Life & Work with John Vester of Venice Beach, California

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Vester.

Hi John, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
JOHN VESTER

I’m a songwriter in Venice CA, I started playing in bands in my original hometown of Cincinnati in ’71, then hitch-hiked from Cincinnati to California &; back in the summer of ’76, then travelled in a complete circle around the world in ’77, then played music & lived in Key West for most of ’78,
then moved to LA in late ’78 (initially Topanga, then Van Nuys, then Brentwood, then Venice ’87-present 2026)

I attended THE GROVE SCHOOL OF MUSIC in Studio City ’79-’81 & played a lot in LA
& beyond in our fun trio JAZZ-BO with GROVE student friends Kate Markowitz (James Taylor)
& David Wood RIP ’79-late 80s

While studying songwriting & guitar at THE GROVE SCHOOL & living in Topanga in 1980
I happened to meet great songwriter Jim Webb at a party at the Topanga home of
Fred Tackett (Little Feat), I boldly & naively asked Jim the favor of critiquing
my songwriting works in progress at the time, he graciously invited me to his
(then) home in Encino for a number of songwriting critique sessions that mainly
amounted to him trashing the hell out of my work, but in very specific ways,
that was exactly what I was asking for, I learned a lot from it & I will always
look back fondly on those very helpful sessions with the great Jim Webb

Fronted a number of JOHN VESTER Bands in LA from late 80s-present
Released 4 solo JOHN VESTER Albums:
1. MY HEART IS IN YOUR HANDS 1998
2. HALF A WORLD AWAY 2002
3. THINGS I WISH I WOULD HAVE SAID 2004
4. ALL THE WAY OUT WEST 2008

(album covers shown in photos)

Many of my favorite players & vocalists appear on my albums
Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar/dobro/Nashville high strung guitar)
Sid Page (violin) Kate Markowitz (vocals) Valerie Carter (vocals)
Martin Tillman (cello) Carl Byron (accordion) Mark Harris (electric bass)
Joel Hamilton (acoustic bass) Alexis Sklarevski (electric bass) Stan Behrens (harmonica)
Scott Crago (drums) Eagles Matt Laug (drums) ACDC
Steve McCormick (electric guitar) Dr. Osamu Kitajima (koto)
The Band VENICE (vocals) Michael Lennon co-producer (vocals/multi instrumentalist)
& more…

Co-wrote songs on all original music albums by the band VENICE
’97-present, including European Gold Record VENICE: 2 METER SESSIES
wrote/co-wrote 5 songs on the album DAVID CROSBY & JACKSON BROWN
appear on the record (Gold Record shown in photos)

In 2007 I worked with David Crosby RIP on a Croz Songbook Project
at his home in Santa Ynez CA, I learned all about his alternate guitar tunings
& chord forms he used to negotiate the tunings & where his song ideas
came from & David told us many great stories
(unfortunately that Croz Songbook Project still not completed so far)

In recent years I co-wrote songs for THIS IS NOT A DRILL a Musical Theater
production that opened at The York Theater in NYC in 2025

THE FAMILY TREE, a song I co-wrote with my friends in the band Venice
to bring comfort at the sad time of the passing of a loved one, inspired
a children’s book THE FAMILY TREE Will Always Grow (to help children cope
with the passing of a loved one) released in 2025

I have also done a lot of work as a vocalist on commercials, including
lead vocal on Bridgestone TIRES UK commercial for MASSIVE MUSIC
Amsterdam that played all over Europe for a number of years & most
recently I sang on a commercial that aired on Super Bowl 2026

My friend Pietro Manca referred me to voyageLA re: your hidden gems series, in 2025 Pietro created his HEAR US NOW MUSIC live music series THE PARKING LOT CONCERTS
at 2400 Main Street Santa Monica. I played a residency at Pietro’s series every 2 weeks in 2025, revealing new songs & telling stories, sometimes solo, sometimes with friends like Mark Lennon
of the band Venice, Stan Behrens (world class harmonica player WAR/CANNED HEAT)
& more…along with the other acts who played the weekly series, we helped to develop
a following for this venue, that is also a bit of a hidden gem
(we’ll play Pietro’s series again in 2026 may-october)

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were many ups & downs along the way, here’s a few:

1. The world’s best drummer in my opinion, Jim Gordon played with our band in LA in ’82-’83 then something awful happened in ’83 (google)
2. My first album was recorded in ’96 but was never released due to a bad falling out with co-producer…
3. In ’83 I had a signed publishing deal with Kenny Rogers Lion Share Music
in West Hollywood, shortly after signing, Kenny pulled up stakes in LA
& moved to Atlanta, ending my deal with them
4. My ex & great vocalist Robin Wiley had great success after she moved out of my place in Venice in ’91, she moved to Orlando & worked for Disney as vocal coach for mouseketeers back then,
Justin & nsync guys, Christina, Britney, Ryan Tedder & more…a song Robin wrote about our breakup,
I THOUGHT HE KNEW was recorded by nsync I THOUGHT SHE KNEW on their first album
Robin also produced that track & wrote & produced a song on the 2nd nsync album, she made
millions & bought a beautiful house overlooking Nashville, we stayed in touch & she invited me to play at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville in 2005, it was very fun but Robin wasn’t feeling well…6 months later she passed from cancer at 45

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In addition to my work as a songwriter, I’m also a graphic designer my design work is included on my albums, also featured on many
storefronts in Venice, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey & beyond
also, I’ve been teaching guitar in LA since 1980, including teaching the
guitar programs at Santa Monica High & Olympic High 2003-2017
also I’m working on a book of true short stories from my life called
COINCIDENCES, when on tour in Europe I was kiddingly called
Renaissance Dude…Songwriting is still my very favorite thing to do

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I have many so it’s hard to choose, but here’s one:

When I was 5, I broke my right elbow, it was very painful
because it hurt so badly that I couldn’t sleep, Dad let me
stay up all night with him listening to late 50s folk…
mainly The Kingston Trio, something about these guys
playing Martin guitars in California back then hit me hard
at that early age pre Beatles

Contact Info:

• Website: johnvester.com
• Facebook: johnvester

Image Credits
David Crosby John Vester photo by permission
Steven F. Heuer 2007 @steven_heuer