The TV series “Scrubs” helped break the music career of one-time middle-school art teacher Joshua Radin when the show premiered Radin’s song “Winter” in a 2004 episode. Sales of Radin’s EP skyrocketed, bringing the songwriter a deal with Columbia Records. His songs were subsequently used in other shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “One Tree Hill.” He even played at Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s wedding. But things started to get complicated as Radin clashed creatively with Columbia over his second record, prompting him to move to independent label Mom Pop to record his 2008 album Simple Times and last year’s The Rock and the Tide, the whispery folk-pop singer’s most instrumentally varied record yet.
Joshua Radin
Tonight @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.