie Affair
The White Tie Affair is a pop rock/electronica band from Chicago, Illinois. The members consist of: Sean-P , Chris Wallace , Tim McLaughlin and Ryan McLain . In early 2007, the band signed with Epic Records/Slightly Dangerous and released their debut album, Walk This Way in April 2008...
. Members of his touring band include Steve Shebby on bass guitar, Lukas Vesely (Vesely's brother) on keys/vox, Ryan Cook(former bassist of the White Tie Affair) on lead guitar/vox, and Tom Breyfogle on drums.
The title A Twist in My Story is a reference to Vesely's 2008 divorce with his former wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. Vesely had separated with Candice in August 2007, the time when the tracks for A Twist In My Story were being created.
In November 2008 the album's first single "Fall for You", was certified Platinum by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
.
As of December 5, 2008 "Fall For You" was still #13 on the American Top 40 songs in the country.http://www.at40.com/song/692/index.html
The "Your Call" video premiered on FNMTV on December 5. It can be viewed on the FNMTV website.
He released a video for the song "Maybe" on his Myspace page on May 4, 2009. Its a video about his concerts and trips around the world and was shot and directed by his tour manager Preston Jones and his drummer Tom Breyfogle.
A Twist in My Story (Deluxe Edition) was released on February 3, 2009. It contains 5 bonus tracks including "Your Call" (Radio Version), "Fall for You" (Acoustic Version), "Like A Knife" (Acoustic Version), his single "Last Time", and the Coldplay cover "Fix You".
Hear Me Now & Weightless EP (2010-Present)
Secondhand Serenade's third studio album is entitled Hear Me NowHear Me Now (Secondhand Serenade album)
Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. In a recent interview, John Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships...
, and was released on August 3, 2010. The album's track listing has also been announced. In a recent interview, Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships.http://www.billboard.com/column/dailynoise#/column/dailynoise/secondhand-serenade-kelly-clarkson-talk-1004059910.story
On June 1, "Something More" was released onto iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
as a deluxe single with a bonus track "You Are A Drug", a video showing the making of "Something More", and a digital booklet
Digital booklet
Digital booklets are the digital equivalent of liner notes that often accompany digital music purchases. They are most commonly distributed in Portable Document Format. One well-known distributor of digital booklets with digital purchases is the iTunes Store; the first instance of this on the...
to the new single.
On July 21, while on tour in Dallas, Vesely announced that a downloadable track pack for Rock Band would be made available soon, featuring multiple Secondhand Serenade hits including "Fall For You".
On July 27, Vesely added the eleven tracks off of the new album to his Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and made them available for streaming for fans. Many of these songs have also leaked onto sites such as Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. On November 23, 2010, Vesely released a free online download for a demo of a new song off the new EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
entitled "Let Me In." The next single off the new album is a new version of "You & I" featuring Cady Groves
In March 2011, Vesely announced he was mastering the new EP and that it would be entitled Weightless. Weightless was released digitally on May 3, 2011 and consists of five songs: "Our Time," "Let Me In," "Animal (Neon Trees Cover)," "You & I (Acoustic)," and "Never Too Late".
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
US Rock |
||||||
| 2007 | Awake Awake (Secondhand Serenade album) Awake is the debut album by American acoustic rock musician, John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade. The album was originally released as a demo, in 2005...
|
164 | 3 | 19 | — | ||||
| 2008 | A Twist in My Story A Twist In My Story A Twist in My Story is the second studio album from Secondhand Serenade. It was released on February 19, 2008 on Glassnote. The album features the songs "Maybe" and "Your Call", which are new versions of the songs from Awake produced with a band. The first single, "Fall for You" was released on... |
44 | — | 6 | 11 | ||||
| 2010 | Hear Me Now Hear Me Now (Secondhand Serenade album) Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. In a recent interview, John Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships... |
42 | — | 7 | 14 | ||||
| 2011 | Weightless EP
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
External links
- Official Myspace
- Official JamNow Page with Recorded Live Performance and Interview
- Interview with Secondhand Serenade at TheMusicEdge.com, 3/3/06
- "Secondhand Serenade; Digital Distribution Provides Boost To Heatseeking Artist," Billboard, 2/23/07
- "Local makes MySpace his space," Palo Alto Daily News, 3/16/07
- "Secondhand Serenade confirms "2007 Couch Tour" with Monty Are I," Monsters and Critics, 3/22/07
- "Secondhand Serenade brings raw emotion first-hand," Daily 49er, 3/28/07
- "Secondhand Serenade Named 'MTV Discover & Download Artist'; Band Now featured on Yahoo! 'Who's Next?' and AOL 'Breakers' Online Competitions," top-40 charts, 3/29/07
- Complete Secondhand Serenade Discography
- Q&A with John Vesely