Joshua Radin: A Modern-Day Cupid

On March 3 at 7:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. ET, Yahoo Live will live stream Joshua Radin's concert from the Knitting Factory in Boise, ID. Tune in HERE to watch!

Some might say that Joshua Radin has one of the biggest hearts of anyone in the music business, and they wouldn't be far off. Not only has the singer-songwriter's romantic and emotionally raw music soundtracked countless interludes in films and TV shows (including Dear John, Scrubs, and Grey's Anatomy), but he also performed one of his gorgeous love ballads at Ellen Degeneres's wedding at the famed talk show host's request.

Radin's recent album, Onward and Sideways, is essentially a love letter set to music; it was his attempt to gain the affections of a Swedish woman he met while traveling. And it worked – he wrote much of it in Stockholm with her by his side, and the pair are now a happy couple.

"These were just love letters I was writing in a long-distance relationship," Radin says of the songs' lyrics. "I wasn’t expecting it to be an album. It was meant to woo a special lady to make her fall in love with me. If it hadn’t worked maybe I wouldn't have put out the album!" he says with a laugh.

Radin explains that writing heartfelt tunes that resonate with people from all walks of life comes naturally to him. "My girlfriend says I'm like a cupid," he says. "Interpersonal relationships is what I think about and write about. When your message is love, it's the most important message."

Romance isn't the only thing on Radin's mind. His big heart also comes across in the work he does giving burgeoning young artists the opportunity to learn how to play music. Radin has supported the music education non-profit Little Kids Rock for years, and is inviting the youth rock bands from the national charity to perform with him on several dates of his current North American tour.

"[Little Kids Rock] is an organization I've been working with for the past few years," Radin explains. "I just love these kids. Every year I go into the schools to see where the money I've been donating has been going. I answer their questions and play music with them. The teachers invite the kids up on stage to sing with me. It's a real kick in the pants to see the kids up close…and for them to play in front of a cheering audience."

Radin recently visited an inner-city Los Angeles elementary school and recorded a video for his new single, "Beautiful Day" (featuring Sheryl Crow) with the young musicians in the Little Kids Rock program.

"Even if only one out of 1,000 kids grows up to be a professional musician, the fact that they're playing music and meeting people like us will help for them for the rest of their lives," Radin says.

Now in the midst of an extensive world tour, Radin finds it incredibly gratifying when people come up to him and tell him how his music and his new album have impacted their lives. "Now I'm touring it and it's really cool to see people's response," he says. "It's the best response I've gotten in years. Fans come up and thank me and say [Onward and Sideways] is my partner and my album of the moment to hang out with each other."

Interestingly enough, Radin didn't start on a path as a musician until he turned 30, a decade ago. "I didn’t plan on it," he says of becoming a professional musician. "I picked up a guitar one day when I turned 30. I'd been a writer before but not a musician. I just love music. I learned a few Bob Dylan songs and a few chords. They say three chords and the truth make a good song. Within a few months I was writing my own songs as a meditative device."

During his time as a screenwriter, Radin met some folks in the film and television industry and decided to share his tunes with them. "I sent demos to a few people in the business, and quickly within a few weeks people were responding asking if they could use the songs," he says. "[Until then] music was just a hobby. This was the first time the audience came to me. When I first picked up a guitar it felt so much more natural to me. Sometimes the things you're meant to do don't pop out early in life."

Now, 10 years and six albums later, Radin has obviously found his calling.