Gavin Degraw at Empire City Casino

Gavin DeGraw burst onto the music scene with his hit single “I Don’t Want to Be”—the theme from the TV series One Tree Hill—which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart in 2004. But he didn’t stop there: Rolling Stone calls the songs on Sweeter, his most recent album, “taut, efficient, and hook-packed, with guitars bolstering the big choruses.” The Sullivan County native will show off those hooks at a close-to-hometown show at Empire City Casino on September 1.