NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- He performed at Ellen DeGeneres ' wedding this past summer , and he 's as quick-witted as Adam Sandler . Could Joshua Radin be the next great wedding singer ? Joshua Radin got a push from old friend Zach Braff , but has been making his own fans . `` No , do n't say that , '' the singer-songwriter says good-naturedly . `` Wedding singers play covers and they 're usually Motown songs . I do n't know any Al Green . '' Maybe not -- and Al Green did n't record for Motown , either -- but Radin hopes to put a little love in your heart with his sophomore album , `` Simple Times . '' `` It 's about my whole life . Every song I write is an honest account of my life . They 're sort of like journal entries , '' he says . `` So this one 's about falling in and out of love , it 's about my friends , it 's about my family . It 's about the world we live in . '' Radin 's world has been anything but simple these past few years . Since actor Zach Braff -- a buddy from Northwestern University -- promoted the Cleveland , Ohio-born musician 's tunes on the TV sitcom `` Scrubs , '' Radin 's vulnerable lyrics and whispery delivery have caught on . Primetime programs like `` Grey 's Anatomy '' and `` American Idol '' also used his music , and before long Radin had a debut album -- 2006 's critically acclaimed `` We Were Here '' -- and a reason to hit the road . Radin ( who has a loud , hearty laugh for a guy whose songs are pretty melancholy ) dropped by CNN 's New York offices to talk about how he landed that wedding gig , and some of the unusual surfaces he uses to jot down lyrics . The following is an edited version of the interview . Watch Radin cause hearts to melt » . CNN : A lot of your songs are about heartache and heartbreak . Are you sad all the time ? Joshua Radin : No , not at all . Just tired . CNN : Why so tired ? Radin : Because I play a lot of shows all the time . When you 're trying to get your music out to as many people as humanly possible , you got ta go places ... all the time , and talk about it and play songs and you get a little less sleep than you might like . It 's cool . But in terms of the heartache I guess I get my sad out by writing songs . CNN : How do you get your happy out ? Radin : Hanging out with people I like . CNN : Speaking of people you like , Zach Braff [ is ] a big buddy of yours ... Radin : Never met him . CNN : Liar ! Radin : He 's a very close friend and he 's been very supportive . CNN : Some might say that without Zach Braff 's support you might not have come to the fore as you have ... Radin : I would n't even be born . CNN : Do you sort of feel like you are going to be indebted to him for the rest of your life ? Radin : No , he 's pretty much indebted to me . I mean he got to launch my career ( laughs ) . I 'm just kidding . CNN : You sang at Ellen DeGeneres ' wedding . How did that come about ? Radin : I played her show in January and she came up to me after we soundchecked the song [ `` Today '' ] and said , `` That 's the song I want to walk down the aisle to . '' And I thought she was just being nice , really . And then about two days before the wedding -- I was on tour -- I got a call saying she wanted me to come in and she was going to have her wedding for a very intimate gathering at her house . And she wanted me to play about five or six of my songs ... CNN : The happy ones , I hope . Radin : Yeah , I only have about five or six songs about falling in love . The rest are about falling out of love or about politics or something ... things that maybe would n't be great for a wedding . And I 'd never played a wedding . [ I ] had never really gone to any weddings ... but I sang six of my own songs and it was really cool . [ There were ] about 20 people sitting around a couch in her living room , and Portia [ de Rossi ] and Ellen were sitting in two chairs right in front of me and I got walked in . I was Ellen 's surprise for Portia . CNN : Tell me about the single . Radin : It 's called `` I 'd Rather Be With You . '' It 's a little love song . I wrote it about my ex-girlfriend right after we broke up and I was missing her . But the song does n't sound sad . It 's sort of about someone who waits on you a long time to make a decision and then after it 's over , how we all want something more ... after it 's gone . The video is just me and Katrina Bowden , the actress from `` 30 Rock , '' and we shot it on Super 8 so it 's real grainy and looks like an old home movie . It was Zach 's concept . CNN : You started out as a screenwriter ... Radin : Sort of . I started out as a painter and an art teacher for kids . That 's what I studied in school and I taught fifth through seventh grade in Chicago . And then I lived in New York for about six years writing screenplays . And then about four years ago I wrote my first song . CNN : So in terms of expressing yourself artistically , songs are where you feel at home ? Radin : At the moment . I like to express myself creatively and it does n't matter the medium . Whatever medium I choose at that moment , whatever works the best . It 's like choosing production on a song ; whether [ you use ] drums or piano or guitar ... you service the song . So in terms of the medium I guess I service the sentiment . If there 's something that I really need to say that I ca n't say by speaking to someone , I usually write it in a song or a letter to someone . I usually can be more honest writing songs than actually talking to people . CNN : What would you say is the best setting to listen to your music ? Radin : Driving in the car on a road trip . Riding the subway . Traveling . It 's traveling music . CNN : Because you 're a traveler ? You 're a bit of a nomad ? Radin : I am and I write my songs usually while I 'm walking around . Or in a car . Or in a bus , a plane , something like that . I jot down lyrics wherever I am . Usually it 's on a vomit bag on an airplane or something . [ I ] just look for a pen ( laughs ) .
Joshua Radin 's new album is Ellen DeGeneres ' , a friend of Radin , had songs played on `` I 'd Rather Be With You liked about 20 tune , asked Joshua Radin 's to play her wedding .