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Local country band on trail with Bush

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 9/11/2004

By MICHAEL ZITZ

During his 20-year music career, Fredericksburg's Wil Gravatt hasn't become a Britney Spears-type household name.

His name isn't on the lips of many of the 13-year-old girls whose CD and concert-ticket purchases drive today's music industry.

But the country band frontman's name is being tossed around quite a bit by some pretty prominent Republican politicians.

"I want to thank the Wil Gravatt Band," President George W. Bush said Thursday at a rally in Johnstown, Pa. "I appreciate them playing here. Thank you for coming."

The band, which includes singer and guitarist Gravatt, steel guitarist Jimbo Byram of Stafford County, bass player Nick McAlister of Spotsylvania County and drummer Gary Crockett of Alexandria, played before a crowd estimated at 7,000 in Johnstown and before 6,000 at another Bush rally yesterday in Huntington, W.Va.

Gravatt said the band got the gigs because a top Republican National Committee official is a fan. Over the years, the 39-year-old musician has become a regular at Washington shindigs put on by Republicans such as Newt Gingrich, and he played some of the side events at the recent Republican National Convention in New York City.

The trend, he said during a phone interview from West Virginia yesterday, is especially "a good thing for me because I am a Republican. I don't know how many partisan bands there are out there. Country music seems to lend itself well to the Republican Party, and I'm thankful for that."

Gravatt started his career playing guitar with the Sean Michael Dargan Band, a Fredericksburg pop-rock group, and quickly became a fixture downtown.

Over the years, he's played everything from alternative rock to alternative country and now has settled into a mix of mostly traditional country and a bit of Texas swing.

Gravatt rarely plays in Fredericksburg anymore. When he does, it's at Cheeseburger in Paradise or Buffalo Wild Wings in Central Park.

Of backing up Bush on the campaign trail, he said:

"It's been a whirlwind two days. We got very little sleep, but adrenaline kept us going--and the president thanking us made the experience worthwhile."

To reach MICHAEL ZITZ: 540/374-5408 mikez@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 9/11/2004