Singer song-writer Joshua Radin’s quick ascent has grown into the stuff of legend. The now 36-year-old Radin didn’t pick up a guitar until late in life, wrote some songs following a breakup with his girlfriend and gave a recording of one of those songs to buddy Zach Braff, who had it used on his show “Scrubs.” Three albums and dozens of song placements later, Radin has established himself both nationally and internationally.
| On stage |
| Joshua Radin |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V Street NW |
| When: 5 p.m. doors, Tuesday |
| Info: As of press time, show is sold out, but tickets might be available through resellers |
“I’m constantly shocked,” said Radin, who will perform a sold-out show at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday. “I honestly think it’s all going to end tomorrow every day. I definitely keep an open mind at all times because who knows, maybe people get sick of listening to me play, you gotta find something else to do.”
Radin, a native of the Cleveland area, owes much of his success to placement in TV shows. He has had songs appear on such hits as “Cougar Town” and “Grey’s Anatomy” and even performed at the wedding of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.
Radin’s career arc has actually become less unusual as more and more new music appears on the small and big screens.
“It’s pretty much made my career,” he said. “Every song I’ve written has been on a TV show or movie. So that’s how people find out about me all over the world. I can go to cities all over the world I’ve never been and I’ve never even had a record out and put a thousand people in a room. It’s crazy. All these shows and movies, they’re all over the world.”
“I got into music right at the time when TV was really becoming the new radio,” Radin added.
“We Were Here,” Radin’s first record in 2006, is a self-described low-fi effort. He released “Simple Times” in 2008 and mostly recently “The Rock and the Tide” late last year.
The latest effort features more instrumentation, which Radin describes as “half folk, half rock.”
“Tremendously, in so many ways musically, emotionally, personally,” Radin said of how he’s changed from his first to his third record. “I’m trying new things musically now.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing at all,” Radin continued, talking about “We Were Here.” “When I was writing those songs, I wasn’t thinking about anything. I wasn’t thinking about releasing a record. I wasn’t thinking about if people will like these. I was just basically writing a diary set to music.”
The passion for playing music, for doing what he loves, drives Radin.
“I love doing it,” he said. “I love playing music every day for people. When I’m off tour, I jones for the road.”
