[See prior update: motifri.com/iran-war-update-01] The Iran war cannot continue as it is for much longer, and this is a result of simple math. Time is running out for energy and food supply US Consumer Price Index for All...
Voting is now closed -- Join us to see who was selected Wednesday, May 276 – 10pmMyrtle, East Providence Join us for the 4th annual Motif Spoken Awards! We are excited to be returning to Myrtle to celebrate RI’s spoken word...
Ann Morrison and Marcus Phillips in the National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO. Photo by Joan Marcus KIMBERLY AKIMBO is a musical with a lot of heart, a lot of wit, and a lot of rave reviews...
Processed with VSCO with 6 preset When Steve DelMonico (vocals/guitar) approached John Faraone (drums) with an impossibly unique band name, there was no way of knowing that 10 years later they’d be sitting at Nolan’s with...
Photo: Dave Rezendes. John Faraone: a man of many bands, many instruments, and one poetic voice. While John wouldn’t call himself a poet, I certainly believe that his lyrics are simply stanzas waiting to be printed....
Photo by James Brooks. Okee dokee folks… I have referenced the Jethro Tull song, “Too Old to Rock & Roll, Too Young to Die,” A few times in my 22 years of writing for Motif, and...
(Photo credit: Keith J.G. McCurdy, from the cover art of Vudu Sister’s Adynata; photograph of the art installation LO SGUARDO - Humanitas - Physis by sculptor Igor Mitoraj at the Neopolis Archaeological Park of Siracusa...
Mount Pleasant. Elmhurst. The Valley Arts District. These are all neighborhoods whose offerings I thought I knew well, having worked in and around Providence over the last few years. But you can certainly miss a...
Buddy Mott. Once upon a time, if you wanted a tattoo, one of the things you could do was traipse to Newport from any of the four corners of the world and get yourself a tattoo...
The actual declaration of Independence was first proclaimed to the people of Newport from this building in July 1776. (Photo by Maureen O'Gorman) It doesn't take long for a person new to Rhode Island to find...
The RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced a major initiative to repair potholes caused by a harsh winter. A new Pothole Service Requests Dashboard site on the web – https://www.dot.ri.gov/travel/potholes.php – allows the public to...
The tattoo artist who goes by Mish, of Fall River, MA, created this month’s cover. “I got the nickname when I was younger, and it just kinda stuck,” she says. Also, it stirs a little...
On the “Weekend Update” satirical news segment on Saturday Night Live. anchor Colin Jost displayed a snapshot of an unhinged rant laced with profanity in the form of a Donald Trump post to Truth Social,...
VOTING OPEN NOW! VOTE HERE Wednesday, May 276 - 10pmMyrtle, East Providence Join us for the 4th annual Motif Spoken Awards! We are excited to be returning to Myrtle to celebrate RI’s spoken word community. The live celebration,...
VOTE HERE! "May your tattoo ink never run dry," as the ancient Portlandian blessing goes, has rarely been more applicable. Motif is proud to partner again with Narragansett Brewery to bring you the RI Tattoo Awards,...
By Lillian MK Photography By Olivia Lunger By Izzy Cooke ...
The Music Awards went off without a hitch this year, and over the course of the evening more than 400 local music lovers dropped by to dance, listen, and cheer on fellow musicians. We'll have...
It’s often said (well, I definitely say this), that some of the deepest conversations and connected moments can happen while one is sitting in a car. This is certainly true for the duo, band, sisterhood...
Image: Olivia Lunger. Local Civil War re-enactor Bill Sherman was having trouble recruiting young people into the hobby, so he hit on a novel idea that is perfectly suited to Gen Z. He immediately telephoned his...
The Continental Congress, befooled. April Fool’s Day originated among the French a few years into the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin had been pleading with them for any sort of assistance. The brand...
If you have been a craft beer lover over this past decade, you may remember when the first Rhode Island Brewery Passport was released. It was changed to an app in 2020. Six years later,...
After attending Chalumeau’s release party for their album BLUE at The Met in Pawtucket last August, I wrote that if you ever got the chance to see them perform live, you should jump on it....
On February 28, after 20 years of being a community staple for first dates, Super Tuesday regulars, and movie fanatics alike, CWTheaters (previously called CinemaWorld) was forced to shut its doors for good. The decline...
Last year, I had a blast and a half working on a fun commercial shoot. I landed the gig because the fella producing, Josh Kirk, asked around to find an actor to portray the client’s...
Photo: Jenn Lombari. @jennlombariphotography ssa lin has been making a local splash like a rockin’ rainstorm after a record-setting blizzard, since releasing her first single, “tallboys,” at the end of 2025. The feedback has been good,...
Here are some hot new local tracks to finish melting the ice. The Hopeless Romantics – “Quiet Kind” The third and final single from The Hopeless Romantics’ upcoming debut album, “Quiet Kind” is also a reworked...
Okee dokee folks… PLEASE stop using AI. The more it knows, the more it grows. We are feeding a beast that will someday destroy us. AI is not your friend, though it may pretend to...
Graphic by Olivia Lunger. ...
Hey idiot, why are you and your friends getting high indoors? Don't you know? We have a planet, a whole, big planet filled with trees, rivers, and critters. The outside world doesn't have to start...
Medical marijuana was legalized in Rhode Island in January 2006, and by May 2022 even recreational sales became legal through state-licensed dispensaries and authorized retailers. Yet it still isn’t safe for medical users to come out of the closet....
Spring is here, or at least that’s what people keep telling me, though it’s hard to imagine as I haven’t felt my toes since October. It’s time for the spring beers, which have taken an odd turn over the last few years. Once upon a time, spring beers were fairly traditional. Normally, a brewer worth […]
By Amanda Resche What’s that? The sun finally came out? Well, I can’t think of a better way to welcome spring than with beer, and it just so happens that it’s almost time for the seventh annual Great International Spring Beer Fest. Rhode Island’s first and largest beer festival returns to the Rhode Island […]
Plate-gate In December we reported that the school superintendent in Portsmouth had been driving with an out-of-state license plate for more than a year, avoiding paying local property taxes – even though the school committee told Dr. Lynn Krizic last summer that she needed to switch out the Illinois vanity plates on her 2003 Saab […]
“I dare you to go to the Doo-Nanny,” wrote my hillbilly POP/visionary folk art friends from Kentucky. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s a folk art festival in rural Alabama featuring the freakiest, funkiest and folkiest artists from the South. The Doo-Nanny was only a few weeks away and I searched […]
On April 1, 2013 the “Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act” went into effect, legalizing the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, and a limited amount of marijuana plants in the state of RI. It also creates a regulatory process for the manufacture, sale and taxation of marijuana. “More than seven […]
We believe in expanding media opportunities – so one of the new things we’ll be launching this year is MotifTV – video productions that give you more insight into some of the things we’re writing about. This project is in Beta – so, the bugs are NOT worked out yet. But if you’re into watching […]
It’s April! Are you kidding me? (Thought I was the victim of an April Fools’ Day joke – especially when my publisher called and told me that I missed deadline and to submit something now. Alas, he was not.) Since we’re all being foolish, I’m going to “kid” around a little today. With a gaggle […]
Okee dokee folks… I had a Rhode Island moment the other night. The weird thing is that I was in Vermont. I was waiting to go on at Radio Bean in Burlington when the performer that was playing just before me announced that she was from Narragansett. Being in the music business (and a Rhode […]
The Artists’ Exchange has been open since 2004 at 50 Rolfe Square in Cranston, serving both the community at large and developmentally disabled adults with innovative arts programs. The creative people who run the Artists’ Exchange, operating under the umbrella of Gateways to Change, Inc., have always had new ideas but limited space. With careful […]
Aries: Your interaction with others reaches a peak as the moon reaches fullness. Relationships fizzle and sizzle. You are taking a stand, expressing who and what you are and at this time it is very difficult for you to see the other guy’s point of view. You need to gain some perspective before you move […]
