Kevin So Back From Nashville, Making Music In Framingham

FRAMINGHAM, MA—Born and raised in Allston, Kevin So was long the Boston area boy and staked his territory in the musical terrain of the area after he went professional. The multi-instrumentalist, sometimes described as the Asian Stevie Wonder or Chinese American Bruce Springsteen, is known for blending intricate chords and layered instruments and pairing it with an Americana or pop country sensibility.

Now back to the area with his studio in Framingham, So left for a good chunk of time, first to Chicago, and then New York City in the early 2000s and then to Nashville in June of 2009 (with a short return to Boston in between). Off a relationship break-up, it was a good time to pursue a move he had wanted to do for artistic and professional reasons.

"I never lived in the South, and needed a change of pace after six years in NYC," said So, who plays piano, guitar, harmonica, violin, mandolin, bass and sings, and says he can fake a good shaker. "In my older age, I felt like it was a good time to work more 'behind-the-scenes' and learn and practice the craft of songwriting, be it commercial (pop, pop/country), and meet more people in the recording studio and publishing world, which seems to be in Nashville, besides NYC and LA."

So didn't know many people down there, and had fewer than ten friends from the area, but it just felt like a good move after he visited a friend there in October of 2008.

"It didn’t seem that much of a stretch at the time," he said. "There were cool little independent coffeeshops, which I like to go to sometimes. Used record stores, which I like to go to many times. And creative people everywhere. I heard a few years later that there are over 55,000 songwriters living in Nashville."

But it seems Massachusetts always calls people back, for one reason or another. So officially relocated his studio in Framingham in early February (but just got all of his guitars and keyboards there as of last week), and considers his time in Nashville as a success and a chance to grow professionally.

His initial foray into playing professionally was in cover acts as the keyboardist and vocalist in bands where they'd play up to six sets and up to six nights per week.

"We even had some choreography because we wanted to get the audience to dance," said So. "I’d always been writing songs, since I was about 15. But I think playing cover songs has always been inspirational because you are automatically raising your own bar. You can see and feel how the audience reacts to a familiar song. This is difficult to describe. But you learn not only why the song is familiar or popular."

So, who's got a show happening on Thursday, Sept. 28, at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham, logs his time spent in Nashville as "successful."

"I really hope this doesn’t sound like I’m bragging," he said, "but I'm just really grateful. I had the incredible opportunity to tour with Keb’ Mo’ all around the world for about three years, and continue to write and record music with him, which is always a learning experience. He’s become a life coach for me over the past 15 years. I got to record a blues record at Sun Studios a couple years ago and toured with this group, consisting of Germans, French, Italians and Americans - in Germany, Prague and France over the past couple summers. That was an amazing experience and opportunity unto itself."

While in Nashville, So got to write and collaborate with some amazing songwriters, artists and producers, and performed more in the studio than live while there.

"It doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to go out and see many of my friends performing live," said So, "which seemed to be about every night of the week. But it’s a balance between going out, getting inspired by other colleagues, and staying home and continually working on studio tracks. It’s not very romantic 'comping' vocal, guitar or bass tracks at home. But I always felt like the studio recording of a song is very much like a painting. It’s forever, so you might as well give it the time it deserves. Every color, every stroke, every note, every beat - every detail is important."

The approach to music, explains So, is different in Nashville.

"I think the music scene here in Boston- and now Metrowest - has always been very vibrant," said So. "Open mics and live bands everywhere. So many people - be it college students, graduates, or working class folks that consciously or subconsciously affect the artistic choices of musicians here. The difference may be that the artists may have their priorities in a different place. I hate to generalize, too. But I’ve met songwriters down in Nashville and their number one goal, if not only goal, is to get their songs recorded by someone else. Up here, many artists don’t think that way. They are the artist who records the song. Of course, that’s still a generalization. But the fact is that many publishers live and make their living down in Nashville."

It's simply the "industry" in Nashville, which also has a thriving touring act stronghold. It's not only the artists, explains so, but the road crews, bus drivers, lighting and stage crews, all seem to come out of Nashville.

"I’ve described it as a circus in a way," So told Patch. "These traveling road shows that zig zag across the USA and around the world. They congregate and prepare in Nashville. Then they are off to rock the world. Then they come back for a few days to rest, get somewhat grounded, and then they are gone again. That was my life pretty much in 2011 until 2013. When I wasn’t touring with Keb’, I was pretty much touring on my own as a solo acoustic act. Sometimes, I’d play the occasional sideman gig as a guitarist and/or keyboardist - mostly local gigs."

But family guilt pulled him back to Massachusetts. He kids, of course, but So's mom is going to be 80 next year, and he hasn't lived in the Bay State for 14 years and wants to spend as much time with his mom and family as possible.

"When I hit the eight-year mark living in Nashville, eight being my favorite number, it seemed like the right move," said So. "I still have a great relationship with so many folks in Nashville and in this Internet world, those relationships can still blossom. Face value always wins over Facetime, but it will have to do for now. I still plan to go back and forth between MA and TN at least for the next couple years."

Working on a new collection of recordings, he had written several beyond what made the cut for his most recently "Countryside" album, which was released in 2015. He cherry-picked the leftovers, and pared it down to about 10-15 songs he's been working on for a few years, most written with another songwriter.

"Most of these songs are about one-on-one relationships, " said So, "and so I wanted the songwriting process also to be rooted in a one-on-one thing. There’s an intimacy to that. It’s hard to describe, but when I think about each song, the word 'intimacy' keeps resonating. There’s even a song about an old favorite guitar and a song I wrote for my dog Monk."

Stylistically, his music has evolved from folk to R&B with hints of rap and hip-hop everywhere, and now back to country, roots, or "whatever you want to call it. In the end, it's American music." In his cover band past, he's performed everything from Janet Jackson to Snoop Dogg to the Black Crowes and Everclear."

"Some would label some of it 'Americana,' but in the end, I’m a American songwriter who sings and records his own music, mainly because I enjoy the process," he continues.

Photos submitted