Dore’s new book, The Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock ‘n’ Roll also out this fall
“Sweet to Me” video here
A wise and tender collection of rock, folk, and vintage Southern power-pop.
— INDYWEEK
North Carolina-based Americana singer Florence Dore has announced new fall tour dates in support of her recently released album Highways & Rocketships out on Propeller Sound Recordings. Dore’s backing band for the tour will feature the rhythm section of the legendary dBs—Will Rigby on drums (also a member of Steve Earle and the Dukes for 15 years) and Gene Holder on bass—as well as Son Volt guitarist Mark Spencer. Dore’s forthcoming book The Ink in the Grooves Conversations on Literature and Rock ‘n’ Roll will be released October 15.
Highways & Rocketships, Dore’s first solo album in 21 years, hits the sweet spot between classic rock, Americana and 1980s-vintage college radio. The hooks, ambience and arrangements are impeccable, evoking both modern-day pop sense and vintage blue-eyed soul, featuring contributions from some of leading lights of the past four decades of American indie-rock –Mark Spencer and Will Rigby (Dore’s husband since 2004), sometimes-Springsteen bassist Jeremy Chatzky, dB’s members and Peter Holsapple, Southern Culture on the Skids bassist Mary Huff, Mipso fiddler/vocalist Libby Rodenbough and legendary R.E.M. co-producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter among them.
Bob Dylan Institute’s Director Sean Latham called The Ink in the Grooves, Dore’s latest book on rock and literature, “a weird and wonderful record of the secret harmonies between literature and rock.” With writing by and interviews with the likes of Bob Dylan, Dom Flemons, Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, and Steve Earle–and on the literary side of things, by Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Dana Spiotta–The Ink in the Grooves provides a backstage pass to the creative processes behind some of the most exciting and influential albums and novels of our time.
Florence’s Tour is part-rock, part-talk and features straight-ahead rock shows as well as public talks about why rock matters & readings from the new book. Catch Florence and her band over this monthlong tour in regular rock venues, but see if you can find them in surprising spaces off-stage as well—the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, for example, a high school in Georgia, a performance space in Fayetteville Arkansas, a public library in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, and others. Together, the rock shows and other programs on this tour aim to emphasize public belonging in a moment during which connection could really be of some use in this world.
“Florence Dore is both sterling songwriter and august academic, and is thus uniquely qualified to captain The Ink in the Grooves, her new book which brings together savvy rockers and their fiction-writing counterparts to create as sweet a mailbag full of love letters as has ever been assembled on the subject.”
Peter Holsapple, the dB’s and Continental Drifters
Tour Dates:
SEP 8 THU – Carrboro, NC – Peel Gallery: Public Humanities Rock n Talk @ 8:00pm
SEP 10 SAT – Asheville, NC – House Concert in Historic home, West Asheville @ 7:00pm
SEP 12 MON -Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light @ 7:00pm – RB Morris: Music And Words
SEPT 14 WED- Nashville, TN AmericanaFest Panel “Arkansas Delta Roots” @ 11:30am
SEP 14 WED – Madison, TN – Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge @ 5:30pm w/Jon Byrd Music
SEP 16 FRI – Little Rock, AR – Stickyz @ 7:30pm w/Bree Ogden
SEP 17 SAT – New Orleans, LA – The Howlin Wolf-Den @ 9:00pm w/Dash Rip Rock
SEP 19 MON- Fayetteville, AR- Pryor Center @ 4:00pm
SEP 20 TUE – Fayetteville, AR – Smoke & Barrel @ 7:30pm
SEP 22 THU – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway @ 8:00pm w/Cave States
SEP 23 FRI – Tulsa, OK- Institute for Bob Dylan Studies @ 5:00pm
SEP 24 SAT – Tulsa, OK – The Mercury @ 8:00pm w/Waylon Payne
SEP 25 SUN – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silverleaf @ 7:00pm
SEP 29 THU – Athens, GA – U of GA, Athens-Wilson Ctr. for Humanities & Arts @ 4:00pm
SEP 30 FRI – Athens, GA – Hendershots @ 7:30pm w/Dave Marr
OCT 1 SAT – Birmingham, AL – The Nick @ 9:00pm w/Rebecca Egeland
OCT 2 SUN – Water Valley, MS – This is Noteworthy Art Space @ 6:00pm
OCT 3 MON- Coffeeville, MS – Yalobusha Public Library & Town Square @ 4:00pm
OCT 5 WED – Atlanta, GA – Smith’s Olde Bar @ 8:00pm w/Jon Harris
OCT 6 THURS- Memphis, TN – University of Memphis @ 4:00pm w writer Robert Gordon
OCT 7 FRI – Memphis, TN – BAR DKDC @ 7:30pm
NOV 30 WED- New York, NY- “States of Country” @ 8:00pm w/ Laura Cantrell
DEC 1 THU – New Haven, CT – Cafe Nine @ 8:00pm w/Bronson Rock
DEC 2 FRI – Cambridge, MA – Atwood’s Tavern @ 9:30pm
DEC 3 SAT – Bennington, VT -Coffee Bar @ 8:00pm w/ Chris Erikson
DEC 5 MON- Burlington, VT- Radio Bean @ 6:00pm w/ Creston Lea
DEC 7 WED – New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 @ 7:00pm