Singer/songwriter John Vester lives in Venice Beach, California. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he started playing in bands when he was about 16 years old. He moved to California when we was in his twenties. He went to the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles, played in bands and soon started writing his own material. On this, his 4th solo album, Vespy sings an intriguing combination of country and pop sounding like a cross between Donovan and Paul Simon.
The 14 tracks feature a lively range of styles and instruments. There's an Indian flavour to 'Put Your Heart In A Song'; a Chinese mood to 'Night Becomes The Day' and even a hint of Hawain for the title track. But, as if to emphasise that this is not just another roots based project, there's also a song about e-love ('Blue Window') which is very much set in modern America.
The tracks are as carefully crafted as the sleeve design. In the CD booklet lyrics have been decorated, by Vespy himself using thematic icons for each song.
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Vespey's strength is in writing simple, though not simplistic. love songs like those with self explanatory titles like 'Please Don't Be So Sad' and 'I Don't Want To say Goodbye'.
The songs with jokier wordplay are less convincing . I wouldn't argue with the sentiment behind 'No Bone To Pick With Jesus', (a song about the need for religious tolerance), but lines like "no axe to grind with Allah/ Got no beef with Buddha" seem a bit forced.
The highs easily outweigh the lows however, and this is a warm-hearted set of unpretentious songs.
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