Secondhand Serenade

Have you ever heard Secondhand Serenade ? It is an acoustic rock solo project fronted by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. The solo project began 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.

His songs are great ! the lyrics are awesome . John Joseph 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 bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska and hardcore to rock and pop .

One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar.
Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. 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. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenades' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as we can see in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce. In 2005, Vesely released his debut album titled Awake. It was recorded as a demo, after booking a few days at a Ontario studio earlier in 2005, "using just an acoustic guitar and his multi-tracked vocals."

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. 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. He sold over 15,000 copies of the album on his own, 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 Warner's Independent Label Group.

In 2006, Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Serenade as #3 in the magazine's reader's poll for Best Myspace Artist.A Twist in My Story 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 MTV show TRL.

In support of the release, Secondhand Serenade spent most of March and April touring with American bands Making April, Automatic Loveletter, and The White Tie Affair. Members of his touring band include John Harvey on bass guitar, Lukas Vesely (Vesely's brother) on keys/vox, Ryan Cook(former bassist of the White Tie Affair) on lead guitar/vox, and Tom Breyfogle on drums.Secondhand Serenade is currently in the studio recording a new album for an upcoming release. On September 27, 2009, while performing live in Columbus, Ohio Vesely announced their new album would most likely be released in January or February.

The forthcoming album is tentatively being called "Partly Liars." In a recent interview, Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album which focused on relationships.

World's unique music instrumental

Fifteen - Taylor Swift

You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors
It's the morning of your very first day
And you say hi to your friends you ain't seen in a while
Try and stay out of everybody's way

It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here
For the next four years in this town
Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say
"You know, I haven't seen you around before"

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out
Well, count to ten, take it in
This is life before you know who you're gonna be
Fifteen

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail
And soon enough you're best friends
Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool
We'll be outta here as soon as we can

And then you're on your very first date and he's got a car
And you're feeling like flying
And you're momma's waiting up and you're thinking he's the one
And you're dancing 'round your room when the night ends
When the night ends

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
When you're fifteen and your first kiss
Makes your head spin 'round
But in your life you'll do things greater than
Dating the boy on the football team
But I didn't know it at fifteen

When all you wanted was to be wanted
Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine
And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind and we both cried

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen, don't forget to look before you fall
I've found time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be
I didn't know who I was supposed to be at fifteen

Your very first day
Take a deep breath girl
Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors

Today was a fairy tale - Taylor Swift

Today was a fairytale
You were the prince
I used to be a damsel in distress
You took me by the hand and you picked me up at six
Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale
I wore a dress
You wore a dark grey t-shirt
You told me I was pretty when I looked like a mess
Today was a fairytale
Time slows down whenever you're around

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale
You've got a smile that takes me to another planet
Every move you make everything you say is right
Today was a fairytale
Today was a fairytale
All that I can say is it's getting so much clearer
Nothing made sense until the time I saw your face

Today was a fairytale

Time slows down whenever you're around
Yeah yeah ..

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

Time slows down whenever you're around
I can feel my heart
It's beating in my chest
Did you feel it?
I can't put this down

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

i wanna be a violist --

fiuuhhh .. i have a dream to be a great musician someday . i wanna play an instrument in an orchestra . since i was in the 5th grade , i dreamt to play a violin . for me , it is a really unique classic instrument , its sound touches my heart and soul . ehrn you hear the sound ,
feels like it is connected to your heart .

but at that time , i didn't learn it coz my mom said that it's useless . she said that being a violin player wouldn't be as rich as a piano player . but now , i realiza that i need to learn violin , because i love it more and more . but don't worry , i still love the piano and guitar .

each music instrument has its characteristic . when you are listening to a piano , you will feel soft , calm, and sometimes energetic . its sound is really soft . when you're listening to guitar , it gives you a strong feeling . it is energetic . but when you are listening to a violin, it feels different . it can be soft , energetic , and to play violin is almost the same as piano .

if you don't have senses of music , you can't play it beautifully . they said that to become a violist is hard . but i;m sure that i can make it . i've just bought a violin two weeks ago . i can play some songs myself . i don't take a lesson on it , or even asking my friends . i only asked my friends on how to hold the violin . i think that i have a talent on it , on piano and guitar as well . i've asked my mom for me to have a violin course in order to make me expert in this instrument , but there's no response . fiuuhh --

i'm sure that i can be fast in learning this instrument , coz i have been learning the piano and guitar as well . hheeee ^^ . i've ever had a dream too that when i play the violin , a violin teacher said to me that i am talented , and i need to learn about it more and more . aarrgggghh-- hope that i can have the violin lesson soon .. =)

love the music !

Henry Lau

-- he's so cute .. uwaa @@ --

hi guys ! while i was searching for proffesional violist , i found a violist , named Henry Lau .
He is cute and awesome ! he is the member of suju ( super junior) . ---a
he has a really great ability in playing the violin . uwaa @@

he can play piano as well . what a talented boy ! he is 2o years old now .

Chinese Name: Liu Xian Hua
English Name: Henry Lau
Education: A.Y. Jackson
Birthday: 11/10/1989
Country: Canada (Toronto)
Family: Father (Hong Kong), Mother (Taiwanese)
Expertise: Violin, piano, breakdance, drums, ballet, latin dance, singing

He is fluent in two languages : English and Mandarin and proficient in Cantonese and Korean with English being his primary language .

Henry Lau learned to play violin at the age of 6 and learned a unique form of dancing called boogaloo popping while in high school .

Henry's areas of expertise lie in playing the piano , the violin , popping and singing . He began violin lesson at the age of six ,
altough apparently he used to cry when he had his violin lesson . He has won many awards for piano and violin ,
such as the Silver Medal in Level 10 Violin for the Canadian Royal Conservatory Award and awards for his dancing as well .
That's great !

I think that he can be an inspiration for many people , including me . Thanks Henry for inspiring many people to practice, practice , and practice their musical skill so that they can be like you . i know that before you succeeded as now , you must be having an intensive practice . woowww ! i can't imagine that .

i love you henry !

Igudesman and Joo - a little nightmare music

IGUDESMAN & JOO - A UNIQUE COLLABORATION

Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo are two classical musicians who have taken the world by storm with their unique and hilarious theatrical shows, which combine comedy with classical music and popular culture. Their clips on YouTube, to date, have gathered over 15 million hits, and they have appeared live on television in several countries, including an exclusive interview for CNN. Equally comfortable performing in classical concert halls, as well as in stadiums in front of crowds of 18,000, their unified dream is to make classical music accessible to a wider and younger audience.

Aleksey and Hyung-ki met at the age of twelve, at the Yehudi Menuhin School, in England, and since then, have remained strong friends and writing partners. In 2004, following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Victor Borge and Dudley Moore, they created their first groundbreaking show, "A Little Nightmare Music". Since then, they have performed with major symphony orchestras around the world and have played at some of the world's biggest stages and festivals.

Many of classical music's biggest names, such as Emanuel Ax, Janine Jansen, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Viktoria Mullova, and Julian Rachlin, have joined them in their zany musical sketches, and recently, they performed exclusively for one of classical music's greatest conductors, Bernard Haitink, who thereafter said, "Igudesman and Joo played at my 80th birthday celebrations. I nearly died laughing. I'd like to invite them back for my 85th, but that might be considered reckless...Great musicians, great fun."

Their performances reach well outside of the classical field and last year they toured Europe with legends of the pop world such as Robin Gibb (Bee Gees), Midge Ure (Ultravox), co-creator of Live Aid and Band Aid, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, and Kim Wilde.

Individually, Aleksey Igudesman has worked with musicians ranging from Academy® Award winning Hollywood composer, Hans Zimmer, to multi Grammy® Award winning vocalist, Bobby McFerrin. Richard Hyung-ki Joo, has worked with Academy® Award winning composer, Vangelis, and was chosen by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Billy Joel, to arrange and record Joel's classical compositions on a CD, which reached no.1 on the Billboard Charts. Aleksey and Hyung-ki have also collaborated with the actor, Roger Moore, on several occasions for UNICEF.

Later this year, the German TV Broadcasting Channel, ZDF, will air a documentary, or rather "Mockumentary" on the Igudesman & Joo story.

ALEKSEY IGUDESMAN
Aleksey Igudesman was born in Leningrad at a very young age. He has never won any competitions, mainly because he has never entered any. During his studies at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School, he read the entire plays of Bernhard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Anton Chekhov, which didn't improve his violin playing (incidentally, he is a violinist) but made him feel foolishly somewhat superior to other less intellectually endowed, yet harder practising, colleagues.

After studying with Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatoire and being told many times by many people that they were rather worried about his future, he embarked on a successful career playing, composing, and arranging for his string trio, "Triology". They recorded several CD's for BMG, worked in Hollywood with Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer, and performed with Bobby McFerrin, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen, and other people who are less famous, but just as great.

Aleksey Igudesman writes a lot of music. Often he goes to bed writing and gets up writing. He sometimes feels a little insecure about his music, although it is published by Universal Edition, and tries to compensate for it by being rather extrovert. In fact, his psychiatrist tells him that he is insecure about a lot of things. Aleksey is not so sure about that.

Back at school he met his "IGUDESMAN & JOO" partner, Richard Hyung-ki Joo. After a few initial small differences, resulting in several people holding them both back from smashing chairs and music stands on each other's heads, Joo offered Igudesman some fish and chips, which he simply could not refuse. This in turn led to collaboration over many years, which culminated in the creation of "A Little Nightmare Music", a show they tour together making people laugh.

After Gidon Kremer heard them several times, he wanted to join in the fun, so to speak, and asked them if they would like to do something together. The answer was obvious and "Being Gidon Kremer" was born.
Ever since then, Igudesman & Joo have been writing and re-writing the script for the show a million times and are rather glad to have finally settled on something they all seem to like. (Well, until the next time Gidon comes up with 10 new ideas of how to turn everything upside down!)

Aleksey Igudesman plays on a Santo Seraphin violin from the year 1717, which is kindly loaned to him by ERSTE BANK, (the nicest, sweetest, most charming, and best-looking bank in the world) since he doesn't have the cash to buy his own and they don't mind him doing a bit of advertising for them.

RICHARD HYUNG-KI JOO
Richard Hyung-ki Joo was born. He is British, but looks Korean, or the other way around, or both. He showed his first signs of a sense of comedy whilst nappy-changing and shortly thereafter, showed his love for music when his parents would find him at the record store listening for hours to everything from Mozart to Bee Gees. (Although the two are never to be confused, Hyung-ki is often heard singing "Don Giovanni" in the style of Barry Gibb).

He started piano lessons at the age of eight and a half and two years later won a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School. There, he discovered that he was among geniuses and child prodigies and was convinced he would be kicked out of school, year after year. In fact, he was not kicked "out" but kicked "around" by teachers and fellow students, such as Aleksey Igudesman. After these painful experiences, Joo invented a new type of piano playing known as "Karate Piano". No matter how difficult his years at the school may have been, it only strengthened his love of music, and he also realised that the world of classical music had little to do with the spirit in which the music was created and began dreaming of a way to bring this great music to a wider and newer audience- a dream which has recently been realised through his show: "A Little Nightmare Music".

Hyung-ki, spelt R-I-C-H-A-R-D, and pronounced "Dick", is the only Korean Jew, (spelt J-O-O) in the world. He has performed at the White House, in a red house, and sadly not with Bernhard Greenhouse. However, Reachhard Yankee Jew, has performed with luminaries as diverse as Larry Adler, Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, Yoko Ono, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Gershwin (after Gershwin's death), Arturo Toscanini (with a Music Minus One CD), and Nicolo Paganini (during a dream which then changed into a scene from an Indiana Jones Movie, as dreams do).

Hyung-ki has small hands and therefore finds some piano repertoire quite difficult to play, such as the music of Rachmaninov, who had Big Hands, (HK:"BUT ONLY HANDS SMALL!"). Anyway, even with this small hindrance, he loves to perform chamber music with fellow artists such as Renaud Capucon, Thomas Carroll, Michael Collins, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, and Julian Rachlin, and happily performs recitals and also concertos with orchestras that include the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Warsaw Sinfonia, and the "Con-fessional" Orchestra. He also has a passion for teaching and has taught at institutions that include the Yehudi Menuhin School and Guildhall School of Music, although his passion does sometimes lead to screaming in an unintelligible language.

Hyzjxiiung%key's other achievements include: unofficial world record for "Fastest Tooth-brusher", watching the movie "Mission Impossible" 8 times in a row within 23 hours, and possessing a spectrum of over 500 different types of laughter which he hopes to record one day for a famous recording company.

"Stunning to hear in concert- he is a virtuoso" PAUL SIMON