BETHLEHEM, Pa. — in 2004, singer-songwriter Joshua Radin stumbled into a career when the first song he ever wrote, "Winter," was used by his friend, actor Zach Braff, on his hit TV show "Scrubs."
What followed was Radin's songs appearing on TV's "Grey's Anatomy," "One Tree Hill," "Shameless," "American Idol" and more.
His debut album, 2006's "We Were Here," was released only on iTunes for a month, before he signed to a major label.
Joshua Radin will perform at 8 p.m. today, Friday, Oct. 16, performs at Sellersville Theater 1894.Sellersville Theater
Now, more than 20 years later, Radin again is choosing to do things his own way.
He has released his new album, "One Day Home," independently, without any record company's backing.
He's now touring to support the disc, and tonight — Friday, Oct. 17 — performs at Sellersville Theater 1894.
Tickets, at $35 to $72, are available on the theater's website and are expected to be available at the door.
“I signed a contact with a label quite a few years ago and I owed them three albums and I fulfilled that contract," Radin said in a call from Los Angeles.
In the meantime, Radin said, he took stock of the musical landscape, where people are listening and buying online.
"And then I just kind of sat back before I wrote this album and I spoke to my manager," he said. "And I was, like, ‘You know, Debbie, I’m just not sure what this label is bringing to the table anymore. Why are we sharing proceeds?’"
Letting go to find a new path
Fans of Radin needn't worry that his music will change drastically from the emotionally charged but gently delivered music that prompted the phrase "whisper rock" and gave him six Top15 albums on Billboard's Rock chart.
The new disc's songs such as "My Favorite Memory" and "Let It Show" cover familiar heart-rending territory, even as tunes such as the later adds fuller instrumentation.
His Sellersville Theater show also will be with a full band.
“It’s probably seven or eight years since I toured with a rhythm section at least," Radin said.
"I’ve been doing solo shows or duo shows or trios, purely acoustic. And I just thought it’s time for a change. I can’t play the same show every time.
“And it makes it more fun for me and, I’m hoping, for the audiences to see something a little bit different.”
Like the choice of following a new path for "One Day Home," the inspiration for the new disc's songs also came from an act of letting go, Radin said.
“The title, to start, has a double meaning," he said. "I sold my house in L.A. like four years ago and I’ve been living out of a suitcase — just living a nomad’s life, traveling around the world with one little acoustic guitar and choosing pure experiences over things.
“So ‘One Day Home,’ meaning in some ways, especially when I’m on tour, I’m home for one day and then off somewhere else."
But "One Day Home" also refers to the fact that he hopes to one day find a permanent home, Radin said.
“Some people say home is where the heart is... Sometimes it’s as simple as bringing my pillow — my bed pillow — on a tour bus, and when I lay my head down at night, no matter where I am, that’s home.Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin
"It also has a double meaning, like I said, where I’m pining for home — like, one day I might have another home." he said. "And struggling to figure out what the word home actually means, ‘cause it’s a relative concept for so many people.
“Some people say home is where the heart is. Some people say home is where you grew up. Some people say home is where you choose to make a home.
"Sometimes it’s as simple as bringing my pillow — my bed pillow — on a tour bus, and when I lay my head down at night, no matter where I am, that’s home. And it feels that way when my head hits the pillow.
“Just that’s where it started, and I wanted to make a record called that. And so I did. I wrote about all these experiences.”
'A journal that I keep'
Radin said using personal experiences as material for his music is “pretty much how I’ve lived my life over the past 20 years, since I started playing music."
"This is my 10th full-length album, so there are a lot of songs that I’ve written out there in the ether," he said. "And I would say 95 percent of them I’ve written about my personal experiences.
"So it’s essentially a journal that I keep.”
His choice to continue his career without a record label also has given him the freedom to release the music he wants, and when he wants, Radin said.
"It’s just a lot easier, if you want to make a second version of something, you just throw it up on Spotify or Apple of whatever, some platform. And people just stream it anyway."Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin
Just a year after releasing "One Day Home," Radin has followed it with a stripped-down, piano-and-voice version of the songs.
“Well, in this day and age it’s like there’s so few physical copies of albums," he said. "I mean, vinyl’s coming back a little bit, but no one’s printing CDs anymore.
"So it’s just a lot easier, if you want to make a second version of something, you just throw it up on Spotify or Apple of whatever, some platform. And people just stream it anyway.
"I think back in the day, when we used to make CDs, if I came up with a second and third version of albums and I was asking my fans to purchase these over and over again, I think that might have been — I don’t know what percentage of them would have.
“But nowadays, it just seems like, ‘Well, I already have a Spotify subscription, so throw out all the versions of these songs you want," he said with a laugh.
'Astonishing' career
Radin said the fact that he's had a successful music career for more than 20 years now, to him, "in a way it’s astonishing."
"I got such a late start," he said. "I didn’t grow up playing music at all or any instrument — just, like, singing in the shower.
“And when I turned 30, I bought a guitar and I learned a few chords, learned a few cover songs, taught myself to play a few Dylan song, few Paul Simon songs, few Neil Young songs. And then I just started writing songs about six month after that."
After "Winter" appeared on "Scrubs," he said that, "all of a sudden, people started writing me, asking where they could find my music."
“So folks sort of found me organically, in some way," he said. "Rather than, like, radio stations pushing a 10-song playlist down the throats of their listeners.
"A lot of people would just hear my songs in a movie or TV series or in a commercial. And in a way, I think it’s one of the reasons my audience has been so loyal, because they found me, in a way, on their own.
"Back in the day, like in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, people would just find out about songs on the radio — that was it.
“And so now, there’s new gatekeepers when it comes to music and how we find new music. Supervisors who work in film are the new radio DJs and programmers.
"And there are playlists on Spotify, and Amazon and Apple. There’s just so many ways to get music out to people these days.
“And I think the landscape has changed so drastically now, and the technology grows exponentially. So it’s almost worth making an album and sitting back and saying, ‘OK, what’s the best way to get this out now?’”
