Cincinnati-based folk duo The Montvales—lifelong friends Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson—have officially announced their third full-length album, Path of Totality, arriving March 20 via the Free Dirt label, who celebrate their 20th Anniversary this year. The photo of the duo brought to mind Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, who were often photographed with guitar and banjo, and shared an immense zeal and boldness. The music of Dickens and Gerrard became more politicised in response to growing injustice in the US, a position that Buice and Rochelson will no doubt empathise with, as they find both global events and growing unrest in the US shaping the sense of urgency in their own music. As they sing on “Word of Trouble”:
History don’t repeat itself, but it rhymes
The 12-track collection finds the duo reuniting with producer Mike Eli LoPinto (Chris Stapleton, Emily Nenni), who helmed their acclaimed 2024 sophomore effort, Born Strangers. To mark the announcement, the duo have released the hauntingly resonant single and music video for “World of Trouble.”
The album’s title is more than a celestial reference; it is a reflection of a surreal tour through the American heartland during the spring 2024 solar eclipse. As the duo moved from Pittsburgh to Texas, they found themselves caught in a “path of totality” that was both physical and metaphorical. Rochelson, who often looks to astrological symbolism, notes that eclipses are known for bringing “shadowy material” to the surface. Against the backdrop of skyrocketing costs of living and student-led protests against the genocide in Gaza, the duo felt the weight of a nation grappling with difficult truths.
Rochelson shares:
“It was an extremely surreal experience…Across the country, student uprisings called attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, demanding that their universities divest from Israel and weapons manufacturing. The same universities where students in the 60’s had protested the Vietnam war, under the same series of Aries and Libra eclipses we were currently experiencing. We were about to play the Old Quarter in Galveston, and I thought about Townes and Guy Clark and what it meant to be in this role of traveling stranger and cultural witness during such catastrophic times. I wondered what would become of us, both personally and collectively. I wrote this one on an early morning outside of Galveston, staring across the bay and trying to capture how punchdrunk I felt.”
Serving as a cultural witness to this period of upheaval and sense of uncertainty, watch the official video for “World of Trouble” below (video by Emma Underwood, Cat Rider, Taylor Deboo, Chengxi Li, and Sunwood Recording):
‘Path or Totality’ coming March 20: https://freedirt.ffm.to/path-of-totality
The Montvales Tour
January 29
Chicago, IL – Martyr’s
January 30
Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar Cultural Center
February 1
Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
February 11
Durham, NC – Magnetic Sound Studios
March 11
Toronto, CA – Horseshoe Tavern
March 12
Lansing, MI – Elderly Instruments
March 13
Paw Paw, MI – The Lucky Wolf Theater
March 21
Cincinnati, OH – Woodward Theater (Release Show!)
Tickets: https://www.themontvales.com/tour