Monte Pride is a Michigan-born, Michigan-based singer-songwriter & fingerstyle guitarist whose songs recall the delicate vocals of Simon & Garfunkel, with guitar-work reminiscent of Nick Drake and The Tallest Man on Earth. He blends haunting melodies with vivid lyricism, bringing stories of love, loss, and longing to life in a complex array of healing, soul stirring song. Monte has supported Michigan favorites like Joshua Davis, Luke Winslow King, Breathe Owl Breathe, Gifts or Creatures, Escaping Pavement, The Ragbirds, and Michelle Held, and has performed at Wheatland Music Festival, the Ten Pound Fiddle Concert Series, Earthwork Harvest Gathering, Buttermilk Jamboree, Holler Fest, and Pumpstock.
Monte's new, sophomore album, “Even in Absence," was released on August 21, 2020. The record, postponed from April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, presents healing songs to remind that experience, relationships, lives, their love and light persist, “Even In Absence”. Themes of loss & resilience, trial & growth, culmination & change surface at the album’s center as Pride’s rich tenor voice, vivid songwriting, accomplished fingerstyle guitar technique, and lush arrangements spellbind. Monte Pride tracked the songs over a 12-month period throughout the state of Michigan. The album involved many active artists in the state’s music community, featuring Sam Cooper, Brandon & Bethany Foote (Gifts or Creatures), Drew Howard, Mark Lavengood, Max Lockwood (May Erlewine, Big Dudee Roo), Laurel Premo (Red Tail Ring), and others. Pride worked at La Luna Recording & Sound in Kalamazoo with Ian Gorman, Third Coast Recording Company in Grand Haven with Joe Hettinga, Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor with Elan Dantus and Timothy Monger, and Troubadour Recording Studio in Lansing with Jon Herrmann.
“I’m incredibly excited to be sharing a collection of deeply personal songs,” says Monte. The album was written in a 3 year span following the release of his first full-length album “Hawthorne Morning Sound” in 2016, showing expanded artistic vision in instrumentation, theme, and honed songwriting skills. “The music and writing were inspired by 60’s and contemporary folk. The music of Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Tallest Man On Earth, and Gillian Welch helped shape the sound, with influences from Michigan artists like Red Tail Ring, Joshua Davis, and May Erlewine.” In addition to his original music, Monte shares a cover of Michael Beauchamp-Cohen's song “Queen of the West, And Other Stories” from Red Tail Ring’s 2013 album “The Heart’s Swift Foot”, a tune that perfectly fit the new album’s theme. “I feel grateful to have had so many amazing friends, artists, and engineers contributing to and guiding the sound to achieve the album’s vision. I hope that the songs reach the hearts of listeners to heal and uplift them.”
Condensed Bio:
Monte Pride is a Michigan-born, Michigan-based singer-songwriter & fingerstyle guitarist whose songs recall the delicate vocals of Simon & Garfunkel, with guitar-work reminiscent of Nick Drake and The Tallest Man on Earth. He blends haunting melodies with vivid lyricism, bringing stories of love, loss, and longing to life in a complex array of healing, soul stirring song. Monte has supported Michigan favorites like Joshua Davis, Luke Winslow King, Breathe Owl Breathe, Gifts or Creatures, Escaping Pavement, and The Ragbirds, and has performed at Wheatland Music Festival, the Ten Pound Fiddle Concert Series, Earthwork Harvest Gathering, Buttermilk Jamboree, Holler Fest, and Pumpstock.
Monte's new, sophomore album, “Even in Absence," was released on August 21, 2020. The record, postponed from April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, presents healing songs to remind that experience, relationships, lives, their love and light persist, “Even In Absence”. Themes of loss & resilience, trial & growth, culmination & change surface at the album’s center as Pride’s rich tenor voice, vivid songwriting, accomplished fingerstyle guitar technique, and lush arrangements spellbind. Monte Pride tracked the songs over a 12-month period throughout the state of Michigan. The album involved many active artists in the state’s music community, featuring Sam Cooper, Brandon & Bethany Foote (Gifts or Creatures), Drew Howard, Mark Lavengood, Max Lockwood (May Erlewine, Big Dudee Roo), Laurel Premo (Red Tail Ring), and others. Pride worked at La Luna Recording & Sound in Kalamazoo with Ian Gorman, Third Coast Recording Company in Grand Haven with Joe Hettinga, Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor with Elan Dantus and Timothy Monger, and Troubadour Recording Studio in Lansing with Jon Herrmann.
“I’m incredibly excited to be sharing a collection of deeply personal songs,” says Monte. The album was written in a 3 year span following the release of his first full-length album “Hawthorne Morning Sound” in 2016, showing expanded artistic vision in instrumentation, theme, and honed songwriting skills. “The music and writing were inspired by 60’s and contemporary folk. The music of Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Tallest Man On Earth, and Gillian Welch helped shape the sound, with influences from Michigan artists like Red Tail Ring, Joshua Davis, and May Erlewine.” In addition to his original music, Monte shares a cover of Michael Beauchamp-Cohen's song “Queen of the West, And Other Stories” from Red Tail Ring’s 2013 album “The Heart’s Swift Foot”, a tune that perfectly fit the new album’s theme. “I feel grateful to have had so many amazing friends, artists, and engineers contributing to and guiding the sound to achieve the album’s vision. I hope that the songs reach the hearts of listeners to heal and uplift them.”
Condensed Bio:
Monte Pride is a Michigan-born, Michigan-based singer-songwriter & fingerstyle guitarist whose songs recall the delicate vocals of Simon & Garfunkel, with guitar-work reminiscent of Nick Drake and The Tallest Man on Earth. He blends haunting melodies with vivid lyricism, bringing stories of love, loss, and longing to life in a complex array of healing, soul stirring song. Monte has supported Michigan favorites like Joshua Davis, Luke Winslow King, Breathe Owl Breathe, Gifts or Creatures, Escaping Pavement, and The Ragbirds, and has performed at Wheatland Music Festival, the Ten Pound Fiddle Concert Series, Earthwork Harvest Gathering, Buttermilk Jamboree, Holler Fest, and Pumpstock.
Photo by Shaina Mahler