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....
In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I’m treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, “Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?” “No,” I answered, “but I served in a company of heroes.” -Mike Ranney Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne WWII This Veterans Day, 96 years to the day since the WWI […]
Beer bars in Rhode Island are popping up like the unholy love child of Starbucks and rabbits. It seems like everywhere you turn, even gritty little dive bars are dedicating at least one tap to something like Heavy Seas or Sierra Nevada. Of course, there are still a handful of tried-and-true holdouts that staked their […]
If the thought of the holiday season fills you with an icy, quivering dread, if the sound of silver bells sends flurries of cold nausea tinkling down your spine, if the idea of holiday gift shopping invites a retching panic to engulf your heart, then you are experiencing a completely normal mammalian stress responses to […]
Okee dokee folks … The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. This time of the year it starts to take a lot to get your butt off the couch and get out the door. As the colder weather takes over it takes even more to entice you to layer up the […]
There’s no reason that, after over 35 years, Casa Diablo should close up, shutter the doors and windows, and clean out our lockers. So here we are, in the pages of Motif. We think you all know what happened to The Providence Phoenix and while we mourn the loss of our longtime home, your superior […]
Going into summer 2014, Woonsocket’s unemployment rate was nearly 10 percent — well above the state average. And it was particularly tough for teenagers to find a job in a market where they were sometimes competing with unemployed adults. Tough, that is, unless you were the mayor’s son. Or one of his friends. Woonsocket’s new […]
1. Saturday, November 15: Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt, Priests; $10 advance / $12 day of; 8pm doors / 9pm show; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket. Great month for indie rock. Deerhoof return to Providence supporting their new album La Isla Bonita. The band crossed noise with indie pop for a result that leads to all songs […]
you can check out Steve’s other work here : http://www.stevemardo.com
Do you have a nickname? Gi What do you never leave home without? Purell What’s your favorite book? *Tuesdays with Morrie* What’s your favorite movie? *Dirty Dancing* What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? My mom’s stuffing What are your feelings on turducken? Why mess with perfection? Slow roasted turkey is the way to go. Where’s your […]
Ongoing 110 Annual Little Pictures Show & Sale: The oldest exhibition of its kind in the nation, Little Pictures features original artworks sized below 16” x 16” for prices at $300 or less. All sales of original fine art in the State of RI are also tax free. All are welcome to attend the […]
