Ronda Matson

Open "mics" or "mikes" are everywhere these days. Have you been thinking about joining the fun or hoping to improve your open mic experiences? Based on my years as a host, performer and listener, here's food for thought.

#10. Know your host. If you're new, briefly introduce yourself. 

#9. Have a plan. Be prepared, but flexible to change.  Avoid saying "I have no idea what I'm going to play."

#8. Strive to memorize! You'll feel liberated and can engage your audience better.

#7. Be professional and…

The new year has started, but not in the best way.  A cold and the flu turned out to be the least of it.  I never knew her, but when 10-year-old Emerson Barbaro died tragically in a sledding accident in Minnesota, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I’ve thought of her and her family ever since that late-night phone call from my daughter, Erin, who was Emmi’s music teacher since Kindergarten.  We humans look for the sense in things, but some things just make no sense.  There was really nothing meaningful I…

The bad things in life so often come out of left field, which is totally annoying.  When the good things do, it’s such a relief.  Last weekend, Bob and I went to see Tom Rush perform for the first time ever.  Needless to say, we were mesmerized all night.  We bought his new CD at the intermission and the guy said, “Tom will sign that for you.”  I envisioned him behind a table, protected and carefully managed.  Cool, I thought.

After the show, someone pointed and said, “Go get your CD signed.”  There had…

Spring!  It’s my favorite time of the year.  Green comes from brown and gray.  Dark, cold, rainy days yield brilliance.  

Spring = Hope. 

It’s the season of optimism, of new beginnings, of starting over. 

Starting over isn’t always easy. When you lose the words you’ve written because the power suddenly goes out or forget the last number you entered in the calculator, it’s inconvenient and frustrating, but simple. Other times, it isn’t.  Sometimes it’s a fight for life.  

As many know, I’ve faced the…

For once, I’m glad it’s raining.  The day is a mirror of my sadness as I consider the world without Georgia in it. 

“I met her on my lonesome day.”  It’s so true. 

A week after yet another brain surgery operation, in the Fall of 2006, I met Georgia Allen.  I was missing half of my hair & had covered my baldness & stitches with Erin’s wide knit American flag headband.  Somehow, I felt stronger with it on.  I was determined that the guitar-picking nails of my right hand would not be lost like my hair, like…

I wonder. We’re on the phone while we drive, on the computer while we’re on the phone, texting while we’re on the computer while we’re watching television. We’re Techno-Jugglers. Most agree that this is just the beginning.

“Multi-tasking” is a trendy word now. We’ve taken it to a new level. With everything at our fingertips, does the good outweigh the bad?  One study suggests we’re becoming dumber, not smarter. 

I find it hard to resist the temptation to reach into my pocket when I feel the hum of my…

I got my football "fix" yesterday, but I'm still trying to get over my disappointment for Brett Favre.  When a guy gets knocked down that many times & still manages to stay in the game, well... I think better things should have happened for him.  So it goes in the Game of Football, though.  Come to think of it, so it goes in the Game of Life.  

I’m sitting at the computer as the wind makes ocean sounds & the rain smacks my windows.  It’s cold & dreary.  Lord knows, my mood is close to matching the day…

We run.  Everything is so busy ALL THE TIME.  I'm starting to wonder if there is a slow button in Life.  I'm thinking, "No."  However, even as I say that & believe it, when I think back to Saturday night, I would answer, "Yes."

I was standing in my favorite corner at Rossi's & I was doing what I love to do.  I was playing music.  People wandered in.  I knew many of them & came to know many others.  Somehow, the rush of Life felt far away.  I was conscious of just those moments, of doing just that one…

So much is happening so quickly.  My mind spins thanks to the new "tweets & blogs" cyber mentality.  I think I'd better get used to it, though.  It IS what's happening.  You need to be LinkedIn, Facebooked, MySpaced & you'd better be Tweeting or you're just... well... out of it. 

I'm still trying to understand how HootSuite can save me.   Can it? 

Stay tuned!

Peace