Fredericksburg musician Wil Gravatt and his band warmed up crowds for Bush. Visit the Photo Place

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Band leader plays for the president

Fredericksburg country artist Wil Gravatt spent campaign's final two weeks warming up crowds for President Bush

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 11/5/2004

By MICHAEL ZITZ

John Kerry picked Bruce Springsteen to play his musical introductions at rallies as the presidential campaign wound down.

George W. Bush chose Wil Gravatt to do the same for him.

The rest is history.

Yesterday Gravatt, a Fredericksburg country artist, laughed at the notion that he had won an electoral battle of the bands with the iconic Springsteen during the last couple of weeks of the campaign.

But it had clearly crossed his mind that he was playing the role of Springsteen's counterpart, in spite of the huge difference in name recognition.

When he played Tuesday's Bush official election night party in Washington in the Ronald Reagan Building's atrium, Gravatt drew cheers by joking: "Sorry. We're not playing any Springsteen tonight."

The Wil Gravatt Band anxiously played on and on from the main stage in front of an electronic tote board as the president was stuck just below the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. The group didn't pack up and head home till 4 a.m.

It was the end of a grueling but thrilling two weeks for the band, which drove from rally to rally, making trips as long as 17 hours. The band played for a crowd of tens of thousands at a rally at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark--the home of the Cincinnati Reds--in the final week.

Another huge crowd gathered for Bush in Saginaw, Mich., Gravatt said.

The band became a favorite of Bush adviser Karl Rove when it used to play parties for former Republican House majority leader Newt Gingrich. And that led to the gig warming up crowds for the Bush campaign.

The band 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.

Five hours before the big Cincinnati rally, Gravatt decided to learn "America the Beautiful," then played it for the first time as the crowd waved flags and the ballpark JumboTron screen focused on him.

"That was an incredible experience," he said. "I didn't think it could get any more incredible, but the election night gala was pretty amazing.

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Date published: 11/5/2004