“I Don’t Want to Be” & “Gavin Degraw”
At the age of eight, Gavin DeGraw had already started singing and was playing the piano. Taking up the advice of his brother, he started to write his own songs. DeGraw’s breakthrough in the music industry was with his single I Don’t Want to Be, which was made the theme song of the famous teen drama titled ‘One Tree Hill’. Later on, the same song was covered by several contestants of the Idol Sweden and American Idol. This was followed by the release of his debut album, “Chariot”, which came out in July of 2003, through Sunset Sound. The album earned a Platinum status after selling more than million copies.
Chariot also featured three hit songs, title track Chariot, Follow Through, and of course, I Don’t Want to Be, the song that raised the bar. In 2004, an acoustic version of the album was released by the name of “Chariot Stripped”. The album also included the cover version of A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. After massive success of these two albums, his second self titled studio album was released, after a break of four years. Before its release, the title track In Love With A Girl was released as a teaser. It was followed by yet another teaser song, Cheated on Me. Another compilation of some of the songs from the upcoming album was released by the name of “Love From Soho.” The self titled album eventually came out and it debuted at number one on the Digital Sales chart. It also made it to number seven spot on the Billboard Top 20.
“Free” to “Sweeter”
Gavin DeGraw released his third studio album by the name of “Free” in March of 2009. The whole album was recorded and finalized in only two weeks at his producer’s studio in Brooklyn. In this album, DeGraw included some of the songs that he had written earlier in his career, such as Glass and Dancing Shoes. The debut track of the record, Stay came out on 11th of March. The album has been labeled as the recorded version of DeGraw’s live favorites. It was also a sort of gift from him to all of his fans, who wanted to have a compilation of his live hits.
“Sweeter”, Gavin DeGraw’s fourth studio album hit the market in September of 2011. It was originally schedule to be released in March, but was pushed back. This new album included a number of tracks written in collaboration with other musicians. The new album included a fresh sound and innovative tunes. The first song from the album, Not Over You got released on iTunes in June, it was produced as well as co-written by Ryan Tedder. It made it to the top position at Adult Pop Songs list. The album also includes several songs in collaboration with other producers like Eric Rosse and Butch Walker.
2013 and “Make A Move”
In the summer of 2013, the single Best I Ever Had from Gavin Degraw’s upcoming album “Make A Move” was released. It was also announced that the album will hit the market in October of the same year. From the title song, the fans could have gotten the hint that this upcoming album released two years after Sweeter is going in a different direction from the usual DeGraw lane. Although, he still hasn’t given up on the formula that was used in his first breakthrough song and the albums that came later, this new album has received more critical acclaim than before. It can be said that DeGraw’s music has matured a lot within a decade of his first release.