Andrew Gravel, of the Gravel Project, has been sharing music with me since we became friends in Mr. McLaughlin’s 9th grade biology class nearly 25 years ago. He introduced me to the Cure, Phish, and my favorite Pearl Jam covers, including “Hide Your Love Away” and “Masters of War”. Since then, Andrew has written, performed, and recorded music on his own and with bands like Rival, Entrain, and, most recently and most extensively, the Gravel Project. I’ve seen Andrew perform more than any other musician, co-written songs with him (including, “Not the One” and two on this list), and shared the stage with him when Parties with Townies played Catalina State Park before Covid (the new BC?). He even performed at my wedding.
Last week, The Gravel Project released their best song yet. In honor of the new single, this post discusses my ten favorite songs that Andrew recorded during our 25 years of intermittent collaboration and uninterrupted friendship. Thank you, Andrew.
The Gravel Project (left to right): Dave Fox, Andrew Gravel, Jordan Gravel, Brandon Mayes
1. No More Fire
The title is misleading. This song, about either a troubled marriage or the assault on American democracy, is wildfire.
Lyric: “We’ve been together too long to burn this thing to the ground.”
Single, 2021
Songwriting Credits: Andrew Gravel
2. Feeling Good
The Gravel Project used to be the house band (more accurately, the boat band) on a summer cruise in Salem Harbor. No song captured the rum-scented summer sunsets better than “Feeling Good.” The Gravel Project recorded the song in 2010, but Andrew wrote parts of it years earlier with Rival, easily the best band to roam the halls of Marblehead High School at the turn of the millennium.
Lyric: “I can make you feel so good”
More Ways Than One, 2010
Songwriting Credits: Andrew Gravel
3. Not Alone
“Not Alone” is a bridge between sunny grooves like “Feeling Good” and “Jam Today” and the fission in “No More Fire” and “Wishful Thinking.” Unlike “No More Fire,” this song lives up to its title. Sonya Rae Taylor and Jeff Blaney (of Backtalk fame) helped the Gravels sculpt the outline of city skylines and empty fields, harbor winds and mountain rain, backyard cookouts and desert roads, homecomings, farewells, and words that remain unspoken in the days that lie between.
Lyric: “A familiar melody is in the air / A tune that wipes my cares away”
Wishful Thinking, 2017
Songwriting Credits: Andrew Gravel, Jordan Gravel, and Jeff Blaney
4. When I Get Back Home
I first heard this song on one of the Salem Harbor cruises. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it. I hadn’t heard the song before, but, as Andrew reminded me after the show, I helped write the lyrics. I had sent him a few ideas a year or so before, but I didn’t know that he turned them into a song, let alone this gem, which sounds like what might happen if Dawes were abducted by Dr. Funkenstein on the Mothership.
Lyric: “The smog is suffocating in LAX at dawn / I fell asleep at the airport bar with my sunglasses on”
The Gravel Project, 2014
Songwriting credits: Andrew Gravel and Caleb Warren
5. Saving Up My Love
If the leaked dark web version can be trusted, this song will help make The Gravel Project’s next album their best yet. “Saving Up My Love” sounds how Robert Cray wishes he sounded.
Lyric: “I’m coming back for you baby. It’s all that I can do.”
Forthcoming
Songwriting credits: Jeff Blaney
6. In the Moonlight
A dreamy stalker waltz with the warmest pedal steel guitar east of Nashville. I remember writing the lyrics to this song, but I can’t take any credit for the beauty and brilliance brought to it by Andrew and his crack squad of maestros.
Lyric: “I want to miss you in the moonlight / Look your way and pass on by.”
The Gravel Project, 2014
Songwriting Credits: Andrew Gravel and Caleb Warren
7. Moonbow
Moonbow is a unicorn in the Gravel Project catalogue. It falls somewhere between Leslie Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” and post-apocalyptic Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips – a groovy soundtrack for daydreaming or nighttripping.
Lyric: “I can only find you when the light is gone.”
Wishful Thinking, 2017
Songwriting credits: Jordan Gravel
8. Close to Me
You could argue that this is not a Gravel Project original (it’s a Cure cover). But you could say the same thing about Hendrix playing “All Along the Watchtower.”
Lyric: “I never thought tonight could ever be this close to me”
The Gravel Project, 2014
Songwriting credits: Robert Smith
9. Earth Mother
“Earth Mother” is still in beta, but it promises to expand the Gravel Project’s sound. Thematically, it fits with TGP’s message-focused songs like “Loaded Words,” “Dollar Bill,” and “Facts and Fiction,” but the lyrics paint with a finer color palette and the music sounds like a mashup of Crazy Horse and Led Zeppelin 3.
Lyric: “Take care of her…”
Forthcoming.
Songwriting credits: Andrew and Leslie Gravel
10. Jimi
Andrew couldn’t have been more than 16 when he rewrote Johnny B. Goode to sound like a Hendrix outtake. It was the first time that he summoned fire, but would not be the last. If you have a recording, make me a copy of your Memorex or TDK (or was it on a Maxell cassette?).
Lyric: “There’s fire in your eyes. I must be doing something right.”
Lost recording with Rival circa 1998.
Songwriting credits: Andrew Gravel