Dear Nora is an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band formed in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in 1999 by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Katy Davidson, drummer and vocalist Marianna Ritchey, and bassist Ryan Wise. Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel. They named their new band after

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

music professor Nora Beck. Dear Nora's first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''We'll Have a Time'', was produced by Amy Linton of

The Aislers Set The Aislers Set is an American indie pop band that formed in San Francisco in 1997, after the breakup of chief songwriter Amy Linton's former band Henry's Dress. The Aislers Set's music is influenced by C86-style British indie pop. The founding me ...

and released on the Portland label Magic Marker Records in 2001. After moving to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Davidson continued to record under the name Dear Nora with a rotating cast of band members. The band released two more main albums, ''Mountain Rock'' (2004) and ''There Is No Home'' (2006), as well as several 7"

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and EPs. From 2004 to 2007, they performed locally in San Francisco and toured with musicians such as

The Blow The Blow is an American electro pop band, comprising Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne. Maricich and Dyne write, compose, produce and perform all the music. It was formed as a solo project by Maricich in 2002, and she was joined by Jona Bechtol ...

Mirah Mirah (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on K ...

, and

YACHT A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

.Dear Nora
at MySpace After a tour of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (CFTPA) was the musical solo-project of musician Owen Ashworth (born April 22, 1977) of Redwood City, California. CFTPA was active from 1997 to 2010, and released five studio albums, alongside numerous other re ...

in 2008, Davidson retired the name Dear Nora, though they continue to record music. In 2006, Davidson moved to Los Angeles, where they and Ritchey recorded ''Just as God Made Us'' under the name Lloyd & Michael on States Rights Records. Davidson now resides in Portland and performs under the name "Key Losers." In 2017, after a vinyl reissue of 'Mountain Rock', Katy Davidson reached out to several fellow musicians, Zach Burba, Gregory Campanile, and Stephen Steinbrink to play with them under the Dear Nora moniker, for the first time since 2008, on tour across the United States. In May, 2018, Dear Nora released their fourth album ''

Skulls Example ''Skulls Example'' is the fourth studio album by indie folk band Dear Nora. Released May 25, 2018, ''Skulls Example'' is Dear Nora's first new album in 12 years. Background Dear Nora, a musical project of songwriter Katy Davidson, initially form ...

'' on Orindal Records. In October, 2022, Dear Nora released ''human futures'' on Orindal Records.

Discography

* 2000 - ''Make You Smile (7")'', Magic Marker Records * 2000 - ''Dreaming Out Loud (7")'', Magic Marker Records * 2001 - ''We'll Have a Time'', Magic Marker Records * 2002 - ''The New Year'', Magic Marker Records * 2003 - split w/

Mates of State Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner (born June 16, 1974) (vocals, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano, and occasional guitar and drums) and Jason Hammel ...

(7"),

Polyvinyl Records In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted Vinyl group, vinyl () monomers. Their Polymer backbone, backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ...

* 2004 - ''

Mountain Rock ''Mountain Rock'' is the third record by Portland-formed indie pop band Dear Nora. It was originally released through Magic Marker Records in 2004. In 2017, it would receive a critically applauded reissue through Orindal. Composition ''Mountain Ro ...

'', Magic Marker Records * 2005 - split w/ What the Kids Want (7"), Shake Got the Beets Records * 2006 - ''There is No Home'', Magic Marker Records * 2008 - ''Three States: Rarities 1997-2007'', Magic Marker Records * 2018 - ''

'', Orindal Records * 2022 - ''human futures'', Orindal Records

References

External links

Dear Nora Dear Nora is an indie pop band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1999 by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Katy Davidson, drummer and vocalist Marianna Ritchey, and bassist Ryan Wise. Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel. They n ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Magic Marker Records
*
Review
at

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

Review
at

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Dear Nora: Sunset on Humanity
Indie rock musical groups from Oregon Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Polyvinyl Record Co. artists {{US-rock-musician-stub