Secondhand Serenade

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Secondhand Serenade
Origin Menlo Park, California, USA
Genre(s) Acoustic rock
Alternative rock
Years active 2004–present
Label(s) Glassnote[1]
Website Official Myspace
Members
John Vesely

Secondhand Serenade is an acoustic rock solo project fronted by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely, based in America. The solo project began in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely has released two studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade, Awake in 2007 and A Twist In My Story in 2008. The debut album used multitrack recording to create the sound of a band using technology,[1] the second album took a different path, using a proper band and an orchestra to establish a more accomplished sound.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early history and first release

John Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade in his home town of Menlo Park 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 spent 8 years playing as a bassist in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska and hardcore to rock and pop.[3] After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar and began writing his own songs when he met his wife. 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.[3]

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.[3]

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".[4] The album was promoted through the Secondhand Serenade Myspace page and by playing local shows. The CD's 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.[5]

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.[4] He sold over 15,000 copies of the album on his own,[6] 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 Warners Independent Label Group.[5] In 2006, Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Serenade as #3 in the magazine's reader's poll for Best Myspace Artist.[6]

[edit] Awake re-release

In early 2007, Awake was reissued by Glassnote Records with an additional two songs. It was released on February 6 and gave Vesely his first chartings, debuting at #16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart[5]. Added success lead to it peaking at #164 on the Billboard 200, #3 on the Top Heatseekers and #19 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[7]

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?[5] and appeared on talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[4] 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.[5][6]

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".[6] "Vulnerable" peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100, #64 on the Pop 100 and #56 on the Hot Digital Songs charts.[8]

[edit] A Twist In My Story

A Twist In My Story is Secondhand Serenade's second album to date and first on Warner Glassnote. It 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 popular MTV show TRL.

[edit] Discography

Studio albums
Self-released albums

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions[8] Album
U.S. Hot 100 Pop 100 Hot Digital Songs
2007 "Vulnerable" 83 64 56 Awake
2008 "Fall For You" 121 68 - A Twist In My Story

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mason, Stewart. Awake Review. All Music.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  2. ^ Roth, Kaj. Secondhand Serenade goes full band on new album. Melodic.net. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  3. ^ a b c Shapiro, Julianne. Locals Only: Secondhand Serenade. Zero Mag.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  4. ^ a b c Quillen, Shay. Peninsula's John Vesely finds success as Secondhand Serenade. Mercury News.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ben-Yehuda, Ayala. Digital Distribution Provides Boost to Heatseeking Artist. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  6. ^ a b c d Press Release. Secondhand Serenade's Debut Album Enters At #16 On Billboard. Ultimate Guitar.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  7. ^ a b c Secondhand Serenade Albums Chart History. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  8. ^ a b Secondhand Serenade Singles Chart History. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.

[edit] External links

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