About Gavin Degraw
Early Life
DeGraw grew up in the Catskills in South Fallsburg, New York. His mother, Lynne (née Krieger), was a detox specialist, and his father, Wayne DeGraw, was a prison guard; he referenced his father’s and mother’s occupations in the song “I Don’t Want to Be”. His father is of Irish descent and his mother’s family is of Russian Jewish ancestry. DeGraw began singing and playing piano at the age of eight. He also has two older siblings, sister Neeka and brother Joey (born August 1973). It was at his brother’s advice that he began writing his own songs. Joey DeGraw is also a musician.
Career
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’s second album, the self-titled Gavin DeGraw, was released on May 6, 2008. Ahead of this, its 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.
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 was 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. DeGraw provided vocals for a song by Colbie Caillat from her Christmas in the Sand album. The pair also wrote the song “We Both Know” for the soundtrack of the 2013 film Safe Haven.
On June 18, 2013, DeGraw released the lead single for his upcoming fifth studio album, “Best I Ever Had”. That year, he toured with the band Train. The band The Script has also appeared in several of those shows.
Degraw announced the release date for his new album, “Make A Move”, for October 15, 2013.