The Montvales "Path of Totality" Album Release Tour

Cincinnati-based folk duo The Montvales (lifelong friends Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson) have signed with Free Dirt Records (Jake Blount, Willi Carlisle, Liv Greene). The news arrives ahead of dates supporting The Tillers and Mama's Broke and alongside a new single called "Loud and Clear." A hint at more music yet to come, "Loud and Clear" sees The Montvales collaborating once again with producer Mike Eli LoPinto (guitarist for Chris Stapleton and Wyatt Flores, producer of Emily Nenni's On The Ranch), who helmed their well-received 2024 sophomore album Born Strangers.
Of the new single, Rochelson offers, "It’s a song about falling in love with my partner (who initially moved to East TN to go to a Bible College where dancing wasn’t allowed) at a Knoxville dive bar. The feeling of recognizing something startlingly familiar in a stranger and realizing that, seemingly out of nowhere, you’re in it together from now on."

The Montvales use their passion for literature and storytelling to craft music that reckons with the current global fever pitch. Their songs are descriptive and textured. The characters are vivid. Their stories are crucial.
Raised in the staunchly conservative state of Tennessee, Buice and Rochelson were outliers, destined to meet before they were even born. Their parents were family friends who nurtured their creative children and taught them the importance of empathy and community. Home to the Highlander Center, a historic social justice organizing space, their East Tennessee community was a hotbed for political movements and the arts. The duo took to Knoxville's Market Square in middle school to kick off their busking career, performing alongside all sorts of entertainers for an audience intent on basking in the robust chaos of the commons.
Their social issue-driven songs stem from what the pair witnessed growing up in a liberal southern community. The Highlander Center was set on fire and faced several bomb threats, there was a politically-motivated shooting at their Unitarian Universalist Church, and the Planned Parenthood where Rochelson worked was burned down. Reminiscing on the lyrics to John Prine’s “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore,” Buice explains that politically driven folk music gave her a sense of agency in dark times, and she’s always wanted to be part of that musical lineage.
“I’ve always thought that would be the best possible way to do music,” Buice says. “I don’t always set out to convey a particular message. I think it works better to see how politics obviously informs everything about our lives, and braid that into the songs.”
The pair's therapeutic approach to songwriting informs their understanding of the perplexing world around them, allowing a path toward empathy. “I’m trying to understand how people work because I’m often flummoxed by that,” Rochelson says. “Being able to zoom out and be like, ‘What must it have been like to be these people over here?’ feels like a survival skill.”
Due to the gentrification of Knoxville, Buice and Rochelson both felt pushed out of their hometown in search of a more affordable city. The duo migrated north to Cincinnati, inspired by punk-folk crusaders The Tillers, who had built meaningful careers there. It wasn’t long before the Tillers, who maintain a reputation for lifting up new artists in the area, invited them to play at Southgate House Revival, where they became regular performers.
The Montvales recorded their 2020 debut Heartbreak Summer Camp in a living room. “That’s how we knew how to play [those songs] and we didn’t have any money and so that’s how we did it,” Rochelson says. The stripped-down, DIY folksongs span their young adulthood, beginning in their teens and taking them through their mid-20s. Seeking a more polished sound, the duo recorded their 2024 follow-up Born Strangers at Sean Sullivan’s Tractor Shed Studio in Goodlettsville, TN, and sought out Mike Eli LoPinto to produce it. LoPinto brought in a band of players to help translate the duo’s songs into a much broader, collaborative sound.
The Montvales brought LoPinto back for their soon-to-be-announced next album, this time recorded at Jesse Noah Wilson’s Rancho Deluxe, a cozy home studio complete with dogs and horses galloping just outside the windows. The flexibility allowed them to stray from their traditional folk duo setup, while also drawing inspiration from Hurray for the Riff Raff and James McMurtry.
The new music blends pop country and indie sounds, combining dark tones with emotionally charged vocals. LoPinto on guitar and banjo, Mary Meyer accompanied on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and vocal harmonies, Aaron Goodrich sat in on drums, Eddy Dunlap brought a cool direction with pedal steel, and Jesse, who mixed and engineered the album, played keys and bass. The result is a bona fide, left-of-center indie pop country record: “Our wildest, most expansive work yet.”