The Montvales return to Knoxville with an album and a concert: 'Feels like a milestone'

After busking, relocating and quarantining, locally-founded band The Montvales will kick off the release of their second album with a hometown show in Knoxville Feb. 10.

The band was started in 2019 in Knoxville by Molly Rochelson and Sally Buice as they pursued a career in music. Five years later, the folk band is releasing its second album, "Born Strangers," on Feb. 2.

"We made it at the Tractor Shed Studio and Goodlettsville, Tennessee, right outside of Nashville. And it was produced by our friend Mike Eli LoPinto, who's the guitar player for Chris Stapleton and has produced a lot of other great records," Rochelson said. "It's our first one with a full band. He assembled this just really killer team of Nashville musicians for it."

Hometown show in the Old City

To celebrate the release of the new album, The Montvales have returned to Knoxville for a 10 p.m. Feb. 10 show at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria, 200 E. Jackson Ave. There's a $5 cover to attend.

"I am really excited! We're bringing a full band of folks that we've met in Cincinnati, so it'll be really sweet to have those two worlds come together for a minute. We've played in Knoxville a few times over the past couple years and it always feels good," Buice said.

Rochelson said Barley's might have been the first Knoxville bar she visited that was specifically for concerts. The two will be joined by Ben McLaughlin, a local musician and friend of the band. The combination of playing in Knoxville at Barley's with McLaughlin is a "very full circle homecoming moment."

"It's going to be a really fun combining of worlds, and also really pushing our comfort zone because this will be our first full-band shows," Rochelson said. "It feels thrilling. Feels like a milestone."

From busk till dawn

Early on, Rochelson and Buice joined the chorus of musicians and performers on Market Square. They were buskers, and fit right into the role because Buice's brother used to busk.

"It was a good way to get early reactions to songs and just get practice. I think it also formed our sound a bit. We got used to trying to really command attention and project," Buice said. "We bonded over the sampling of humanity you get spending time out on Market Square."

"There's an illustrious busking scene on Market Square, and there always has been, and it's always been weird and I feel like we learned a lot from it," Rochelson said.

Busking led to new opportunities, like being invited onto WDVX to perform and being introduced to Knoxville's music community. However, it taught them to embrace rejection and embrace themselves while people passed by on Market Square without lending an ear.

In 2020, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rochelson moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, while Buice moved to Colorado to work on a ranch for a season. They released their first album, "Heartbreak Summer Camp," in 2020.

Buice moved to Cincinnati and the two began playing music consistently, and even started writing new songs. The songs for "Born Strangers" were written between 2020 and 2022, focusing on these transitions and new life experiences during the pandemic. The two worked with a full band for the first time. They were excited to go through the collaborative process in forming the songs with the band.

"I really like the songs on this album," Rochelson said. "We had so much time to sit with them because of the pandemic ... and I think that they get really specific about some pieces of what life was like and stories we've collected during that time in a way that is really satisfying to me, and I feel really proud of."

Keenan Thomas reports for the Knox News business growth and development team. You can reach him by email at keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The Montvales return to Knoxville with new album, homecoming concert