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,...
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. Want to see your favorite Rhode Island...
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....
Cover artist Elliott Italiano of Jamestown is a self-made glass artist. As a young adult, Italiano's interests centered on fashion, inspiring thoughts of pursuing a degree in luxury marketing and design. He relates to his past...
MAD Magazine cover, Feb 2016: Donald Trump and Alfred E. Neuman We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process...
Cover artist Mina Miki of Providence calls her baby blanket her longest friend. “His name is Blankie, but now he looks less like a blanket and more like a piece of tangled silk,” she says....
We caught up with violinist Timothy Fain and asked him a few questions about his upcoming Providence performance with Philip Glass for FirstWorks (at the Vets, Feb 25). What’s it like to work with Philip Glass? I’ve learned a lot from him, by doing what I love most – performing. We’re learning by doing and […]
Imagine a sound that combines the intensity and fury of Danzig-era Misfits with that classic cool of acts like Led Zeppelin and ’70s Aerosmith and you have an infectious band from Asbury Park, NJ, called The Battery Electric. Loud, energetic and always down to have a good time, this fearsome foursome have their third full length, The […]
When I was a young girl, the movies made quite an impression on my malleable mind. I would walk out of a spy flick feeling suave and sophisticated, and if my sister suggested we stop for ice cream on the way home, I would sit in the car and dream while she and my dad went in […]
Hold onto hope, people. And I don’t mean clinging to the East Side street sign while bracing for 40mph winds and ice in your face. Although if you find yourself in that predicament, godspeed and we’ll wait for you at the bar. I mean hold onto the hope that someday, somehow, we will see dirt, […]
Epic Theatre Company’s Shining City takes place in Dublin, where John (Thomas Briody), a middle-aged businessman, pours his heart out to his therapist Ian (Jim Brown) about his wife Mary, who died in a horrific crash. John has been distraught and guilt-ridden since. He can’t sleep at night and sees Mary lurking in his house. Is she […]
Aries: Your ruling planet Mars slides home to Aries, raising your energy level and sparking your ambition. With Venus here too, Aries is able to strike a balance between aggressive and diplomatic. You attract like a magnet now. It is a good time to make plans for the future. Bounce your ideas around among your friends […]
In these achingly cold temperatures, plotting a warm getaway is a great way to distract yourself from the misery of being stuck inside for months on end (and no, I don’t do winter sports … and yes, I did just return from a wonderful trip to Disney World). Even if you don’t have the opportunity […]
The 2015 annual Providence French Film Festival is dedicated in memory of its long-time director, Shoggy Waryn, who passed away only days before the opening of the festival last year in February 2014. Waryn, a native of France, was active with the festival since joining the Brown University faculty in 2001 and became the festival […]
Kris Hansen The Viking Jesus Kris Hanson has been a staple on the local music scene performing both solo and with his band Viking Jesus for the past 20 years. His new record, Kris Hansen The Viking Jesus, is a hodgepodge of both the indie folk of solo work and the more Beatles-esque inspired rock of […]
In the late ’90s, the MP3 file format was born. This new digital compression technology allowed audio files to be much smaller, easier to transfer, easier to store and easier to share, even on old-school dialup computers. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had a choice to make. Either they could purchase this technology […]
