Hold the Spark should appeal to anyone who wishes Tom Petty was still around to make records.

-David Menconi, Walter Magazine

On Hold the Spark, Florence Dore has taken… conventional or traditional forms of rock but elevated them with insight and lyricism that adds layer on layer to produce an accessible gem.

—Nick Barber, Americana UK

A powerful crooner and as a songwriter not known for hiding too much, Dore must be heralded as the coolest teacher on campus by her college students, and rightly so. If, like me, you considered HIGHWAYS & ROCKETSHIPS a career highlight which Dore was unlikely to equal, well, she’s achieved that and more with this gem.

—Declan Culliton. Lonesome Highways Magazine

Wisely, Florence opens with “Sunset Road,” an appealing Steve Earle-styled roots rocker with attitude in her intonation. She displays wonderful phrasing & the guitars like bluejays fly beside her like a fighter jet escort. Florence asserts herself well.

—Americana Highways

Florence Dore’s latest album, Hold The Spark, is a dynamic and character-driven collection that showcases the artist’s versatility and storytelling prowess. Released through Propeller Sound Recordings, this album represents a significant expansion of Dore’s musical horizons. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of genres like country-rock, folk, ’90s alt-rock, and hints of psychedelic Americana, Hold The Spark is a tribute to the art of storytelling.

—Rockpedia

"Florence is known as the rockin' professor. Her new album is truthful, artful."

—NPR/The Great American Folk Show

"Hold the Spark [is] a sharp, funny, deeply human collection.”

—Beehive Candy

“Each year unearths previously unknown exceptional artists to us all at Lonesome Highway. For this writer, Florence Dore is most certainly one of the discoveries of 2022.”

--Declan Culliton, Lonesome Highway

“Reflective and funny and semi-biographical, while still finding room for a little acid.”

–Jordan Mainzer, Since I Left You

“Wise and tender.”

-Brian Howe, INDYWEEK

"smart lyrics and instantly appealing tunes... Florence Dore's melodies go straight to the heart."

-The Big Takeover

Nashville-born, Chapel Hill-based Florence Dore’s third record, Hold the Spark is now out. It’s a gem. With a narrative bent that ranks her with the likes of James McMurtry and an ear for melody that has earned her comparisons with Lucinda Williams, Florence delivers rich storytelling with plenty of wit. Served up in rich, emotional vocals and backed by a killer rock band, the songs on Hold the Spark span the spectrum—ranging from a tear-jerking tender love song about Florence’s daughter to a hilarious Stooges-like rocker about the stupidity of meetings (academic and otherwise); and from a sweet, wise reflection about a yearslong missed romantic opportunity to an Aimee Mann-like reflection on love and mortality. Hold the Spark, undoubtedly Florence’s strongest offering yet, features an all-star cast of Americana greats, including Jason Wilber (John Prine) and Chris Masterson (The Wallflowers, Steve Earle & the Dukes) on guitars and husband Will Rigby (Steve Earle & the Dukes, The dB’s) on drums. Mark Spencer (Son Volt) and Gene Holder (the dB’s) make appearances as well. Don Dixon (REM) produced Hold the Spark; Paul Voran (Bon Iver, Nathaniel Rateliff, Waxahachie) mixed. Hold the Spark features cameos by the great Mitch Easter, Libby Rodenbough (Mipso), Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five), Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty), and Bonnie & Eleanor Whitmore (the latter with Elvis Costello, Steve Earle & the Dukes).

The road from her first record Perfect City (Slewfoot Records 2001) to Hold the Spark has been anything but straight. As the so-called “rocking professor” at UNC Chapel Hill, Dore teaches songwriting and literature plenty. But she has also spent a lot of time riding around on Steve Earle’s bus catching up with her Dukes husband Will Rigby, writing books, putting on conferences—including one at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—and raising their daughter. Back in 1994 the Posies covered Florence’s holiday heartbreaker “Christmas” for the Geffen release, Just Say Noel, and over the first pandemic months, she co-created Cover Charge, the charting compilation of NC artists to benefit Cat’s Cradle. Florence’s second album, Highways & Rocketships (Propeller Sound Recordings 2022) won Best Americana Album of the Year at Lonesome Highway Magazine in 2022, and Florence toured extensively behind that album, selling out New York’s Rockwood Music Hall and packing clubs from Cleveland and Boston to Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans. She landed opening slots with Steve Earle, Southern Culture on the Skids, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and Dash Rip Rock. Mojo Nixon (RIP) was a fan and gave her records generous spins; Steve Earle and others at Sirius XM continue to play several tracks from Highways and Rocketships.