PITTSBURGH — A former Freeport High School student will be returning to Pittsburgh tonight on a national tour with country music artist Big Smo.

Cassandra Sotos, a South Buffalo Township native now living in Nashville, Tenn., has been part of the tour since May, playing electric violin and mandolin as well as providing backup vocals for the artist known for combining country and rap genres.

The tour includes a stop at the Altar Bar on Penn Avenue at 7 p.m. today. Doors open at 6 p.m.

“I’m so excited about it,” Sotos said of her return to Western Pennsylvania. “I was happy to see the date on the calendar. The people who supported me for so many years will have a chance to be there.”

Big Smo is touring in support of his album “Kuntry Livin’” — his first record with Warner Bros. which peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Top-200 charts and reached the top 10 on both the country and hip-hop charts.

He also had a two-season reality TV show on A&E which chronicled his life as a country rapper and Tennessee farmer.

Sotos joined his tour after moving to Nashville in October to pursue her musical career full-time.

“In May I was approached by Big Smo’s team to audition for his upcoming tour,” she said. “Someone saw me playing in downtown Nashville and recommended me to them.”

Since then she has been on stage three or four times per week.

“We’ve been everywhere from Florida to Canada,” she said.

Performing music professionally was always a dream for Sotos, who began playing violin at age 4 after seeing the instrument at a day camp put on by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

She later joined the Armstrong County League of Arts when she was 10. She still returns home annually to teach at the group’s camps.

In high school she played with the North of the Mason Dixon band, touring the tri-state area and performing frequently in Pittsburgh.

She graduated from the PA Cyber Charter School after spending three years at Freeport High School, then went to Penn State University and majored in industrial engineering.

“I think some of the most creative people are engineers,” she said, linking her interest to the field of study.

After college, Sotos spent a couple years in New York City, working a day job as a consultant while continuing her musical career on the side. She worked on a variety of projects, collaborating with different artists including Tony Harnell from the heavy metal group TNT and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal from Guns N’ Roses.

The groups she has been part of in the past have opened for country stars like Toby Keith and Brad Paisley, but her current tour with Big Smo puts her with the main attraction.

She said a concert at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth may have been the most memorable event of the summer. The 127,000-square-foot venue is regarded as the world’s largest honky-tonk nightclub.

“You look around and there are pictures of every single country and rock artist you can think of playing there,” she said. “Everyone plays at Billy Bob’s. And that Texas crowd never disappoints.”

Sotos said they performed an unadvertised show at Stage AE last weekend, but said tonight’s gig will mark her first scheduled time playing in Pittsburgh in 8 years.

She said her time with Big Smo has been a great turn for her musical career.

“Everyone here wants you to grow as a musician,” she said.

Sotos hopes someday to release her own solo album that she can return home to play.

“Hopefully that comes sooner rather than later,” she said. “I’ve been writing my own music, too, and everyone here has been so supportive of one another. I don’t have a timetable, but it’s something I definitely want to end up doing.”