Secondhand Serenade
The Loft, Lansing
Aug. 13, 6 p.m.
$17 in advance
theloftlansing.com, (517)-267-7898

Getting into music was a "natural thing" for Secondhand Serenade's John Vesely, the son of a professional jazz musician from Menlo Park, Cali. He made his start in the music industry as the bass guitarist for the rock duo Sounds Like Life alongside Ronnie Day, but found his true calling when he picked up an acoustic guitar. In 2004, Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade, a one-man band that took its inspiration from the songs he would write for his wife-serenades that the rest of the world were hearing "secondhand". He produced his self-promoted 2005 debut album, Awake, as a multitrack recording to layer vocals and lead acoustic guitar over strummed chords, thus creating the sound of a full band with only one member. Secondhand Serenade was virtually self-promoted through PureVolume and MySpace, where he sold albums and merchandise, built a fanbase, and was listed on the "MySpace Top Untitled Artists List." After selling about 73,000 digital tracks and more than 10,000 copies of Awake, he signed a deal with Glassnote Records and reissued his first album in 2007 with two additional songs. Two more albums have since been added to his repertoire: A Twist in My Story (2008) and Hear Me Now, which will be released on Aug. 3. Both of Secondhand Serenade's newer albums were produced with a full band and orchestra to create a more accomplished sound-a far cry from the multitrack recordings from not-so-long ago.