Musician Kevin Lawson emerged onto the singer/songwriter scene in Decatur, GA in the 90’s. Throughout his years in Nashville and beyond, he’s “been writing and performing songs that feel familiar the first time you hear them, yet still have the capacity to surprise you and elevate a room,” says Lawson.
CMJ Magazine stated, ”Vocalist Kevin Lawson has one of those amazingly emotional voices that silences a crowd, causing jaws to drop in unison,” according to Lawson.
Connecting with his audience, Lawson says his stories come “straight from his soul”, singing about love, loss, life, and death. To his credits, Lawson says he’s shared bills with artists like Maroon 5, Vince Gill and Nancy Wilson, and had his songs recorded by rock and country artists, in addition to participating in USO tours to Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Releasing 9 albums to date, two in this past year, including a 3-song Christmas EP titled ‘Maybe Christmas’ and a new full length record ‘Now Is Perfect’, Lawson, happily married for 20 years in October, shares the inspiration behind his latest releases.
Tell readers a bit about yourself. Are you local, if not how/when did you get to the area, and what made you want to come to St. Augustine?
My name is Kevin Lawson and I moved to Flagler Beach in 2018 after 14 years in Nashville where I lived & worked as a Singer /Songwriter and touring musician.
My wife & I honeymooned in St. Augustine and dreamed of being able to end up in the area one day. We needed to get closer to family in Daytona and Flagler Beach was the perfect spot for us. Absolutely LOVE where I live and am so grateful to be here.
What is your background in music and entertainment?
My background in music is as a singer & songwriter. I’ve released 8 original full length records, won some awards (ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, Best Vocalist & Best Unplugged Artist) and toured all over the world including 4 USO Christmas Tours.
My music is available on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, etc…
Talk about your record and how you selected the songs. Are they originals, tributes, etc., and why are they meaningful to you?
The Christmas record is a 3 song EP titled Maybe Christmas. I wrote 2 of the songs and then covered I’ll Be Home For Christmas. I love Christmas music and every few years I would write & record a Christmas tune. The 3 on Maybe Christmas were singles previously released and I thought it would be nice to have them all together, had some beautiful artwork done and we released it along with the video for I’ll Be Home For Christmas incorporating the Nights of Lights. I’ll be home for Christmas is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs and I thought it was especially poignant as we were in the midst of a national lockdown. My family lives in Atlanta and I was not gonna be able to see them during the holidays so it was very heartfelt.
COVID really made people across the world appreciate the ability to connect in person. How did it impact you and your music?
COVID has robbed all of us in some fashion. Personally it was (and is) the ability to gather with loved ones. The impact COVID has had on my music was that I was determined to not to let the “shut down” be for nothing. I got busy and recorded my latest record “Now Is Perfect” in my home studio and released it earlier this year. Since touring hasn’t been an option this past year I played Live on Facebook for 20 Sunday nights in a row. It was fantastic and we had such a great community of folks listening, requesting and participating from all over the world.
What’s in the future for you?
The future is to keep writing, recording and hopefully performing as much as possible…until things get safer I’ll keep playing live on Facebook and praying for better days!
