FAVORITE INDIE ROCK ACT 2025 – SUE’S GARAGE
Sue’s Garage is a band that keeps busy with shows. They play solid rock & roll that sounds just at home in a garage as it does in a sweaty basement. The songs are catchy with interesting guitar lines guiding them. They have a laid-back style that doesn’t take anything away from their energy. The 2025 Favorite Indie Rock Act would fit well on any musical bill, which is a testament to their strong songwriting. “Winning the Motif Award for RI’s Indie Band of the Year is an amazing achievement for us,” the band says. “We started playing music together in the spring of 2020, peak Covid, socially distanced outside of our town’s local library, just trying to pass the time. To look back on all of the hard work we’ve put into Sue’s Garage as a project and know that we’re being not only noticed, but appreciated and encouraged by the people here in the RI music scene means the world to us. Sometimes we’ll be practicing in the garage or working on new music, and we’ll randomly remember that people besides ourselves and our families like the music we create. If you asked Elijah or David if they’d ever be on stage in 2019, they’d have told you ‘Hell No,’ but here we are.” The band recently released a single, “Beehive,” and are hammering out plans for the remainder of the year. “We’ve been working on self-recording and producing a new 8- or 9-song EP for well over a year now. After months and months of trial and error, teaching ourselves sound engineering (shoutout Zach), soundproofing the garage, recording, re-recording, and re-re-recording, we’re happy to announce that we’re not too far off from finally being able to share it with the world! We’ve been gigging with some of these songs since 2023, so to finally have releasable versions is a huge accomplishment. As soon as it’s out for streaming, we’ll be out playing it for you all summer long.”
FAVORITE REGGAE ACT 2025 – DUDEMANBRO
Dudemanbro built a strong fan base quickly with their laid-back party reggae style. They’ve already reached legendary status by winning their third Motif Award for Favorite Reggae in a row. The eight-piece from Narragansett sound like a relaxing day at the beach with a cooler full of vices. “Of the 7+ years now we’ve been a band, we are incredibly honored to have been chosen for a third year running as RI favorite local reggae act by our friends, fans, and family,” the band says. The band has three releases under their belt so far, with Live From the Rhode being their most recent. They have some big shows coming up this summer. They’ll be headlining the Greenwich Odeum on May 31 and opening for Crooked Coast at Paddy’s Beach Club on July 11. “We’re continuing to find new and fun things to bring to the table, and trying to collaborate with as many local acts as we can,” the band says. “We will continue to constantly make new music, so no one ever feels like they’ve gone to the same show twice. There’s always something new or different at one of our shows and I think that’s a big part of why people enjoy coming back to watch us play.” •
Photo: Dudemanbro, by Olivia Lunger