Gavin DeGraw Is Revisiting His 'Big Break' 20 Years Later with New Album "Chariot 20": 'Feels Authentic' (Exclusive)

09/27/2024 09:00 AM

"I'm excited to keep going because I am not done," DeGraw tells PEOPLE about making more music

Despite spending most of his time in Nashville, Gavin DeGraw loves visiting New York City. 

"I will say New York City is still the greatest walking city," the 47-year-old Grammy-nominated singer tells PEOPLE during a sit-down interview. "I could be alone in New York City for a month and be happy... It's the people."

In the early 2000s, DeGraw spent his time in New York City differently, performing his "first batch of material" at bars and nightclubs around Manhattan. "It gave me a great opportunity to hone my skills and figure out which songs were translating to the public when I played them live," the singer says. "Nobody was recording anything back then, so it allowed me to realize, 'OK, this song works with my audience.' I built my first record based on what was translating live at these shows."

That first record, Chariot, is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. "You tour the world a bunch of times, you take a bunch of naps and then you wake up and it's 20 years later," DeGraw says about the milestone. To commemorate where it all began, the "I Don't Want to Be" singer is taking fans back to the start with a new album, Chariot 20 - available on Friday, Sept. 27 - featuring re-recorded songs and music from the vault. "It just feels authentic."

Related: Gavin DeGraw Applauds T-Pain's Cover of His 2003 Hit 'I Don't Want to Be': 'Love It Man'

Since DeGraw's "big break," the singer says his music has "evolved," and he is eager to reflect that change in the anniversary album. "The songs and my performances developed over time just from playing them another 20,000 times live," DeGraw explains about his 20 years worth of touring and performing alongside big names like Maroon 5, Billy Joel and Jason Mraz. "You're finding things that you didn't do before that you really like. You've been living in these songs and you think of fresh ideas to bring to these old songs."

The songs from the vault have also been re-recorded since they were first written. "They suited the type of music that the Chariot record was originally, and they were created in that time, but never really displayed on a record properly," DeGraw explains. "So it gave me an opportunity to go 'OK, this song never really saw the light of day, or this song didn't get what it needed, what it deserved.' And one of them, "Love Is Stronger" is just a very intimate sounding record. Very family oriented."

For DeGraw, family has found a new meaning after the loss of his mother, Lynne, to pancreatic cancer in 2017 and the loss of his father, John Wayne, to brain cancer in 2020. "We all have one responsibility in life, which is just to keep going," DeGraw tells PEOPLE about navigating the loss. He channeled this heartbreak into his 2022 album Face the River, which tells the love story of his parents. "I view my responsibility as get up, get out of the house, go do something and live. It's that basic and the hardest thing."

Related: Gavin DeGraw Uses Songwriting as 'Therapy' After Losing His Parents on New Album 'Face the River'

While he credits the people in his inner circle for helping him through the losses of his parents, DeGraw also acknowledges music as one of his closest confidants. "Music is expression, it's therapy," he says. "But I display it publicly because I want to have a connection with people, and I want them to have a connection to the songs. I want them to go, 'I'm not so alone in whatever I'm going through.' So music allows me to express myself, to get out of my soul, the things that I need to express somehow that are tormenting me or that I'm celebrating."

These days, DeGraw is celebrating releasing music he cares about, and preparing to go on tour to share the music with the world. You hit home runs and you hit foul balls, you strike out, and that's just part of the whole thing, but your responsibility as the artist is to share music you love, and music you believe in," the singer-songwriter says. "What could be worse than having a giant hit or giant success with something that you're not a hundred percent into, and then you're known for something that isn't really you at all?"

With Chariot 20 out in the world, DeGraw is eager for what comes next, ready to prove that fans haven't seen the last of what he is capable of. "I'm excited to play more of these songs from the first record again and to play the new ones from that record to play," he says. "And I'm excited to keep going because I am not done. The hits are not over."

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