The Montvales To Play Album Release Show at The Woodward Theater on March 21
New Album Path of Totality Due Out March 20 via Free Dirt Records
Cincinnati-based folk duo The Montvales (lifelong friends Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson) recently announced their third full-length, Path of Totality, set to release on March 20 via Free Dirt Records (Jake Blount, Willi Carlisle, Liv Greene). In celebration of the new music, they are set to play a full-band album release show at The Woodward Theater on March 21 with special guests Emma Vulnerability and Dan Freeman & Sean Geil (of The Tillers). Tickets are on sale now HERE.
Path of Totality 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. They have shared three singles from the set: "Loud and Clear" and "World of Trouble," and "Carolina." Of the latter, Glide Magazine praises, "Over a steady beat with a touch of banjo and just enough twang, The Montvales give us their gorgeously rich harmonies and ponderous songwriting. As they lyrically explore themes that speak to our current moment of injustice and disaster, the duo lays down soulful vocals that practically levitate over their warm country-tinged folk music to ultimately remind us of their talent."
Path of Totality was written over the course of the duo's 2024 tour that inadvertently followed the path of a total solar eclipse. It was surreal: they met people from all over the world in each rural gas station, everyone buzzing in anticipation. Traffic was intense. Suddenly every hotel room cost twice as much as usual. An eclipse is said to bring dark, shadowy material to the surface, often confronting us with difficult truths, and Buice and Rochelson witnessed these effects unfold around them. In the spring of 2024, student demonstrations across the country protested the genocide in Gaza at the same universities where students in the '60s had protested the Vietnam war, under the same series of Aries and Libra eclipses they were currently experiencing. Many Americans suddenly grappled with a deeper understanding of the suffering their tax dollars were funding, amidst a skyrocketing cost of living. Neither of the front runners in the impending presidential election seemed to have much to say about it. American democracy felt more and more tenuous, and the threat of a second Trump term hung heavily in the air. Under this weight, The Montvales crafted a cosmic modern America tableau that captures the political, social, and economic tensions shaping the country's landscape at the time.
Their socially conscious songwriting is heavily informed by their upbringing in the South, witnessing the tenacity of people organizing for liberation under violent and tumultuous conditions. 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.”
Path of Totality does not shy away from the weight of political strife and catastrophe, opting instead to boldly confront it. The Montvales ask us not only how we will endure despite our differences, but how we will find each other again. Their songs are descriptive and textured. The characters are vivid. Their stories are crucial.
The Montvales On Tour:
March 11 — Horseshoe Tavern | Toronto, ON
March 12 — Elderly Instruments | Lansing, MI
March 13 — Lucky Wolf | Paw Paw, MI
March 14 — Columbus Folk Music Society | Columbus, OH
March 21 — The Woodward Theater | Cincinnati, OH+
April 8 — Eddie's Attic | Decatur, GA*
April 9 — Songbirds | Chattanooga, TN*
April 10 — Pilot Light | Knoxville, TN*
April 11 — Petra's | Charlotte, NC*
April 15 — The Monarch | Louisville, KY^
April 16 — Beachland Ballroom | Cleveland, OH^
April 17 — Rose Bowl Tavern | Urbana, IL^
April 18 — Live at Leona's | Eau Claire, WI^
April 19 — Oak Center General Store | Lake City, MN^
April 22 — Showboat Saloon | Wisconsin Dells, WI^
April 23 — Hideout | Chicago, IL^
+Full Band
*with Blue Cactus
^with Chris Acker & the Growing Boys