Finally, I came across Rasta Ron Givens, an interesting and insightful blog by a true lover of reggae music. The writer of this blog, Rasta Ron, is a reggae drummer from the San Diego area. Throughout the years he’s backed many well-known reggae bands, like Big Mountain, Sister Nancy, Ishmael and the Peacemakers; the list goes on. This means a life of tours and traveling, new experiences and interesting people, which, of course, means a ton of enjoyable stories - which is exactly what Rasta Ron shares with his blog. His posts kept me interested and wanting to read more because not only were the stories from a perspective of a touring and talented reggae musician, but because this musician (as a writer) shared a distinct voice, unlike many of the other reggae music blogs I’ve come across.
His writing has a very informal touch to it that makes each piece seem very personable and intimate - as if he were a good, long-time friend and we were just hanging out, talking story, recounting memories, and sharing interests.
His blogs tend to include a lot of sentences, words, and phrases that are bolded. This seems to either emphasize a point, illicit humor, or highlight an important name or term. For example, the opening paragraph of his blog post, “Does The World Love Reggae?,” goes:
“My girlfriend, Lisa, used to say to me, “Oh, reggae isn’t that popular… Nobody listens to reggae”. She definitely had no idea what the frig she was talking about.”
The use of this bolded sentence expresses a sense of humor while also emphasizing a point. The blog continues on to talk of how reggae music has spread throughout the world and how, today, there are popular reggae bands from many different countries.
From smiley faces to irie rasta faces, another unique aspect about Rasta Ron’s writing is his use of emoticons in a bunch of his posts. These serve to promote the intimacy and informality of his posts, adding a sense of personality that makes it feel as if you know each other and are simply having a conversation.
I really enjoy how he uses hyperlinks throughout his posts. He links often, and many of his links direct the reader to more information on a band or to more information on a term or idea, which is great. However, his most enjoyable links lead readers to a hilarious picture or video, which emphasizes the point he’s making yet in a truly humorous and satirical way. For example, in his post “Victor, the Butcher,” Rasta Ron writes about a guy named Victor Essiet, whom he was on a tour with in Texas, and shares a story of why this guy is one of the biggest asshole’s he’s met. Early in the post he includes a bolded statement and a great hyperlink:
"But as with any situation, there is always going to be an asshole.
If you are reading this and are a dude…don’t ever be THAT guy."
I thought this was really funny, and a great way to employ hyperlinks. I’m definitely going to consider this type of linking for my own blog. Just for kicks, here’s another great link from Rasta Ron’s post, “Death By Tiger Bone,” where he shares a funny experience with a crazy drink called Tiger Bone, in which he was told to try a sip and he’ll be drumming up a storm on stage. Rasta Ron said it was one of the best gigs he ever played, and...
“I don’t know if it was the placebo effect, but man, I was charged up and played like an animal… I was hooked on tiger bone.”
What a great way to embed humor into the writing. Rasta Ron’s informal and personable voice comes through in every one of his posts making them interesting and engaging pieces to read, which is exactly what I hope to achieve with Catch A Fire.
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