The Gravel Project

Boston’s The Gravel Project, is the brainchild of first-call blues-rock guitarist, composer and singer, Andrew Gravel. With a sound that spans multiple genres, including modern blues, funk and rock, Gravel and The Gravel Project have been creating buzz in Boston and gaining momentum along the East Coast. Having played to packed clubs such as The Middle East and Tommy Doyles in Cambridge, Church of Boston in Boston’s Fenway area, O’Leary’s Irish Pub in Brookline, and numerous New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine taverns, bars and ski lodges, The Gravel Project electrifies crowds with inventive original songs, creative interpretations of well known classics, and red hot group improvisation – they know how to get their fans, also known as “Gravelites,” up and onto the dance floor! A Marblehead, Massachusetts native, 32 year old, Andrew Gravel attended University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and at the same time built up his musical skills by playing guitar in various bar bands in Amherst and Northampton. While a student at UMASS, Gravel traveled to Wollongong, a seaside community in New South Wales, Australia, where for six months, he performed in clubs and completed his college education. After graduation, Gravel took a two year sojourn to Great Britain, where he played with some of the brightest stars on the London blues scene. Gravel discovered that music absolutely had to be a major part of his life, even though during the day, he had already become a skilled insurance underwriter. “At that time, I realized I needed to get more serious about music. I figured that out while I was in London and had the opportunity to tour throughout Europe with various bands. So when I relocated back to Boston, I studied privately for 4 years with Berklee College professor, Bruce Bartlett,” says Gravel. “Until that point, I had learned on the fly, by sitting in with bands, studying for a summer at Berklee in 2001, and listening and shedding to all kinds of music.” With a “day gig” as an insurance underwriter in Boston, Gravel soon became the lead guitarist with the popular Martha’s Vineyard band, Entrain, and then decided to form his own band, The Gravel Project in 2010. The band’s debut EP, More Ways Than One, released with the launch of the new band, put them right on the map, showcasing seven original songs, with a comfortable versatility, moving effortlessly through various styles of funky blues, rock, and reggae. Fast forward to July 2012 and with several hundred live performances under their belt and a new lineup featuring bassist/slide guitarist Brad Barrett and drummer Dave Fox, The Gravel Project released its first live album, Live at The Red Parka Pub. The band’s newest CD, The Gravel Project, released on February 7, 2014 is their first full length studio album. Recorded at Rearwindow Studio in Brookline, Massachusetts, and mixed by John Keane (Widespread Panic, REM, Indigo Girls) in Athens, Georgia, the new album features nine original songs and two reinvented covers, and is the band’s most impressive and ambitious offering yet. The breadth of material spans everything from the funky, “When I Get Back Home,” to the smoldering Muscle Shoals soul groove of “Dollar Bill” alongside the infectious guitar driven, “Blues for LA” where Gravel’s seamless playing embodies the great stylistic moments of blues rock guitar, slamming into solos that burn with intensity in combination with a technically fluid and melodic approach.