The Gravel Project certainly do Find What You Need rocking the blues with gusto
By Bill Copeland on August 7, 2025
Gravel Project’s new release Find What You Need flows with groove in each big boss track. The size of this band’s musical personality carries throughout the album as husky vocals and eruptive instrumentation make the listener feel that someone’s soul was on fire when each song was written and recorded.
“Love The Life” opens with a very motivational drum beat. It takes a muscular groove to carry all of the hefty soul emanating from this crew of spirited organ, beefy bass lines, extra from the percussionist, a free form jazz guitar and some of the most emotive lead vocals in our region. Andrew Gravel presses out a thick, juicy lead guitar line that matches the organ gymnastics, moving like a leaner phrase. This one’s instrumental break might remind of Santana or the Allmans in its expressive power.
Gravel’s vocal fills up “Stay With Me” with solid heartfelt delivery. His voice fills a space just above simmering organ soul, bulbous groove, and a jittery lead guitar phrase that feels just right within the context of the mid tempo wedge of feeling. Gravel’s voice continues to swing with the musicianship in larger circles that they all manage to push wide while maintaining power by remaining in spiritual sync.
“Worse For Wear” moves to Eguie Castrillo’s plethora of percussion funk nuggets, intervals so tasty one can almost taste them. Jesse Williams’ smooth bass ebullience moves as fast as the percussion notes, building a framework for a strutting keyboard excursion. Boy, can that Jordan Gravel put out an organ punch, enough to punctuate the song before letting loose with a dancing organ gruel.
Crawling like a long, cool snake, “How Long” moves with muscular grace. Andrew Gravel’s husky vocal carries his lyrics with a musical heft that can’t be beat. Second vocalist Jen Kearney, a musical genius and powerhouse funk singer in her own right, fuses another forceful layer of voice onto this solid outing. Jordan Gravel, meanwhile, taps out an emotive funk keyboard line, notes that shine as they dance mightily around the groove.
The foot tapping, head bobbing, finger snapping quick motion groove of “So Sad” keeps the listener following, waiting to hear how each cool motion falls into the next. A spread of organ soul and a spiking guitar phrase launched over the tighter groove proves a good move. One can’t help but enjoy the sudden motions and perfect contrasts in this piece.
“Who Did You Think You Were” gets a jazzy organ thing going on, and everything spins off of that grace. A husky rasp from Andrew Gravel mellows out into a sweet, sweeping chorus that keeps this pretty piece in motion. A punctuating guitar progression and a subtle, movable groove keep everything in check. This one is all smooth, classy, and refined, the power to be louder and faster tastefully restrained to let it all simmer just beneath the surface.
Cooler than cool, “Shadows Into Shame” is a funk hipster’s street hustle vibe song. Coolly delivered lyrics, burbling organ chords, and a hard hitting rhythm section keep this one danceable. Cool shards of organ and a hyperactive percussion line won’t let anyone off of the dance floor.
Title track “Find What You Need” finds Andrew Gravel pushing his strong vocal over a twisty lead guitar eruption, sparkling keyboard flourishes, and plenty of drum fills from Dave Fox. The soulfulness abounding from the vocals could only work with plenty of instrumental firepower beneath and beside him. This title track is loaded with colorful eruptions from each player, and the whole thing blazes like a bonfire of talent.
Slow boiler “In The Moonlight” is one of those blues numbers that sneaks up on you. It begins with a sweet romantic yearning vocal over a gentle application of electric guitar and a sensitive rhythm section. One suddenly feels it swooping awards with increasing dynamics, becoming a loftier number. Mid flight, the journey gets even prettier with shiny organ notes running through and lighting things up even more. A nice treat for the ears, this one builds itself up into something refreshingly warm and engaging.
Close out track “Blues For LA” lets the band structure another song with punchy instrumentation and soaring lead vocals. Andrew Gravel’s lead guitar phrase unfurls like a banner while burning brightly with edge and a largeness of purpose Everything else going on around the voices and guitar beef up the sonic landscape with a busy work out.
The Gravel Project keep taking things to a higher level. This Find What You Need album helps the listener find a band that keeps expanding their blues based sound into something more fiery, more colorful, and more soulful. It will be interesting to see how far this Project will go in the coming years. Produced by John Paterno and Greg Ogan at Power Station New England, every note on Find What You Need jumps out of the stereo speakers.
thegravelproject.com
