Today has been an excellent music day. First of all, it presented an opportunity to quite literally road test my greatly improved roster of digital music in the car (hint: it’s even more fun now). And secondly, it allowed me to have a look back on some older songs I hadn’t gotten a chance to notice before.
And chief among those for today is Gavin DeGraw’s cover of the Sam Cooke classic “Change Is Gonna Come”. Firstly…. whoa. Just, whoa. Take a moment with your favorite carbonated beverage, sit in a chair and grab something to hang onto, because this sparse solo piano take from the “stripped” side of DeGraw’s 2004 album “Chariot” may just deprive you of the power to stand.
Nothing will beat the sheer passion of Cooke’s blue-eyed soul of course, but the raw power of DeGraw’s vocal take surprises with a range I wasn’t even aware he possessed. Not that I’d taken much of an opportunity to dig further into the man beyond his chart-topping “I Don’t Wanna Be” days, but it’s better late than never right?
Anywho, go check this out in the link below and if you’re so inclined, track down the rest of the stripped side of Gavin’s “Chariot’ album. It takes away those moments of shinier pop production and makes the record sound more like a band playing it together in the studio. It feels more natural, and I really like how that vibe translates.
On The Back Edge Of The Beat 
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