Secondhand Serenade began as a project by lone musician John Vesely and has remained a project inspired the heart and soul of the Menlo Park, California native. The sale of Secondhand Serenade tickets is as surprising and appreciated by Vesely as the fact people searched out his debut album online and purchased it through Paypal.

Vesely always had an interest in music. His father played jazz professionally, so the transition to music seemed quite natural. He played in bands that ran the gamut of music genres in high school, but only considered a real career in music at the behest of his wife, who wished to be serenaded. Thus Secondhand Serenade came to be. He began to play professionally, recording and releasing the debut album, Awake, online.

Eventually online distributor TuneCore put the album on iTunes. The impressive sales led to a deal with Glassnote Records, a subsidiary label disturbed through Warner's Independent Label Group. The new label re-released the debut album in 2007 and peaked at Number 164 on the Billboard 200. His appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, You Hear It First (MTV), Breakers (AOL Music), and Who's Next (Yahoo! Music) helped launch his career.