Joshua Radin

In the pantheon of heart-on-sleeve songwriters, most modern musicians of the craft can lean toward trendy aesthetics or cloying sweetness in an effort to get their message across. Joshua Radin, the Ohio singer-songwriter who was pushed into the spotlight by none other than Zach Braff, falls into neither of these categories. Rather, Radin is a man of earnest proportions, having long outgrown the awkward tropes of youth and developing a voice that’s straightforward and striking. Take for example Radin’s latest offering, Onward and Sideways, just over a month old and a love letter of a record, in the literal sense of the phrase. Penned as a series of songs meant for a prospective love interest in Stockholm, whom he did later woo, Onward and Sideways is heavily rooted in the folk and Americana sensibilities that have made Radin such a relatable writer for almost 10 years. On this latest run in support of Onward and Sideways, Radin is only bringing two other musicians on the road for what will be his most intimate stage performance yet. Given the context and eventual triumph behind the record, there’s nary another setup that would do justice to Onward and Sideways in the way it’s meant to be heard: up-close, personal, and with the hushed and warm approach for which Radin is known and loved.
Wed., March 11, 8 p.m., 2015