Kevin Coloso’s Island Vibes are Elevating Hearts and Minds

by Jonathan Bristow

With the sweet, irresistible strums of his treasured ukulele and his spirited reggae band, the Collection of Lone Souljahs, the inspiring singer-songwriter is sharing the positive vibrations from Portland to Maui - and beyond!

Kevin Coloso is a bold one. 

The ukulele slingin’ singer-songwriter is living his dreams - and you’re invited to the party!

The supremely talented, native Hawaiian musician is inspiring audiences up and down the West coast with his reggae band, the Collection of Lone Souljahs (CoLoSo), bringing the good times, an infectious energy, and a message of hope and love with them to every stage they grace.

Inspired by the likes of Fiji, the incomparable Bob Marley, and countless other legendary musicians from his beloved Hawaiian homeland, for more than ten years Kevin and crew have been elevating hearts and minds with their unique and energetic spin on the music of his people.

Two albums in - and with a third in the works! - the journey has been transformative for Kevin. From Maui to Portland, the people he’s met and the stories he’s collected along the way have forever changed him. 

That’s the power of music!

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Kevin on the Ascent Radio Podcast to hear the story behind his music, as well as his insights about the way music moves us - the power it holds to draw us together and break down barriers between us.

Collecting Fellow Lone Souljahs

Reggae is immersive on the island.

It’s just the way of things on Maui, where Kevin grew up. 

It’s everywhere!

So from the womb, as Kevin came up on the island, the music was with him. All around him. 

And it was in him.

The seeds for his music dream were sewn early.

As the college years came along, his curiosity for what lies beyond his beloved island home took him across the Pacific to Washington State, where he attended Washington State University. After graduating in 2010, that same curiosity beckoned him to the Portland, OR area. He needed some BIG city adventures before he could return home - plus he heard it was tax free!

He settled in across the Columbia River from Portland in Vancouver, Washington, where he connected with one of his best friends (and his mentor), Kaloku Holt. Kaloku had a band in town at the time, and he took Kevin under his wing, showing him the ropes and getting him acquainted with the blossoming roots music scene.

After playing with the band Positive Vibrations for two years, Kevin felt called to step out on his own.

The muse was coming alive in him.

As he started penning his own compositions, he began hitting up fellow musicians around him to form his own band, which became the Collection of Lone Souljahs (or Co-Lo-So, after his last name.)

And for more than ten years now, Kevin and CoLoSo have been serving up their energetic island vibes to listeners all over the Pacific Northwest - and beyond!

The Life He Has Chosen

Like every great songwriter, Kevin is a collector of stories.

Some of the band’s most inspiring tunes come straight from his own story, like the rousing “The Life That I’ve Chosen,” the title track from the band’s 2016 debut album, This Is The Life. In his own personal anthem, Kevin celebrates the courage it takes to choose yourself - to take on the risk of all the unknowns and to follow your heart into the dreams it holds for you.

Maybe not everyone will get it.

And maybe you’ll fall flat on your face.

But each of us have to look in the mirror everyday and answer for the choices we’re making - what we’re giving ourselves to and how it aligns with what truly matters to us. 

That theme of courage, and the willingness to step into the unknown, despite the risks, to find the life that is out there for each of us is a thread that ties so much of Kevin’s music together, and what makes the band’s message so compelling!
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Another incredible story Kevin draws upon shows up in the gorgeous, Hula-inspired, “‘Olapa,” a groove from the band’s 2023 sophomore album, Fortune. A fan favorite, and for good reason, in the song, Kevin shares pieces of a story from a dear friend of his, a Kumu Hula (Hula teacher, master). After a bothersome quippy remark she received about Hula from an uninformed Zumba instructor, the friend wrote an article about the sacredness of Hula for the people of Hawaii. 

In the beautiful tribute to her reflections, Kevin croons, “Hula’s not a dance, it’s a way of life…” as he helps elevate and amplify the sanctity of Hula for his people, and shares the pride and honor that comes with being an ‘Olapa of Hawaii.

​In addition to the inspiring stories… there’s also the rally cry.

If you hit up a live show with the band, the anthem you will likely find yourself immersed in to close out their set is, “Fortune Favors the Bold Ones,” a burner that lights up the stage, and also the final track on the Fortune album.

On this one, Kevin takes the familiar idiom and builds the phrase into a rousing, inspirational tune that calls listeners to be bold ones - to “never surrender to a life that only leaves us crumbs.” 

As Kevin puts it, if you choose to “follow your dreams, with a feverish passion,” he would consider you a “bold one.”

“You are bold if you can do that.”

Thus, by his own definition, Kevin is truly a bold one.

And because of the courage and passion he has breathed into his own dreams, he has built a life beyond what he could ever have imagined - and met so many incredible people who have inspired him along the way.

The Journey Ahead

Kevin is all about the songs that make us feel.

Over the years, with all the time spent in the spotlight in front of audiences, and among the crowds at the festivals and shows he and the band have shared in, what Kevin has learned is that music truly does, in a mystical, profound way, bring us together as people.

Music moves us.

Kevin studies carefully and draws inspiration from the legends that have paved the way for himself and others in the roots reggae scene. One of his heroes is Fiji, whose bop, “Joweena (Sweet Hawaiian Girl)” Kevin has been covering since he was a teenager! What he’s learned as a student of artists like Fiji, and the legendary Bob Marley, is the way these artists convey their message by first creating music that is so incredibly beautiful, so rich, and technically on-point. They reach the masses first with transcendent music, and the experience is so compelling that it opens listeners up to then hear the heart of the artist.

It all begins with the music that makes us feel.

He points to masterworks like Marley’s Exodus as case-in-point. How an album like this is capable of moving an entire nation of people, an entire world of people, because the songs themselves - first and foremost - make people feel.

And when we get on that level together, that’s where the magic happens.

That’s where music has the power to cut across every barrier between us - including language! We can be moved and drawn together by a song that we might not even understand the words to because it makes us feel.

As a student of his craft, these are the kinds of heights Kevin aspires to as a songwriter.

But what makes it all worth it is the people.

The stories he’s collected from the thousands of people along the way, from his fans, and also from the new people he’s meeting all the time as the band continues to expand their reach. 

He wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world.

The people and relationships he’s made have been utterly transformative in his life. They have made him who he is today and shaped the loving and open-arms approach he takes to life. ​​​

This journey - and all of the remarkable stories and lessons Kevin and the band have collected along the way - is the inspiration behind their third album, which is currently in the works!

And, obviously, we can’t wait to hear how Kevin and crew craft the story of their remarkable journey!

It’s sure to be inspiring -

Coming from a bold one.

For More With Kevin...

To hear our interview with Kevin in its entirety on the Ascent Radio Podcast - including clips of CoLoSo music and his thoughts on all the songs we’ve highlighted from his story - click here to locate the podcast on your preferred provider, or listen directly in the Ascent Radio app - available for free(!) in both the Apple and Google Play stores.

Also make sure to tune in to Ascent Radio with us over the summer as we feature parts of the podcast with Kevin and all of the incredible songs he’s highlighted for us as a part of our Good Trouble summer playlist.

​If you haven’t already, follow Kevin and CoLoSo on Facebook (ColosoBand) and Instagram (@colosoband) to keep up with the band on their tours, for show announcements, and info on new music releases! Make sure to give their records a spin on your preferred streaming platform. And more than anything, make sure you get out to one of their stellar live shows! (That’s where the magic truly happens.)

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