![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GAVIN-DeGRAW.jpg\" "\\"GAVIN-DeGRAW\\"")
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Keeping a positive attitude even while\u00a0 taking a beating\u2014literally \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t break my will, but it did break my nose,\u201d cracks Gavin DeGraw about the unwelcome experience of being assaulted last August in Manhattan. The native New Yorker was attacked by three men and then hit by a taxi as he stumbled away. His injuries forced him to cancel tour dates as he readied his new album, Sweeter<\/em>, but he betrays no bitterness. \u201cI had never really been hurt at somebody else\u2019s hand before,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve learned there are beautiful people in the world, and then there\u00a0are some really terrible people.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the optimistic outlook should be no surprise from the man responsible for upbeat pop radio hits such as \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Be\u201d and \u201cChariot.\u201d In fact, his recovery gave him a renewed sense of purpose a decade into his career. After \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Be\u201d became a breakthrough hit in 2004, he found himself challenged by success. \u201cIt\u2019s an insane amount of work, and it\u2019s frustrating at times,\u201d he says. \u201cIt can be really tough on you, so it feels good to see the results. At the time, I didn\u2019t know my song was everywhere. I just kept showing up to more interviews and started\u00a0noticing more people came to the shows.\u201d<\/p>\n But the forward momentum stalled during the process of recording DeGraw\u2019s self-titled 2008 sophomore album. Problems included a songbook that was stolen at a neighborhood restaurant and delay-causing disagreements with his record label. \u201cThat tremendous hiatus was really aggravating,\u201d DeGraw says. \u201cI had nearly completed the second album and was essentially told to start over. It was devastating. You take a lot of time off the road to make an album and sacrifice income. Essentially, I all but disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n Determined to make a fresh start, he changed his routine on Sweeter<\/em>. For the first time, DeGraw worked with other writers including OneRepublic frontman and in-demand producer Ryan Tedder. That artistic experimentation paid off. The first single from the album, \u201cNot Over You,\u201d went platinum and returned him to pop radio. He was also selected as the opening act for the 2011 tour by Maroon 5 and Train, and performed with both acts each night. It\u2019s that spirit of collaboration that DeGraw, 35, appreciates most about the music world. \u201cIn pop music, it seems everybody is so separate from one another,\u201d he says. \u201cIn other genres, artists seem to collaborate a lot more. I enjoy working with others. I love the chance to\u00a0create something and learn from what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Blake Boldt<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GAVIN DeGRAW\u00a0 Keeping a positive attitude even while\u00a0 taking a beating\u2014literally \u00a0 \u201cIt didn\u2019t break my will, but it did break my nose,\u201d cracks Gavin DeGraw about the unwelcome experience of being assaulted last August in Manhattan. The native New Yorker was attacked by three men and then hit by a taxi as he stumbled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[1686,3185,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5279"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5282,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279\/revisions\/5282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n