Concert Review & Interview with Secondhand Serenade

Last night I sat down with Secondhand Serenade (John Vesely) before he performed at EJ Thomas Hall in Akron. I met him backstage where we discussed the tour, his success and the future of Secondhand Serenade.

Candis : How is your tour going?

John: My tour is wonderful we are with Red Jumpsuit right now and it's been a really really good tour all together. A really good time.

Candis: You were suppose to sing at Progressive Field a few weeks back, but didn't get to due to the rain. Have you ever performed at a baseball game?

John: Yeah we've done Chicago White Sox and the Twins. We've never done the seven inning stretch though.

Candis: What is your favorite song to perform?

John: Goodbye

Candis: Why?

John: It's really big and has great dynamics. It's a fun ending to the show.

Candis: Do you still stick around for all your fans to get autographs after the show?

John: Yeah I come out and do autographs and pictures.

Candis: What has been your favorite venue to perform at?

John: Chicago, House of Blues

Candis: Do you have a favorite place to write music?

John: I don't. I just need to be focused

Candis: Have you ever thought about collaborating with anyone.?

John: Yes definitely and this next album is going to have some of that but I'm not going to give it away.

Candis: You've opened up for a lot of bands. Who has been your favorite?

John: We played some shows with All American Rejects, Yellowcard, Plain White T's, and The Fray. Otherwise we have been doing a bunch of headline tours. The Fray definitely. The Fray was my favorite. They were such good guys, so inspiring it was a great time.

Candis: Do you have any siblings in the music business?

John: Yeah, I have a brother. He is my keyboard player

Candis: What do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any free time?

John: No, I do this. I'm recording a new album. Any free time I have I'm working on all the things I have to do.

Candis: What is the hardest part about touring?

John: It's hard to be away from home. It's something you kind of get used to. It's nice to have a bed. I mean we have beds but they are little and we stay in hotels as often as we can.

Candis: When this tour is over what our your plans?

John: I'm going in the studio.

Everyone I met that was associated with Second Hand Serenade, Kyle, Tom, and John were very friendly. (Too bad I can't say the same for the staff at EJ Thomas Hall. I won't mention any names though.) After the interview I headed to my seat to enjoy the show. The venue was pretty crowded. I'm not sure if the show was sold out or not but every seat seemed to be filled. I have to admit that I felt old in this crowd. Most of the fans seemed to be college age and since I've been out of college for several years now I felt like I didn't quite fit in. No one else seemed to be drinking, but that didn't stop me from having a few.

Opening up for Second Hand Serenade was Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I'm familiar with a few of their songs but they played a lot of tracks from their new album. Red Jumpsuit played for about a half hour and then the stage was prepared for Secondhand Serenade. John came on stage with his band and started the show. Immediately he began to interact with his fans. Second Hand Serenade's performances included both acoustic and fully instrumental songs and the audience seemed to enjoy both. John played one song after another with vocals sounding perfectly in comparison to his albums.

After talking with Secondhand Serenade and seeing the show one thing is for sure, John is very passionate about his music. You can tell that this is what he lives for.