Here’s a Pop Rarity: He’s Just Plain Folk

First, there’s Marc Cohn and then there’s. . . .

That’s been the problem when trying to name male pop-folk singer-songwriters who have made it big in the last few years.

Now there’s finally a new name to add to the list--Joshua Kadison.

The 28-year-old Los Angeles native cracked the pop Top 30 with his ballad single, “Jessie”--a real accomplishment for a male “folkie.” This kind of song hardly ever gets beyond the easy-listening chart. In fact, it’s rare for such singer-songwriters to even make it that far.

What makes “Jessie” so special?

“It’s a song that a lot of people can relate to,” explains Kadison, who’s been getting star treatment lately--including a recent guest appearance on David Letterman’s show. “Everybody’s heart has been broken by somebody they’ll always love. That’s what this song is about. It taps into a feeling that’s buried in so many people.”

The single is on his debut album, “Painted Desert Serenade,” which is full of pretty, sad ballads featuring Kadison’s plaintive piano accompaniment. The album was released by SBK Records, part of the EMI Records Group, last May and at first got little attention--which didn’t really surprise Kadison.

“I never expected too much in the first place,” he insists. “Not too many people listen to this kind of music and it’s so hard to get it on the radio.’

But “Jessie” slowly began to catch on with adult-pop radio programmers last summer, boosted by a spot for Kadison as the opening act on a tour by veteran folk-pop singer Janis Ian. Still, Kadison was dubious about any sort of impending success.

“I never got my hopes up,” he recalls. “I knew it could fade quickly.”

That skepticism is odd for a pop musician, but it fits perfectly when you understand that Kadison practically had to be badgered into seeking a record deal in the first place.

“It was never something I was consciously interested in,” he says. “I was happy writing my music for myself. The thought of making a record was probably in the recesses of my mind, but it certainly wasn’t an all-consuming thing. But my friends thought my music was good enough to record. I finally submitted a tape to SBK just to shut them up.”

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That’s all it took--Kadison was signed by SBK two years ago. At the time he was working in piano bars, something he’d done frequently since leaving home at 16.

“I was happy doing that and writing songs and keeping to myself,” he explains. “I’m sort of a loner--sort of introspective. I like solitude. I write best in solitude.”

Kadison started out playing the violin when he was 7 and dabbled in other instruments for several years before settling on piano at 12.

“Finding a chord on the piano and playing melodies felt powerful and magical to me,” he says. “I went through a period of liking jazz. I discovered (singer-pianist) Nina Simone when I was 13. She just enthralled me. She opened up a new world for me. Writing songs and singing gradually became an integral part of my life.”

A gentle, unassuming type with something of a hippie-like air, Kadison doesn’t seem suited for the fast, glamorous life of a star.

“I can’t get too caught up in the glamour because it would change how I write,” he explains. “I write from personal experience and I’d be so changed by the glamour thing that I wouldn’t write anything worthwhile.

“I eat in a lot of those hip, trendy restaurants these days because of business, but I’d be just as happy at some dingy diner.”

And if the pressure of business becomes overwhelming or if record sales tail off in the future, he says he’d have no problem leaving it all behind.

“I’d find some bar on a coast somewhere and get a job playing piano,” he replies. “I’d continue to write music for myself and be just as happy.”