Josh Krajcik was alone, a stranger in an unfamiliar city, heading out on a vagabond ramble along the meandering streets of London. For hours, he walked, poking his head, with its trademark tousled brown hair and bearishly bewhiskered face, into pubs, chatting with locals here and there, seeing the sights along the way. He was looking for something, yes, but mostly, he was simply allowing himself time to get lost, both in The Big Smoke and in his own thoughts. 

Krajcik had just finished writing Back Where We Belong, one of the first singles for his new LP, Blindly, Lonely, Lovely, part of the major-label record deal he'd landed with RCA subsidiary Phonogenic Records as a result of the whirlwind that was The X Factor. He'd been through so much in his career, and the previous year had been almost surreal. That gave him a lot to think about. 

"I walked until I was too tired to walk anymore," Krajcik says during a recent phone interview, his raspy voice heavy with sentiment "just kind of remembering what I'd come through and where I was and sort of being amazed by it all. It feels like an overnight sort of thing, but I've been playing, you know, for years. Since I was 16. And some of those moments were great and some were not, so to go from struggling like that to being on the verge of having an amazing opportunity like this was just…was just great."

And that's just a bit of an understatement. 

Because what Krajcik has come through, not just in the past year, but throughout his life, is the stuff fairytales are made of. 

Krajcik grew up with music. His first dulcet memories, he says, are of singing with his dad, Ron Krajcik, whom he credits with being his greatest musical influence, and of time spent sitting at the piano with two treasured teachers, one who taught him the basics of music, and one who nurtured his ear. At age 12, Krajcik's instrument of choice changed. He acquired a black Fender acoustic, and by 16, he realized he was good at it. Even more, a singular experience convinced him he could make a living at it. 

"I was lucky enough to know at a very young age what I wanted to do, and lucky enough to have the ability to do it," Krajcik says. "The first gig I ever had I was 15, maybe 16. There was a 21 and over bar in Lodi, Ohio [in Medina county] called the Shady Glen. I told them I was 22, and they somehow bought that. I played for four hours and made $100 bucks. That's how I knew I could make a living at this."

Over the next few years, Krajcik played venues in and around Wooster, sometimes alone, sometimes with his band Love Lies Bleeding.

"My absolute favorite was Seattle's Coffee House," Krajcik says. The Wilsons were good friends of mine--are still good friends of mine. It was an amazing place that I think Wooster misses now. That was my joint."

Another favorite spot was Larry's Music Center in Wooster, now owned by Brad Shreve.   

"Larry's Music was a favorite place, from the time I was little, to go in and play guitars. They've always been friendly and Brad has always been really cool and knowledgeable. Even when I was young, he was definitely helpful and taught me stuff about guitars that I wasn't learning myself, or from my dad."

During The X Factor's finale, Shreve and sales manager Gabriel O'Brien came up with an idea. They would give Krajcik a special gift--a Fender American Standard Stratocaster in Sienna Sunburst finish with a rosewood fretboard--if he won The X-Factor

"We were watching The X-Factor finale in the break room of our Wooster store," O'Brien says, "eating Chipotle in honor of our favorite former burrito-slinger, and I said to Brad, 'We should announce on Twitter that if he wins, we're giving him a Strat.'" 

Shreve grabbed the guitar off the wall, O'Brien snapped the photo, and out into the Twitterverse it went. When Krajcik landed a solid second on the show, O'Brien and Shreve decided to give him the guitar anyway.  

"We were proud of our friend," O'Brien says. "Josh taught guitar here, Brad's wife, Toni, was his piano teacher, and he and his dad have bought a lot of stuff from us over the years." 

"What's nice about a place like that is they have this all-encompassing music world when you walk in the door. I think it's better than it has ever been by a long shot since Brad has taken over," Krajcik says, "And I can't express my gratitude for him gifting me that Fender Strat." 

The hometown support while Krajcik was rocking The X Factor didn't go unnoticed.

"I saw that support, and it was definitely heartwarming to see people getting together, having fun, having a good time, and supporting me," Krajcik says. "It's pretty awesome. I saw they had like a flash mob at one point on the square in Wooster and Jerry Baker hosted parties each week. It was pretty amazing to see and definitely uplifting." 

Now, Krajcik is hoping the support will continue as he puts the finishing touches on his new LP, Blindly, Lonely, Lovely, just aching for release on April 2. The album gives us glimpses into where Krajcik has been and where he hopes to be heading, with songs that are fresh and yet classic, painted, Krajcik says, with a wide brush that will appeal to a pretty diverse listening audience. Krajcik fans will not be disappointed, and first time listeners will be impressed. It's an emotional sort of record, Krajcik explains, and it comes from an honest place. It's a soulful creation, like the man himself, both in that fabulous voice and in the solid songwriting.

"Mostly I went into the studio with a clean slate," Krajcik says. "It's sort of why the record's called Blindly, Lonely, Lovely. If people have an imagination, they have a preconception of what it's like to make a record, that everything's laid out for you. In my case, I was in London, alone for the first time, and in L.A. kind of on my own." 

In other words, Krajcik says, he was jumping blindly into a huge project, spent a lot of time separated from the ones he loves and felt very lonely in the process, all in hopes that, in the end, something lovely would emerge from it. And, indeed, something lovely has. 

While each song has a feel of its own, crafted by a stellar cast of musicians, there's definitely a vibe that runs through Blindly, Lonely, Lovely. Which makes sense, given that Krajcik, even in this iTunes age of singles, remains a fan of buying entire records. 

"I still go into the mom and pop shops, pick up CDs and listen to them in their entirety," Krajcik says. "I may be a small part of the market, but if I do it, there are other people out there who do it, too."

Krajcik insists he doesn't have a favorite on the album, and fans will be hard-pressed to pull out one that they'll love above the others. The whole album sort of meanders through your mind, and just when you think there's one catchy earworm that will stay in rotation in your head for good, another slides into mental airplay. That's when you realize how great the whole album is. There's not a bad cut on it. 

But, when pressed, Krajcik does admit a partiality to the first single, Back Where We Belong. 

"It's kind of an upbeat, soulful vibe. Being one of the first songs I wrote for the album, I really dig it."

And well he should. Krajcik co-wrote Back Where We Belong with Steve Robson, the English songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist who also co-wrote the Grammy-nominated "What Hurts the Most" with Rascal Flatts' Jeffrey Steele, earning the song a number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs and a number six on the Billboard top 100. Combine those songwriting skills with Krajcik's killer voice, a catchy Hammond B3 riff, and, voila, it's a hit. 

Another cut Krajcik admits being partial to is No Better Lovers, co-written with Chris Seefried, an accomplished songwriter whose songs have appeared on Six Feet Under and Lost. 

"It's not so heavy lyrically," Krajcik says. "It's a very sweet, simple song that kind of reminds me of first love." 

And that's just the beginning of the amazing talent Krajcik was able to work with on this album. He co-wrote with Eg White on the songs Nothing, Don't Make Me Hopeful, and When You Go, which all have that signature Eg White sound that sent Adele soaring with the Grammy-nominated hit Chasing Pavements. A highly appropriate team, since Krajcik has been dubbed "a male Adele."  

"Eg is such a singular beast entity of music," Krajcik says. "He was so much fun to work with, and we clicked very well."

There's a completely different songwriting sound that comes from the team of Krajcik, Julian Bunetta, Steve Kipner, and Andrew Frampton. 

"I met Julian on the show, and he introduced me to Steve and Andrew, and we just clicked. It was magical." 

The Remedy, a grooving gospel-style number with great backing vocals came about, Krajcik says, when he and a bunch of other musicians were up until six in the morning, jamming and partying and generally having a fabulous time.

"We came up with this little jam, and that really rough jam is still in the mix for the final product," Krajcik says. "It was so much fun."

"Working with those guys was great. Kipner is obviously a legend of a songwriter," Krajcik says of the multi-platinum-selling songwriter and record producer for huge names like Chicago, Heart, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, The Temptations, Cheap Trick, Huey Lewis & the News, Joe Cocker, Al Jarreau, and Rod Stewart. Close Your Eyes, a lyrically clever ballad, even has an early Rod Stewart-ish feel to it. 

One of the album's raw, emotional standouts is from the Krajcik/Bunetta/Kipner/Frampton, Let Me Hold You.

"When I play Let Me Hold You, it hits people on an immediate emotional level, I've seen people get really shaken by it," Krajcik says. "When we started writing it, I wanted to take a song that kind of feels like it's going to be 'Everybody Hurts' when you're listening to the first verse, like it's going to be, 'Hey, keep your chin up. Don't give up.' Something anthemic. But I thought it would be interesting to make it more romantic. People can relate to that because so often there's nothing you can say, and all you can really do is be there for that person and hold them." 

Another standout cut is Her Song. Krajcik explains the audio inspiration like this: "Sonically, I wanted to get sort of a pop sound with a soul burst. I wanted to get Marvin Gay meets Coldplay." 

It definitely works. And, lyrically, Her Song is a very honest and soulful ode to Krajcik's daughter, Rowan, born when Krajcik was just 17, who grew up with her mother, largely apart from her father. The song expresses how hard that has been for Krajcik, and how much hope he has for the future. 

Let's face it
I got more wrong than I got right
And I wasted
So many days chasing dreams through so many nights 
I made a stone and I wrote upon it
Here lies the man that I used to be 
I vow that I'd change and you know I'm on it
So trust in me
Sorry I wasn't always around
Thank you 
Thank you
Things will be so different now
Thank you
Thank you
I can taste it
This is the time we've been waiting for
And maybe I chased it
'Til I didn't know what I was doing no more
I went to the well and I wished upon it
Make the man that I need to be
I think of you and I'm learning from it
So trust in me

It's been a long road for Krajcik, one with some low spots, some dimly-lit paths, and more than a few sharp curves. Ahead are a lot of gig dates, a lot of time on the road, but it's a road he had committed to travel, and he's looking forward to doing what he says he does best--playing live to appreciative audiences.

"I think in anything we do as people, there are moments of doubt, but I never really labored, there was nothing I really could do other than this," Krajcik admits. "It's my only trade, and I think that even though I had moments of doubt, I never really steered away from the course.

"There's always really big challenges with any undertaking in life. One of the challenges that I've had has been of blindly jumping into this thing and hoping something lovely comes from it. I'm proud of the outcome."

Blindly, Lonely, Lovely liner notes: