The Story
Reeling from a breakup and exiled from his home in Los Angeles, Radnor was seeking refuge in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio when his friend Kyle Cox suggested he come to Nashville to record a few songs. Unsure of his next steps, Josh said sure why not. He rented an airbnb and drove his father’s car to East Nashville with his dog Nelson and about fifty original songs. Cox and their friends Cory Quintard (Volunteer) and Jeremiah Dunlap turned the airbnb into a makeshift studio and “a few songs” turned into twenty-four.
The first twelve tracks (Volume 1) were recorded with the whole gang at that ’studio’ during the day while the second batch (Volume 2) were recorded at Cox’s house at night after his kid’s went to sleep. The Volume 1 tracks were more produced with an assist from a lineup of great local musicians and vocalists while Volume 2 has more of a an acoustic basement tape lo-fi vibe. It was an absolute immersion in music and song, one that Radnor describes as ’pretty much the happiest time of his life.’ No small thing given the heartache that preceded it.
At some point Radnor had the realization that each track in its own way was about ‘death.’ If not a literal death then a metaphorical one. An album of mini-funerals, burying and honoring the parts of himself that were once essential and necessary but no longer serving him. An album about love, death, identity, grief, and surrender. And ultimately rebirth and redemption.