The famous lyrics, "The best thing about tonight that's we're not fighting..." were written ten years ago by the singer songwriter John Vesley off of his emotional album "A Twist In My Story." The perception of Secondhand Serenade was that John Vesley had a band to back him. The truth of the story is that John Vesely started taking his career to new heights ten years ago through his own talent and imagination.
2007 was the year John Vesley re-released the album "Awake" under the new name Secondhand Serenade. Not only was Glassnote Records new at the time, but John Vesley was the first artist under the label. Secondhand Serenade charted instantly on Billboard.
All of John's success was not overnight, but took years of perfecting his story to transcribe into music. At the age of 12, John started to pick up playing bass after seeing his brother play the instrument. He did not want his parents to think he was copying his brother, but more so having a reason for playing bass. John would even sneak his brother's guitar into his room, tune it down, and make it sound like a bass.
Eventually, John received a bass to learn and play on. He took his skills to playing in local rock bands throughout high school. After graduating high school, John switched to guitar to play for girls, as bass is not an attractive instrument.
"Serenade" in part of the band name came from his want to serenade with his music. That he did with the first release of his album "Awake "in 2005. It was a man, his guitar, and the passion for writing music that drove his album to being number one on Myspace in 2006.
Under Daniel Glass's newly formed Glassnote Records in 2007, John Vesley was the first signed under the label with the re-release of "Awake." A lot of media attention followed the album with an appearance on "Late Night" with Conan O'Brien, toured with Hawthorne Heights and All-American Rejects.
2008 was a tough year for John. He had gone through a divorce that left his heart in pieces. John took his feelings to paper writing a platinum single "Fall For You" after the separation in 2007, and the rest of his album, "A Twist In My Story" through the divorce process. While receiving much praise, attention, and opportunities from this album, John overcame a lot of pain during this time.
John picked up the pieces and continued his career releasing "Hear Me Now" in August of 2010 and his EP titled "Weightless" in March of 2011.
More recently John has been working on his ten year anniversary album underneath Glassnote adding in some orchestra to the album. In this record, the songs "Lost" and "Don't Look Down" and hopeful bridges to another record on the horizon.
As you might see, John has had a lot of changes over the course of his career. An emotional roller coaster that has brought him on the journey to where he is today. John Vesley's lyrics speak passion and truth about love both won and lost.
Be sure to follow the rest of John's career on his Facebook page, iTunes, and Instagram or just type in Secondhand Serenade into the Google Search bar. You might just find a bit of happiness from his social media.
