||Secondhand Serenade|| aka John Vesely
Secondhand Serenade is an acoustic rock solo project fronted by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely, based in America.
Born into a family of musicians, John Vesely has taken the gift he was instilled with, and shaped it into his own. With the help of his father, a professional jazz musician for over 20 years in the Czech Republic, he started getting into music around the age of 12. Playing bass for 8 years, he was a member of numerous Bay area bands ranging in style from ska and hardcore to rock and pop. But it wasn't until he picked up the acoustic guitar that he finally found his true calling. "I switched to guitar when I met my wife. She wanted me to play her a song, but I didn't have a band at the time and serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question" Vesely said.
Once he began writing his own material, John scraped up the money for 8 days of studio time and went in to record the 10-track album, known as Awake in the summer of 2005. Armed with a superior vocal range, a mind blowing sense of harmony and heart wrenching lyrics, he was able to walk away with an acoustic album that would prove to be the groundwork for the start of his career. When it came time to chose a name, he decided to go with Secondhand Serenade in an attempt to stay away from the typical singer/songwriter image. "It's everything I would want in a band name and more. It basically sums up what I do. I write my songs about events and feelings that occur in my life, and I sing the songs to my wife. Everyone else gets the Secondhand Serenade."
The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs are 'serenades' sung to his wife, with people around the world getting to hear the songs 'second-hand', thus the name Secondhand Serenade.
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." It only seems right that an artist with this mentality begins to spread his wings.
||Discography||
-Studio albums
* 2007: Awake (reissue)
o #164 Billboard 200, #3 Top Heatseekers, #19 Top Independent
* 2008: A Twist In My Story
o #44 Billboard 200, #6 Top Independent
-Self-released albums
* 2005: Awake
Credits: Lyricsmania and Wikipedia
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I first heard his songs from a friend at the end of last year and before I knew it, I had downloaded pretty much all of his songs!
His voice I find unique and I Love it!
My favorite songs from him are Fall For You, Your Call, and Why <3
Anyone else like him and his songs too?! :]
