Conversations with Kevin Wilson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Wilson.

Hi Kevin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Well, it’s kind of a long story, but bear with me.

I am an attorney, but I’ve always been a singer, dancer, actor, and performer at heart who wants to expand what he can do by trying new things. I was inspired by my mom, who was offered a singing contract with Motown before she decided to go to college and pursue a PhD instead. She was still a singer after she earned her PhD and got married, even though she chose a different route from doing it full time. So, I knew from a very early age that I could still be an entertainer, even if I did not do it as a full time gig. When I was a kid, I would run around the house and impersonate my favorite artists, like Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Donny Hathaway, and would even try my hand at impersonating all of the voices in “We Are the World” (from Lionel Richie to Michael Jackson, and even Cindy Lauper) just to entertain people. And, just like my mom, I wouldn’t stop singing and entertaining people even as I pursued other interests.

As I grew up, I continued singing and performing with my high school drama club and I became the lead singer of a synth-pop band called Vital Red. I then went to college and became the lead singer in a funk-pop band called Hundred Acre Wood, and helped to write some original songs that we ended up recording and releasing independently. Even after I went to law school at the University of Georgia to earn my Juris Doctorate degree, my need to perform never left me. So, after becoming an attorney and joining Alston & Bird, I decided to try something new and started taking salsa dancing lessons. After a couple years of taking lessons several times a week and practicing almost every day, I started teaching salsa part time and performing with (and doing choreographies for) a professional salsa dance group, Salsatlanta. And I still teach salsa lessons to this day.

My love of salsa dancing introduced me to several people from other cultures who were Spanish speakers and who in turn introduced me to several musical art forms that intrigued me. One of those art forms was flamenco. So, driven by my desire to try new things and continue to perform outside of my day job as an attorney, I studied to become fluent in Spanish and to learn how to play the cajon (a traditional box drum used in flamenco presentations), and I became the lead singer in a flamenco performance group that I performed with for about 18 years, until 2022.

Meanwhile, between the salsa dancing and my other interests, I learned about this crazy group of lawyers who were putting together an original all-lawyer musical production in 1999 that would serve as a fundraiser for the Atlanta Bar Foundation (the charitable arm of the Atlanta Bar Association). It was called “A Courthouse Line,” and it eventually evolved to affectionately be called the “Atlanta Bard Show.” I just had to get involved. I performed in that first show, and, when the show turned out to be a huge hit, the Atlanta Bar decided to make the Bard Show a semi-annual event. So I got involved with the writing and directing team for the second original show and for several shows after that, and I have been a writer-director and performer in seven Bard Shows over the past twenty-seven years, including the most recent show that I co-wrote and directed in 2024, and the upcoming show in November 2026 in which I am serving as a co-writer and director.

My desire to expand what I can do musically also led me to start singing at local jazz jams in 2018 and start performing in my own jazz-inspired shows at local venues. This led to me meeting and singing with other local musicians and some Atlanta-based wedding bands (which has also been fun)! Now, my desire to push myself to try new things as a performer over the years has culminated in the ultimate unexpected opportunity . . . I have been hired to be the featured performer at a professional jazz venue in Atlanta, St. James Live, on September 13, 2026, in a show that combines jazz, pop, salsa, R&B, and everything that I am as a performer.

So, just like my mom with her PhD, my pursuit of a Juris Doctorate degree has not stopped me from being the performer that I was always meant to be. As I would tell any person with a creative spirit, no matter what their outside profession may be, you are not defined by the limits of your chosen profession. You were many things before you added the title of “lawyer” or “doctor” or “accountant” (or whatever) to the list of things that you already were. So, don’t stop being those things just because you added a new title to that list. That part of you that is really you may start to fade away if you start to define yourself solely by your profession. So keep that other part of you alive by expanding and nurturing it so that you will never lose sight of who you really are. You just might be surprised at how far those things can take you and how much joy they can bring to your life.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t always been easy, especially when it came to striking a balance between my work life and my life as a creative person. When I worked at a big law firm, I was burning the candle at both ends in a way that was unsustainable when it came to finding the right work-life balance. So, I had to ask myself as a mid-level associate what kind of life I really wanted to lead. Did I want to devote all of my waking hours to the law firm in an effort to make partner, or did I want to be a better partner to myself and my family by finding a way to better balance my work life, family life, and creative life? In the end, I left the firm in 2001 to join the Georgia appellate court system, and I haven’t looked back. I am now the Assistant Director of the Georgia Supreme Court Office of Bar Admissions, and I got to this point while doing all of the creative things and things that I have wanted to do with my family at the same time.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
No matter whether I’m writing, directing, teaching a salsa class, or performing in a show, I always work to connect with the audience involved. That generally starts by connecting with something real in myself that can then help me meet the audience members where they are. If something is funny, let’s all laugh. If you’re having trouble learning a step, I will remind you that it’s OK because I had to struggle to learn some steps, too. If I’m singing about heartbreak, I want to draw from my own experience to show you that it’s OK if you have gone through the same thing. If I’m singing in Spanish, I want to convey the feeling of the song to you so that you can understand it even if you don’t speak Spanish. In all aspects of my life as a performer, I want to bring people closer together and bring them a little closer to knowing me as a person. So, I guess you could say that I specialize in connecting with people through creative expression.

I think that’s why I have become known for performances that inspire people to dance, sing, and enjoy life. I will even go right into the audience during lots of my singing performances to be with the audience so that we can dance and sing together. When you can show people that you can meet them where they are, that you are enjoying life, and that you can relate to their experiences, it can often inspire them to enjoy life right along with you.

A lot of people seem to think that the fact that I’m a lawyer sets me apart from a lot of other performers, because they don’t expect a lawyer to also sing jazz, dance salsa, speak Spanish, sing flamenco, play cajon, perform in wedding bands, and write and direct original musicals. But I’m always most proud of those moments when people have no idea that I am a lawyer and just love what they see in me as a performer.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve been really lucky as a performer to meet people who have supported me and helped me along the way. Every time I would stick my neck out to try something new, I would meet people who believed in me enough to give me a chance. I tried salsa and found great mentors. I tried flamenco and found a place to sing. I tried writing and directing musical comedy shows, and I found a group of like-minded writers. I tried singing with wedding bands and found more gigs. I tried jazz and found a group of supportive musicians who have pushed me into professional venues. None of that could have happened without a great deal of luck. At the same time, though, I can also say that none of it would have happened if I had never taken a risk to try something new. So, I would say that, to increase your chances of having more good luck than bad luck, keep on trying things!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevi_kev72/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.wilson.572118

Image Credits
Eric Voss
Julian Mejia