Along the Way

Kevin So's third album, Along the Way, captures a rising young artist just where it says it does. Seasoned with familial recollections of the artist as a younger man, the meat of the album consists of a performance at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, during which So's professional presence and theatrical abundance come through in truly diverse colors. In the timely lyrical lesson "Individual" (the title track to his last album) and the more recent parable "Just Like You (I'm an American)," So reflects on his own musical past while dealing with the shared cultural legacy of his audiences. The rest of Along the Way strolls from the paternal tribute "The Great Wall" through the funky "Yellow Mama Blues" and the bouncy "5 Days in Memphis" to the gentler yet no less emotive title track and renditions of Carl Cacho's timeless singalong "Save Me a Seat" and Cyndi Lauper's equally (though differently) timeless "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Throughout, Along the Way demonstrates what an ambitious talent can do with peace and persistence, and what enlightened joy he can bring to those who choose to really listen.