Founding Act · R&B / Neo-Soul · Seattle
Montlake Avenue
Some groups are built in studios. Montlake Avenue was built on a pickleball court.
Marc, Kai, and Cole grew up on 112, Brian McKnight, and Boyz II Men — and they carry that sound with them. But they write for the people those records helped raise: 40-something, still showing up for the same person every day. Their music is about what comes after the fall — the decade-long choice, the argument you survived, the quiet Tuesday that turns out to be everything.
Three voices
Marc
Baritone Lead · Creative Director
Rainier Valley, Seattle · 43
The anchor — calm, measured, the one who holds the room together. He came close to a breakthrough with a local R&B group in his late 20s before stepping back from music for years. Montlake Avenue is his second chapter, and he doesn't perform like it. He performs like he means every word, because at 43, he does.
Kai
Lead Tenor · Production Ear
Central District, Seattle · 29
The group's instinctive creative engine. Half Black, half Filipino, he's been making beats and writing songs since he was 16 — the warm, expressive voice most listeners attach to first. He knew what Montlake Avenue would sound like before they had a name.
Cole
High Tenor · Harmony Architect
Ballard, Seattle · 27
The falsetto that makes Montlake Avenue's sound unmistakable. Classically trained since age 5, by day he teaches music at a Seattle elementary school. He doesn't lead with the training — he just delivers precisely when the song calls for it.
In Development