Post by jjnaz on May 15, 2008 21:57:14 GMT -5
This is the thread for general chat and discussion on Gavin!
I'll start by including his bio and other general info...
Genre: Rock/Pop/Soul
Hometown: South Fallsburg, New York
Birthdate: February 4, 1977 (Age 31)
Record Label: J Records
Influences: Joey DeGraw, Billy Joel, Sam Cooke, John Cale, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty, The Allman Brothers Band, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Don Maclean, Sly and the Family Stone, The Beatles.
BIOGRAPHY:
Gavin DeGraw is a talent, who in just a few short years has become one of today's premier singer-songwriters. He's done it the old-fashioned way, on the merits of his creative abilities, perseverance and a healthy, homegrown perspective, establishing himself as a magnetic, new voice in music. Now, Gavin DeGraw adds a new chapter to his celebrated narrative with the release of his second studio album, the self-titled, Gavin DeGraw.
DeGraw broke through in 2003, with the release of his debut album, Chariot, which awakened music fans across the country to a charismatic, vibrant young artist who connected with audiences in a way other contemporary musicians did not. Selling over a million copies and earning platinum certification, Chariot yielded three hit singles – I Don't Want To Be, Follow Through, and the title-track, Chariot. But it wasn’t just the numbers that confirmed DeGraw's popularity. The song, I Don't Want To Be, was chosen as the theme song for the hit TV show, "One Tree Hill." DeGraw has toured tirelessly, selling out to bigger and bigger audiences every time around.
Gavin DeGraw is a collection of impassioned, emotionally resonant songs about the joys and rigors of love and life. The temptation for anyone who has experienced early success is to mimic that formula for success. But in recording his second album, DeGraw resisted. Instead, he made the bold creative choice to give the album a decidedly more rock-oriented sound, which was rendered with the help of famed producer, Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry, Motörhead). DeGraw wrote all of the album's songs, played guitar and piano throughout, and helped in the songs' arrangements.
"My first main love of music was classic rock, and that's always remained my foundation," explains DeGraw, who trained at the Berklee School of Music, before leaving to pursue his music career. "I felt like I had satisfied a lot of the sweeter stuff on my first record, and I want the Yin and Yang of it. I wanted to put a little more edge on it this time."
Gavin DeGraw may have more of a rock flavor but it isn't a hard-rock album. It still reflects DeGraw's musical ability to photograph feelings and emotions and deliver it poetically to his audience. Part of DeGraw's appeal is the way he submits to those emotions in his songwriting, and it's one of the reasons why fans love him: his music is the soundtrack to their lives. "I'm so appreciative of the way my fans are with me," he says. "It's funny because when I used to play in bars when I was younger, it would bug me sometimes if people would sing along. Then I thought to myself, 'What?!?' That's when you know they appreciate what you’re doing so much, they’re willing to sacrifice their own self-consciousness to be in it with you. That's a great thing."
It was at the request of his fans that DeGraw, in 2004, would record a stripped-down, acoustic version of his major label debut – entitled Chariot Stripped – which would endear himself even more to his fans.
DeGraw wrote his new album over the course of a year, beginning in the winter of 2006. He would write many of the songs on his guitar but also on his piano, which only adds to his versatility as a frontman. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, with Benson, who DeGraw felt could help him bring his rock ambitions to life. "For me, a good producer is someone you trust is going to get what you're looking for out of a record. If you say, I want this to sound like a fuzzy red ball, a good producer will say, 'I know what that sounds like' – and that's Howard."
With this new album, DeGraw hopes to continue the success he's had and, more importantly, continue to connect with his ever-growing audience. "The most challenging part of songwriting for me, and the part that I find the most fun, is trying to write in a way that is personal to me, but also is personal to the audience," he says. "You want people to hear a song and say, 'You know, I feel like I know what he's going through.' To me, that's the art – not just writing something, not just writing something personal, but writing something personal that people can feel." Gavin DeGraw is just that kind of album.
Gavin with his parents Wayne and Lynne and his older brother Joey (who is also a musician):
Sources:
www.gavindegraw.com/
www.myspace.com/gavindegraw
www.facebook.com/pages/Gavin-DeGraw/8066814782
I'll start by including his bio and other general info...
Genre: Rock/Pop/Soul
Hometown: South Fallsburg, New York
Birthdate: February 4, 1977 (Age 31)
Record Label: J Records
Influences: Joey DeGraw, Billy Joel, Sam Cooke, John Cale, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty, The Allman Brothers Band, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Don Maclean, Sly and the Family Stone, The Beatles.
BIOGRAPHY:
Gavin DeGraw is a talent, who in just a few short years has become one of today's premier singer-songwriters. He's done it the old-fashioned way, on the merits of his creative abilities, perseverance and a healthy, homegrown perspective, establishing himself as a magnetic, new voice in music. Now, Gavin DeGraw adds a new chapter to his celebrated narrative with the release of his second studio album, the self-titled, Gavin DeGraw.
DeGraw broke through in 2003, with the release of his debut album, Chariot, which awakened music fans across the country to a charismatic, vibrant young artist who connected with audiences in a way other contemporary musicians did not. Selling over a million copies and earning platinum certification, Chariot yielded three hit singles – I Don't Want To Be, Follow Through, and the title-track, Chariot. But it wasn’t just the numbers that confirmed DeGraw's popularity. The song, I Don't Want To Be, was chosen as the theme song for the hit TV show, "One Tree Hill." DeGraw has toured tirelessly, selling out to bigger and bigger audiences every time around.
Gavin DeGraw is a collection of impassioned, emotionally resonant songs about the joys and rigors of love and life. The temptation for anyone who has experienced early success is to mimic that formula for success. But in recording his second album, DeGraw resisted. Instead, he made the bold creative choice to give the album a decidedly more rock-oriented sound, which was rendered with the help of famed producer, Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry, Motörhead). DeGraw wrote all of the album's songs, played guitar and piano throughout, and helped in the songs' arrangements.
"My first main love of music was classic rock, and that's always remained my foundation," explains DeGraw, who trained at the Berklee School of Music, before leaving to pursue his music career. "I felt like I had satisfied a lot of the sweeter stuff on my first record, and I want the Yin and Yang of it. I wanted to put a little more edge on it this time."
Gavin DeGraw may have more of a rock flavor but it isn't a hard-rock album. It still reflects DeGraw's musical ability to photograph feelings and emotions and deliver it poetically to his audience. Part of DeGraw's appeal is the way he submits to those emotions in his songwriting, and it's one of the reasons why fans love him: his music is the soundtrack to their lives. "I'm so appreciative of the way my fans are with me," he says. "It's funny because when I used to play in bars when I was younger, it would bug me sometimes if people would sing along. Then I thought to myself, 'What?!?' That's when you know they appreciate what you’re doing so much, they’re willing to sacrifice their own self-consciousness to be in it with you. That's a great thing."
It was at the request of his fans that DeGraw, in 2004, would record a stripped-down, acoustic version of his major label debut – entitled Chariot Stripped – which would endear himself even more to his fans.
DeGraw wrote his new album over the course of a year, beginning in the winter of 2006. He would write many of the songs on his guitar but also on his piano, which only adds to his versatility as a frontman. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, with Benson, who DeGraw felt could help him bring his rock ambitions to life. "For me, a good producer is someone you trust is going to get what you're looking for out of a record. If you say, I want this to sound like a fuzzy red ball, a good producer will say, 'I know what that sounds like' – and that's Howard."
With this new album, DeGraw hopes to continue the success he's had and, more importantly, continue to connect with his ever-growing audience. "The most challenging part of songwriting for me, and the part that I find the most fun, is trying to write in a way that is personal to me, but also is personal to the audience," he says. "You want people to hear a song and say, 'You know, I feel like I know what he's going through.' To me, that's the art – not just writing something, not just writing something personal, but writing something personal that people can feel." Gavin DeGraw is just that kind of album.
Gavin with his parents Wayne and Lynne and his older brother Joey (who is also a musician):
Sources:
www.gavindegraw.com/
www.myspace.com/gavindegraw
www.facebook.com/pages/Gavin-DeGraw/8066814782