Matthew Kazuo Ridgeway

So back in February, I had the chance to go to Hawaii to work onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America as a guitarist! To be honest, I felt very validated when I was offered the role - the music industry is full of ups and downs, but sometimes life finds ways to tell us that our hard work is worth something, and that cool things still happen.

I was onboard for 4 weeks. Musically speaking, it was quite challenging. The whole experience sort of functioned as a guitar bootcamp for me, and I learned a lot from my fellow musicians. We played tons of different styles, like reggae, rock, and jazz for our poolside sets, and 70s/80s/etc for our nighttime lounge sets.

The best way to describe ship life is as a floating college dorm. It took some getting used to, but I liked it. You get assigned a roommate and a small cabin, there’s community launderettes, a crew mess hall, and there’s lots of interpersonal drama lmao.

Overall, I’m extremely grateful for the experience of working on a cruise ship. It certainly wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but there were a lot of great moments - hiking in Maui with friends, ripping nasty solos over “Long Train Runnin,” gathering to watch Lord of the Rings at 1am, and staring out at the never ending blue ocean on the top deck. I learned a lot about myself even in such a short time - ways I see myself contributing to the world in the future, what kinds of wholesome people I want to surround myself with, and even ways to build momentum and keep life moving in the midst of craziness and unplanned happenings.

For now, my attention is mostly turned elsewhere - to other jobs, other career moves, other priorities - but who knows, maybe I’ll be back one day!
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#hawaii #norwegiancruiselines #guitarist #guitar #livemusic #aloha
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PS - this track is called “Shoreside,” and I produced it yesterday in Ableton! I just wanted to make a beat that was bouncy and bubbly to use for this reel :)