Time, where did you go? It’s an unusually warm day in December, and I’m reporting on October’s happenings. On October 12th I participated in the Lizard Lounge Open Mic Main Event. If you are soul who likes to write songs and wonder where you should go to play them, I will without pause tell you to find yourself at the Lizard Lounge open mic in Cambridge on a Monday night. Technically it’s a “competition,” but that’s silly, and hopefully everyone who participates knows that, too.

Every week a winner is announced, and at the end of 6 months all of the winners gather at a main event on a Saturday night and compete for the grand prize. The real prize is being able to bask in the talent and warmth of some fantastic songwriters. I won the event back in July, and by October I was nervous. Should I lead with my best song or wait it out and save that for last? I decided to lead with my best and leave it all out on the floor, unsure of whether I’d make it to the next round. In the first round half of the performers were eliminated by 3 judges. Somehow, I made it to the last round, and came in 2nd place. I am entirely bewildered by most competitions and will happily sit in the bleachers. But I prepped hard for this. I knew I wanted to make a good impression for all of the potential collaborators that were sitting in that room, and that was my end goal. What I’m most proud of is the fact that I played my best. I didn’t feel like I could have done better. Each round that I went up was terrifying, but I was able to do justice to my songs, and that’s all I wanted. I wanted people to hear my original music.

Here I’m pictured with the amazing duo that took first place. Individually they are Steff Reed and Phoenixx doing brilliant and uplifting work in Brooklyn.

So what’s next? More songs!!