Gavin DeGraw

This article is about the singer. For the singer's self-titled album, see Gavin DeGraw (album).

Gavin DeGraw
DeGraw on a promotional tour at Radio Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland, June 9, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Gavin Shane DeGraw
Born	February 4, 1977 (1977-02-04) South Fallsburg, New York, United States
Genres	Blue-eyed soul, pop rock, rock
Occupations	Musician and singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	2001–Present
Labels	RCA Records
Website	gavindegraw.com

Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is known for his songs "Chariot", "Follow Through", "I Don't Want to Be" (which has been featured as the theme song for the television drama series, One Tree Hill since 2003), "In Love with a Girl", and "Not Over You".

Early life

DeGraw grew up in the Catskills in South Fallsburg, New York. His father was a prison guard and his mother was a detox specialist, which he mentions in his song "I Don't Want to Be" . He is mostly of Russian and Irish ancestry. DeGraw began singing and playing piano at the age of eight. He also has two siblings, both older, named Neeka and Joey (born August 1973). It was at his brother's advice that he began writing his own songs. Joey DeGraw is a musician as well, currently touring to promote his own music.

Career

Gavin DeGraw rose to fame in 2003 when "I Don't Want to Be" was chosen as the theme song for teen drama One Tree Hill. The song has also been performed on American Idol and Idol Sweden by various contestants during different seasons.

DeGraw released his debut album, Chariot on July 22, 2003 under J Records. Chariot was recorded at Los Angeles' music studios, Sunset Sound and produced by Mark Endert. Chariot sold over a million copies and earned platinum certification. The album also featured three of DeGraw's singles: "I Don’t Want To Be", "Follow Through" and "Chariot". He then went on to release an acoustic version of the album called Chariot Stripped in 2004. Chariot Stripped contains a cover version of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come".

DeGraw performing in Georgia in 2005

DeGraw's second album, self-titled Gavin DeGraw was released on May 6, 2008. The first single, "In Love with a Girl" was released on February 12, 2008. The second U.S. single "Cheated On Me" was released in the US on September 30, 2008. This was followed by the Live From Soho album, released on Nov 7 2008, featuring mostly tracks from Gavin DeGraw. Gavin DeGraw debuted at No. 1 on the digital sales chart and ranked at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.

Gavin Degraw's third album, Free was released March 31, 2009. DeGraw made Free in less than two weeks at the Brooklyn studio of his producer Camus Celli. DeGraw included some songs on the album that he wrote very early in his career and that have evolved over time, songs such as "Dancing Shoes" and "Glass". The debut single from the album, "Stay", was released on March 11, 2009. FREE has been described as "recorded versions of his live favourites".

DeGraw's fourth, and most recent album, Sweeter was set to release on August 9, 2011 but got pushed back to September 20, 2011. The album features many tracks co-written with other artists. The first single "Not Over You" was released on iTunes in June. The track was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder and was said to be inspired by Kyle Craig. "Not Over You" is his first song to reach the top spot on the Adult Pop Songs. Sweeter contains collaborations from producers including Butch Walker, Eric Rosse, and Ron Aniello; alongside another co-written title track, "Sweeter" with Andrew Frampton. The album was recorded in many locations including Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Walker’s Space in Venice and the Henson Recording Studios.

Sweeter is DeGraw's first album released under RCA Records, all three of his previous albums were released under J Records. DeGraw went on to release an acoustic album based mostly on songs from Sweeter. The iTunes Session album features seven tracks and a 30 minute interview.

Appearances

Alongside DeGraw's musical career he has also performed on multiple TV shows and his songs can be heard across TV and film.

TV Appearances

DeGraw made his first TV appearance on Real Magic TV. He then went on to appear on: The Sharon Osbourne Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, American Dreams, Total Request Live and Rove Live. During Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2004, DeGraw is credited as a performer. After this, he was seen on What I Like About You alongside Dutch TV shows Barend & Van Dorp and Clement Behrendt Kjersgaard. DeGraw performed "I Don't Want to Be" during the 2005 Radio Music Awards. He was also a musical guest on The VIP, Jensen!, New York 360º and Entertainment Tonight. DeGraw has appeared on multiple episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live! with Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly, performing tracks from whichever album he was promoting. DeGraw is credited as a presenter for the 2011 American Music Awards and can mostly be seen presenting footage from backstage. Most recently he appeared during an episode of Conan that was aired 9 January 2012.

Soundtrack credits

DeGraw's songs have been played on twelve different titles across both TV and film.

"Follow Through" was part of the soundtrack for 2004 film Laws of Attraction and an episode of Scrubs called My Self-Examination aired on 27 April 2004. The song has also been featured on One Tree Hill and on British and Italian TV advertisements for Carte D'or.

"Chariot" features as an uncredited part of the soundtrack for American-Canadian TV series Dead Like Me. The song features in a 2004 episode called Always and is portrayed by DeGraw himself. DeGraw plays a non-recurring small role as street singer, Pete Anderson. The song also features on TV series Boston Legal in a 2006 episode named Helping Hands, it is played during Denise and Daniel's dinner. The song can also be heard during a 2007 episode of Cold Case called Knuckle Up.

His song "We Belong Together" was also featured in the 2006 film Tristan and Isolde.

DeGraw has performed a cover of Smokey Robinson's love ballad, "The Tracks of My Tears", which is played during Chaos Theory, an episode of The Cleaner aired on August 5 2008.

During a Christmas special of TV series House, called "Joy to the World", a cover of The Christmas Song is played, the cover was performed by DeGraw.

TV dance competition and reality show So You Think You Can Dance utilise three of DeGraw's tracks across four shows and also features a cover performed by DeGraw. "Belief", "More Then Anyone" and "We Belong Together" are used as background tracks across the 2006, 2008 and 2009 series' respectively. During the first part of the 2007 finale, a cover of "We Are the Champions", performed by DeGraw, is used.

DeGraw's songs are contained in the soundtracks of eleven episodes of One Tree Hill. Throughout he is uncredited, however tracks such as "Belief", "More Than Anyone", "Chariot", "We Belong Together" and "Jealous Guy" all feature in the show. During the second season of the show, an unreleased live version of "Chariot" is played during the episode "Something I Can Never Have".

During a special of TV show, The Bachelor, called The Bachelor: Jason & Molly's Wedding, DeGraw's song "Follow Through" is played.

Acting credits

He has appeared in an on-screen role in two One Tree Hill episodes. His first appearance was in 2004, during You Gotta Go There to Come Back; he was seen singing "I Don't Want to Be" and "Chariot" at Karen's Cafe. His second appearance was at the beginning of 2008 episode, What Comes After the Blues where he was seen singing "I Don't Want to Be" with Jackson Brundage.

Other

DeGraw has released a number of music videos as well, including "I Don't Want to Be", "Follow Through" and "Chariot". The latter was directed by Zach Braff, who also directed music videos for Joshua Radin.

DeGraw's song "More Than Anyone" was selected by fans of One Tree Hill through a Cingular Wireless contest as the first wedding dance song for Nathan & Haley in the 3rd season finale "The Show Must Go On."

At the Des Moines Arts Festival on 27 June 2009

He and his brother opened The National Underground in December 2007, a New York City music venue that is a roots rock Americana music bar located in Manhattan's Lower East Side, at 159 East Houston Street between Allen Street and Eldridge Street. The venue offers music, food, and drink. The idea for the venue came about because the brothers wanted a place where they could hang out on a regular basis, and where other musicians could come in and listen and learn. "We were picky about the quality of musicians that played there," Gavin DeGraw says. "We wanted a place where the players were so good, other musicians were like, 'Wow! I really respect what they're doing.'"

Personal life

On August 8, 2011, DeGraw was hospitalized after being assaulted by several people in New York City. Police said a group of men attacked DeGraw early Sunday morning at 6th Street and First Avenue in the East Village, near The National Underground. He suffered a broken nose, a concussion, two black eyes and lacerations to his face. Only minutes after the attack, DeGraw was then struck by a taxi. He was admitted to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center for treatment. He had to cancel his scheduled August 9 performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, located in Saratoga, New York.

DeGraw has said that his ultimate goal is "to leave this world a better person, and for me to not be the only one who knows it."

Band members

Current

Billy Norris – guitar, background vocals (since 2009) Ian O'Neill – drums, background vocals (since 2011)

Tony Tino – bass (since 2009) Jimmy Wallace – keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals (2007–2008, since 2011)

Previous

Johnny "Tsunami" Andrews – guitar, background vocals Joey DeGraw – guitar, background vocals Brian Dennis – guitar, background vocals Matt Flynn – drums Jose Barrera – Guitar and musical composition Joey "Coach" Hanna – drums, background vocals

Rodney Howard – drums Whynot Jansveld – bass, background vocals Alvin Moody – bass, background vocals Casey Twist – bass, background vocals Jimmy Wallace – organ, keyboards, background vocals

Discography

Studio

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions									Certifications (sales thresholds)
		US	CAN	DEN	NED	FIN	ITA	SWI	SWE	NOR
2003	Chariot Release date: July 22, 2003 Label: J	56	—	1	6	23	43	48	21	2	US: Platinum
2008	Gavin DeGraw Release date: May 6, 2008 Label: J	7	21	3	8	36	44	23	13	35
2009	Free Release date: March 31, 2009 Label: J	19	—	29	76	—	—	96	—	—
2011	Sweeter Release date: September 20, 2011 Label: RCA	8	41	6	6	—	—	19	29	25

EPs

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US
2008	iTunes: Live from Soho Release date: 2008	167

Other albums

• 2001: Gavin Live

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions												Certifications (sales thresholds)	Album
		US	US Adult	US Pop	CAN	UK	IRE	AUS	NZ	NED	ITA	NOR	SWE
2004	"I Don't Want to Be"	10	9	1	—	38	25	19	30	13	—	6	15	US: Gold	Chariot
2005	"Chariot"	30	5	17	—	—	—	—	—	12	27	19	—	US: Gold
	"Follow Through"	111	22	33	—	—	—	—	—	13	—	12	—	US: Gold
2006	"Just Friends"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	26	—	—	—
	"We Belong Together"	26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	US: Gold	Gavin DeGraw
2008	"In Love with a Girl"	24	5	10	32	—	—	—	—	22	—	—	73
	"She Holds a Key"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	29	—	—	—
	"Cheated on Me"	—	30	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	"I Have You to Thank"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Stay"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Free
	"Dancing Shoes"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	"Not Over You"	18	1	10	26	—	—	37	8	13	—	—	—	US: Platinum NZ: Gold AUS: Gold	Sweeter
	"Sweeter"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	—	—	—
2012	"Soldier"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	29	—	—	—

Awards and nominations

Year	Award
2005	Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Soundtrack Single of the Year ("I Don't Want to Be")
2005	Radio Music Award nomination for Song of the Year/Mainstream Top 40 Radio ("I Don't Want to Be")

See also

List of Berklee College of Music alumni List of Ithaca College alumni

List of people from New York List of singer-songwriters

References

• Billboard Artist Chart History – retrieved March 15, 2009.

External links

• gavindegraw.com, DeGraw's official website
• Gavin DeGraw at the Internet Movie Database
• Gavin DeGraw collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Music videos at AOL Video
• Exclusive Gavin DeGraw Interviews at OurStage.com