Where did the Rhode Island music scene go?
What’s left of the scene. by Millie Cheng RISD’28published April 15th, 2026
What’s left of the scene. by Millie Cheng RISD’28published April 15th, 2026
The search for truly good music in Providence has started to feel like a personality trait. I mean that in the least pretentious way. As a young person here, I keep circling the same rooms, hoping for something real, and walking out with that same hollow aftertaste. Where are the bands, the ones my RISD professors promise defined this city? I mean come on, Talking Heads just a few decades ago were RISD students, experiencing the same hectic schedule I have now. This demythologizes the esoteric bands we’re used to hearing about, whose stories begin in some underground venue. Walking along the same paths they have, allows for a connectedness I don't have for other bands.
Lately, though, it’s been a loop of DJs recycling mainstream TikTok tracks and calling it a good time. Fun, sure. But where did the rawness go? The vulnerability? The feeling of having everything at stake?
After talking to other students, I realized it’s not just me asking this question, it's all of us. Where did the music scene go? Or maybe a better question … how can I find it?
Turns out, it’s not gone. It’s just quieter. Older. Smaller, even. Tucked into corners, carried by bands stubborn enough to preserve the cultural backbone of Rhode Island.
I had fully planned on staying in one cozy night, a movie already taking over my mind, but somehow ended up in a Reddit spiral of things to do and live music near me. My introverted self was winning until something louder kicked in, a kind of restless, almost nostalgic urge. It’s like we’ve collectively forgotten what it feels like to dance, to feel embraced by sound. So I simply went.
That’s how I found The Parlour, an intimate, Black owned venue that feels more like someone’s empty living room than a pub. That night’s lineup was Dust Ruffles, Ugly Moon, and High Planes - the last band of the night.
Lately, though, it’s been a loop of DJs recycling mainstream TikTok tracks and calling it a good time. Fun, sure. But where did the rawness go? The vulnerability? The feeling of having everything at stake?
After talking to other students, I realized it’s not just me asking this question, it's all of us. Where did the music scene go? Or maybe a better question … how can I find it?
Turns out, it’s not gone. It’s just quieter. Older. Smaller, even. Tucked into corners, carried by bands stubborn enough to preserve the cultural backbone of Rhode Island.
I had fully planned on staying in one cozy night, a movie already taking over my mind, but somehow ended up in a Reddit spiral of things to do and live music near me. My introverted self was winning until something louder kicked in, a kind of restless, almost nostalgic urge. It’s like we’ve collectively forgotten what it feels like to dance, to feel embraced by sound. So I simply went.
That’s how I found The Parlour, an intimate, Black owned venue that feels more like someone’s empty living room than a pub. That night’s lineup was Dust Ruffles, Ugly Moon, and High Planes - the last band of the night.
I walked in just as High Planes were setting up, and even before they played a note, there was a charge in the room. You could feel it in the way they handled their instruments: years of care, intention, something almost spiritual humming under the surface. And then they started.
They describe themselves as “anxiety folk,” which somehow feels exactly right once you hear it. Their set moved like a nervous system deep, string -heavy moments that pulled you inward, then sudden bursts of bright, fast guitar that snapped you back out. The lead singer, Christian Caldarone, threads in references to writers like Haruki Murakami. Somehow their lyrics make perfect sense and feel surreal but intimate, like reading something you didn’t know you needed. Velvet soft but emotionally confronting.
I was honestly caught off guard by how present they were. Not performative, just present. It made me realize how long it’s been since I actually felt music instead of letting it blur into the background.
So if you’re debating on staying in, seriously go. Go to Nick-a-Nees, Myrtles, The Parlour, The Courtland Club, The Royal Bobcat, AS220, and last but not least The Alchemy.
High Planes are the kind of band that reminds you why local scenes matter. There’s something of Wilco in their layered warmth, a touch of PJ Harvey in their edge, but they’re fully rooted here, in the Ocean State, building something real.
They’re playing again on April 17 at Myrtle with two other bands, no cover. A rare, genuinely good night waiting to happen.
Let’s bring more vibrancy into the Rhode Island local music scene!