Former Marine and American Idol contender Josh Gracin has established another beachhead: his first gold album. Lyric Street Records celebrated the victory Thursday (Oct. 6) with a reception at Nashville's elegant Merchants Restaurant. The album, Gracin's first, is titled simply Josh Gracin. Wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, the singer was hurriedly shuttled among radio interviewers and TV crews just before the formal presentations got underway. As guests mingled, a monitor displayed clips from Gracin's many network television appearances. Lyric Street president Randy Goodman told the crowd of Gracin's insistence of completing his military hitch, even though he had the option of leaving the Marines early once he had signed his recording contract. "Other artists were playing soldiers," Goodman said, "[while] our artist was actually being a soldier. He could have gotten out, but he didn't. Gracin credited his producer, Marty Williams, with "giving me my own sound" and quasi-apologized to his managers and Lyric Street's promotion team for hounding them about his records and career.