Fall is without question my favorite season to experience in Rhode Island. If you don’t share my love for all things autumn (haunted corn mazes, hoodies and pumpkin everything included), fear not! A welcome breeze of exciting electronic dance music events is making its way to some of our most beloved local music haunts […]
PRONK! is heading into its 10th year! Providence knows this festival as one heck of a fun street festival. But PRONK! is more than just a parade and a party; it is specifically organized to amplify voices of social change. PRONK!’s manifesto states many points, including encouraging interaction with music to promote social change, reclaiming […]
The fall season is a perfect time to go see jazz around Rhode Island. As the weather begins to cool and people start piling up the layers of outer wear, musicians ditch the outdoor stages for the clubs and local hangs. Here’s a snippet of the excellent shows coming to the state this season. […]
1. Sunday, September 10: Roky Erickson’s Psychedelic Ice Cream Social; 4 to 7pm; $15; All ages; POP, 219 W Park St, PVD. If you were like me, you were cursing the sky back in February 2014 when Roky and the Black Angels were canceled due to a couple inches of snow and a parking ban. It […]
There’s a case to be made that the most important decade for punk rock was the ‘80s. Yes, the ‘70s gave birth to the style and in the ‘90s it took on the mainstream, but the 10 years between were an artistic incubator. The ‘80s gave rise to indie labels SST and Sub Pop while […]
At 11:59pm on August 31, 2017, Providence’s media landscape will change forever: 95.5 WBRU, Brown University’s radio station that was for over 40 years a haven for alternative rock and local music, sold their FM signal to the Educational Media Foundation’s Christian music radio service K-Love. When the news of the impending sale got out […]
Bands that ride a sonic wave always provide a blissful listening experience. Sometimes they sound atmospheric and perhaps even a bit spaced out. Other times they create stellar progressions while basing off classic rock riffs. Philadelphia act The War on Drugs does a little bit of both with their fourth album A Deeper Understanding that […]
The art of the one-man band is captivating. Seeing a musician perform numerous instruments at once is a unique experience. The music is inventive and a tad different than what you’d hear with a full band. Scott H. Biram of Austin, TX, has been performing this way since the ‘90s and he’s developed a dedicated […]
Josh Homme has been feeling the urge to dance. The prime member of Queens of the Stone Age turned up the rhythms and changed things up a bit to give that sensation. Their seventh album Villains, due to be released Aug 25 by Matador Records, is a testament to the band’s sonic progression and fearless […]
[See later Dec 2017 interview: motifri.com/hr-bad-brains-pop] Documentary subject Paul “H.R.” Hudson, the frontman for Washington, DC, punk legends Bad Brains, and director James Lathos were both in attendance for a screening of Finding Joseph I at the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich, RI, on Aug 18. Following the screening, recent Rhode Island transplant Ted Leo […]