SUMMER 2008: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour Report

The new release & first ever JV Dutch ensemble were warmly received by our friends in the Netherlands---special thanks to Maria, Andree & Debby, Ben, Matthijs, Niek, Koos & Xenia, to the venues, to our new friends we made in in Holland this trip & old friends who continue to come to our shows over there. (JV Holland Tour #6) That was fun! Proost!

JOHN VESTER: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour Nijega 5/3/08: Featuring Andree Manusama on dobro & pedal steel guitar & Ben Bouman on harmonica

MARCH 2008: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour dates

Sat. April 19, 2008 8:00 p.m. Moluks Historisch Museum Sedjarah Maluku (Moluccan History Museum Theater) Kruisstraat 313, 3581 GK UTRECHT www.museum-maluku.nl tickets E. 15,00 for reservations email to: bluewindow@live.nl Thurs. Apr. 24, 2008 9:00 p.m. De Harmonie Voorhaven 92-94, 1135 BT EDAM www.harmonie-edam.nl tickets E. 15,00 for reservations email to: info@harmonie-edam.nl or call: 0299-371664 Sat. Apr. 26, 2008 7:00 p.m. Houseboat Concert in BEEMSTER tickets E. 25,00 (including dinner, drinks & concert) dinner 7:00 concert 8:00 (limited seating order soon!) for reservations email to: bluewindow@live.nl Fri. May 2, 2008 8:00 p.m. Kafee De Splinter Dominicanenstraat 6-8, 5911 KA VENLO www.kafeedesplinter.nl tickets E. 15,00 for reservations email to: mbaars13@hotmail.com or call: 077-3516029 sat. may 3rd 8:00 p.m. Kommissiehuys Kommisjewei 1, 9712 RL NIJEGA www.kommissiehuys.nl tickets E. 15,00 for reservations email: info@kommissiehuys.nl or noravisser7@hotmail.com or call: 0512-372972/ 06-46212207

APRIL 2008: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour

John Vester will return to Holland in april 2008 for his next solo concert tour in support of his new release: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST In addition to his 4 previous solo tours since 2002, John also toured Holland in 2003 with his friends in the band Venice & in 2005 with the John Vester Mark Lennon duo tour The John Vester concerts during the upcoming ALL THE WAY OUT WEST tour will feature songs from his new release, along with a colorful mix of songs from his previous releases, songs co-written with Venice, & some very new works in progress Some shows on the tour will be solo guitar/vocal & on some shows John will be accompanied by Andree Manusama on dobro & or Tollak Ollestad on harmonica Thanks in advance to all my friends in Holland for coming to my concerts in april/may 2008 at the venues listed below -- I look forward to seeing you all again -- & playing my new (& old) songs for you! Proost!: jv

MARCH 2008: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Release Concert

ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Release Concert Featuring special guests Michael, Mark, Kipp & Pat Lennon, Rich Mangicaro, Mark Harris, Carl Byron & Stan Behrens Sun. 3/30/08 7:00 p.m. McCabes 3101 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca. 90405 Tickets available at McCabes or by phone (310) 828-4497 or online at www.mccabes.com Celebrating the 3/30/08 release date of John Vester's best work to date ALL THE WAY OUT WEST. Playing with good friends who played on the record at one of the coolest venues in the world! We'll play songs on the new record, dust off some chestnuts, & reveal some very new works in progress This will be a fun show! The best JV concert ever! & The Release Concert at McCabes is the send-off to the upcoming ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour apr. 16th-may 6th 2008!

ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Release Concert at McCabes 3/30/08 The release concert at McCabes was even more fun than than Trilogy --- a really good band, best range of songs old & new, best gathering of friends & musicians, great sound at a great old venue, best JV concert to date---a great send-off to the upcoming ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Holland Tour (APRIL/MAY 2008). From left to right: Michael Lennon, Mark Harris, Mark Lennon, Rich Mangicaro, John Vester, Carl Byron, Kipp Lennon, Stan Behrens

FEBRUARY 2008: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Pre-Release Concert

ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Pre-Release Concert Featuring Special Guests Michael & Mark Lennon, Stan Behrens & Rich Mangicaro Sat. 2/23/08 8:00 p.m. Trilogy Guitars 143 Culver Blvd. Playa Del Rey, Ca. 90293 For tickets/info contact Ryan at Trilogy either by phone (310) 305-7577 or by e-mail at ryan@trilogyguitars.com This promises to be a special evening of introducing new songs on the 2008 John Vester release ALL THE WAY OUT WEST. Produced by Michael Lennon & John Vester. We'll dust off some old chestnuts --- and we'll debut some very new works in progress. Trilogy Guitars is a beautiful, intimate (60 max), triangular, great sounding venue that will sell out quickly - call/email for tickets now!

ALL THE WAY OUT WEST Pre-Release Concert at Trilogy Guitars Playa Del Rey, Ca. 2/23/08 John Vester with Michael, Mark, Kipp & Pat Lennon (not pictured: Rich Mangicaro & Stan Behrens). On a very rainy saturday night in Playa Del Rey---jv doesn't look happy in this shot---but he is: his lifetime favorite concert so far

JANUARY 2008: NOVATUNES LAUNCHED!

The cool new label that John Vester has signed with NOVATUNES officially launched 1/14/08. Go to: novatunes.com & click on John's photo in artist directory (pg. 3) to get to his artist pages at the label. You can do that without signing up. Sign up at novatunes to download the new DP (digital version) of ALL THE WAY OUT WEST!

JANUARY 2008: VESTERTUNES!

As of January 2008 the sign up for VESTERTUNES email list is now working again. Please sign up by clicking the VESTERTUNES icon to the right. You will then receive an automatic response requesting to send your e address to VESTERTUNES to be notified of upcoming concerts, releases, and news.

DECEMBER 2007: ALL THE WAY OUT WEST NOW AVAILABLE!

Advance copies of John Vester's 4th solo release now available at STORE -- prior to official release date TBA!

AUGUST 2007 - ILLUSTRATIONS FOR NEXT CD COMPLETED (MIXING IN PROGRESS)

Originals of illustrated lyrics and paintings for CDs #2 and 3 (plus several Venice songs) -- 8/5/07

w/originals of hand printed lyrics w/watercolor pen and ink illustrations for The Devil's Playground

JUNE 2007 RECORDING NEXT CD COMPLETED

Recording Pat, Kipp & Michael Lennon - night session 6/19/07. Work in progress: All The Way Out West (Fittingly---all 4 Lennons in the band Venice lend their voices to this new snappy little tune about Venice, Ca. USA --- & give it a rousing hometown chorus!). Thanks again to Michael, Mark, Kipp & Pat---Great to have all 4 of you on this record!

After a long, late night session of getting quick mixes of all 14 work tracks 6/27/07. On 1 CD for the first time---John Vester & Michael Lennon toast to: the next John Vester CD: THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND RECORDING: COMPLETED! w/a few fixes before beginning to mix in july when Michael returns from the road w/Venice)

VENICE FEST 6/24

Venice Fest 6/24/07 John Vester & Friends (left to right): Mark Lennon (vocal), John Vester (guitar, vocal), Stan Behrens (harmonica), Carl Byron (accordion) live debut of 4 new songs on the next JVCD		John Vester merchandise available at Venice Fest left of Venice The Band merch): 3 solo JVCDs (#4 soon!)/JVML DVD/CD (PAL format only!)/JVML promo CD/ JVCD art prints (nice Venice merch girl in photo: Amber)---thanks Amber1
Joined onstage by members of the band Venice---to debut the new John Vester song about his hometown of 20 years---Venice, Ca, USA: All The Way Out West It was a fitting song for the occasion & location of the The Venice Fest & lighting of the new Venice sign over Windward Ave.---left to right: Pat Lennon (vocal); Kipp Lennon (vocal); Michael Lennon (drums!?!); Mark Lennon (vocal); Mark Harris (bass); John Vester (guitar/vocal); Stan Behrens harmonica); Carl Byron (accordion)

SUNDAY JUNE 24th 2007:

Venice Fest Free outdoor concert in downtown Venice, Ca. stage at Windward & Ocean Front Walk. Short set at 5:00 p.m. before Mark Lennon w/Brig Band at 5:20 then Venice at 6:30

MAY 2007 RECORDING NEXT CD CONTINUES:

Recording the amazing Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and dobro, 5/8/07. Work in progress: Lucky You

MARCH 2007 - Recording Next CD with Michael Lennon

2/27/07: Happy to be working w/Michael Lennon again who is co-producing The Devil's Playground And introducing our new 'little friend': Tacoma 12 string papoose

2/27/07: Work in progress - I Don't Want To Say Good-bye Michael Lennon is great to work with - a serious, no nonsense, nose to the grindstone co-producer who doesn't monkey around in the studio.

For his work with the band Venice on their cd:

Venice: 2 Meter Sessies (Universal) John Vester wrote one song---co-wrote 4 songs w/Venice & plays guitar on 2 tracks on the cd

Thanks very much to my good friends Michael, Mark, Kipp & Pat Lennon, the Band Venice & to their Mgr. Marcel Albers for my first gold record award which now hangs proudly on my wall & Special Thanks to Maria for delivering the gold record in person all the way from Holland to Venice--- it's heavy!

John Vester

"Featuring first ever series of John Vester concerts in Austin, Texas:

Dutch tour finished successfully

[Friday, Juni 18 2004] John Vester successfully finshed his tour for the promotion of his new CD in Holland. Below you'll find photos of this tour. Click on the photos to enlarge.

John in The Netherlands

[Friday, May 31 2004] John Vester has arrived in The Netherlands for the promotion of his new CD.

"Very Exciting", says John, who has been to Amsterdam before, many years ago. Yesterday (Saturday) John and some friends checked out Amsterdam all day and a great part of the night. "We had a great time", says John. "Many things changed, but the atmosphere is still the same. You get a great feeling of freedom in that city..."

Tonight (Sunday) he will do his first show in The Netherlands at The Troubadour in Hardenberg.

You can find more information about the dates and details on the venues on our tourdates page. Click here to go there.

Sign up for John's mailing list 'VesterTunes'in order to receive last-minute information about tourdates and other interesting Vester news.

'Happy Holidays' from John Vester
(and a very special XMas gift for you all...)

[Wednesday, December 24 2003]

On behalf of John Vester himself we wish you all happy holidays... If you're on the VesterTunes mailinglist, you will probably have received John's personal message by e-mail.

John has big plans for the new year that's almost here. At any case there will of course be a new CD, the long awaited 'Road To Where You Are'... Early january he will go into the studio again with Michael Lennon, to record a couple of tracks that were still missing on the wish list. Also they will add additional instruments on previously recorded tracks.

If all goes well, the third 'John Vester Tour of Holland' will take place around May or June...

For now: download John's very special XMas-present for you: a free mp3 of the prolific song 'John Christ', recorded live at the Crossroads Radioshow in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands, on January 9, 2003! Click the link below to download the song!

Download Jim Christ

[Tuesday, December 17 2002]

John Vester will do some shows in The Netherlands again. He accompanies his friends of the band Venice on their trip to the lowlands by the sea for their traditional Christmas Holiday Shows. But with one big difference: John will stay a week longer to do four solo shows in 2003!.

Of course John will be at the Venice shows (and who knows he may even play a tune with them), but more important are his own shows: he's eager to let you hear the new material he's written the last couple of months.

Of course he hopes to see his Dutch fans at the Venice shows and at the fanmeeting in Hardenberg. Starting on January 8, he will do four shows in Enschede, Bergen op Zoom, Nijega and Arnhem. There may be one more show, possibly in Amsterdam, but seating will be limited. See the Dates Page for more information of dates and venues.

Apart from this, other good news is that John's first CD "My Heart Is In Your Hand", which was out of print for some time, will be available at the Venice shows, as well as at the solo-performances. And if you don't have "Half A World Away" yet, you can get that one also at the merchandise stands...

'Vester Unplugged in Holland' project:
sign up for "VesterTunes" to learn more!

[Sunday, June 30 2002] During his trip in The Netherlands John Vester recorded twelve songs at the Murekla Studios in Alphen aan den Rijn, or as John called this city: "Alphen in the Rain"... These recordings will be made available for download in MP3-format in the upcoming weeks.

There are some simple "terms and conditions" for everyone who wants to download these songs and - if you have them all - burn them on a CD. You can read about that in John's email newsletter "VesterTunes". If you did not yet sign up for "VesterTunes", please do so: there's no other way you will be able to join the project.

Every week we will upload two wonderfull MP3's. We will let you know where you have to go to download these files through "Vester Tunes". The songs recorded at the Murekla studios were:

1. Against The Wall
2. Grateful For The Rain
3. Genius Of The Heart
4. Last Of The Red Hot Lovers
5. Where Is My Woman
6. Happy Landings
7. Life Is So Short
8. We're Still Here
9. Little Boy Blew
10. The Right One
11. White Trash Paradise
12. When I get Over You

We will add two more songs that were recorded live and unplugged in The Netherlands:

13. Keep The Homefires Burning
14. The Family Tree

Later this week all subscribers will receive a VesterTunes edition with more information. Click the button on the homepage to sign up.

John with Axel and Arjan of the Murekla studios after the recording session.

Vester Returns to The Netherlands: four solo shows in January 2003.

John Vester joins Michael Lennon at recording studio in Bahamas

[Saturday, June 29 2002] John Vester travelled to the Bahamas yesterday with Michael Lennon's wife Danielle. He was invited to come over to join Michael and Mark Lennon who are still working with producer Terry Manning on the new Venice CD at the Compass Point Studios, near Nassau in the Bahamas.

John: " We narrowly made it through both overbooked stand-by situations with Danielle, but we're finally here with Michael & Mark in this beautiful tropic island paradise. Yoday is a day off, so the four of us spent the first part of today at the amazing white sand beach across the street from the studio, swimming in the warm, crystal clear turquoise blue water under the hot sun with gentle tropic breezes. Tonight we'll go take a look at Nassau and mixing begins tomorrow".

Dutch mini-tour finished successfully

[Wednesday, June 11 2002] After a succesfull mini-tour of the Netherlands, John flew back to the United States on Tuesday. It was hard for him to go: he loved the country, the atmosphere and the audience. The enthousiastic reactions to his performances were ecouraging: John will certainly come back to The Netherlands.

After recording the Two Meter Session, last Friday, John headed to the northern part of The Netherlands, to the village of Nijega in the province of Friesland. He performed at the Gallery 't Kommissiehuys, a beautiful old inn, that was filled with music lovers.

John before his show at the gallery in Nijega, with owner Joke Vroegop and her husband.

Saturday, June 8, John performed in 'Onder De Toren' (Below The Tower) in Terborg. He was accompanied by guitarplayer Michael Geurtzen of the band Boogie Trap. Sunday John played at 'Down Under' in Doetinchem, where he was also joined by Michael.

John in 'Twee Meter Sessies'

[Friday, June 7 2002] This afternoon John Vester will be in Hilversum (the Dutch Radio & TV-City) to tape a Two Meter Session. John was invited by Jan Douwe Kroeske, who was also responsible for the Venice Two Meter Sessions.

Jan Douwe met John for the first time when the TV team was in California for a "Venice TV Special."

Earlier this week, last Tuesday, John recorded twelve songs at the Murekla studio's. These songs will be made available for download at this site in the near future. Sign up for the John Vester email newsletter "VesterTunes" for more information about these high quality MP3's.

John Vester performing at the BRTO studio's in Bergen op Zoom.

Yesterday (Thursday night) a radio show was recorded at the BRTO-studio's in Bergen op Zoom. This show, including an interview will also be made available through this website, after it is broadcasted. We will let you know more soon about this.

Great show at De Waag in Amsterdam

[Wednesday, June 5 2002] About 40 people attended the invitation only Vester show at De Waag in the center of Amsterdam. De Waag is one of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam. The show was in the "Theatrum Anatomicum", a beautiful round room in the top of the building. At that very same location the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt painted his "Anatomical Lesson."

John played two sets for a quiet, but enthousiastic audience. And some funny things happened during the show... You can find a couple of reviews at the review page. Click here to go there.

First Show in Hardenberg

[Monday, June 3 2002] John Vester did his first ever gig in The Netherlands at The Troubadour in Hardenberg last Sunday (June 2). About 70 people attended the show. Many of them fans of the band Venice, who knew John at least by name, because of the songs he wrote and co-wrote. But it must have been somewhat unclear for them what to expect.

John performing at The Troubadour in Hardenberg. It was a perfect start for his promotion tour of Holland.

But after the first song they knew: here was a guy who could sing and play. John did two sets and kept close attention from start to end. And everbody bought at least one copy of the "Half A World Away" CD. The last copies of John's first CD "My Heart Is In Your Hands" sold out at the spot.

Several fans wrote reviews of which we took the liberty to publish them at our our first Review & Photo Page. Click here to take a look...

You can find more information about the dates and details on the venues on our tourdates page. Click here to go there.

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