{{Short description|American indie pop band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = | image = Dear Nora 2018.jpg | caption = Katy Davidson performing with Dear Nora in 2018. | alt = A person with glasses and short hair sings into a microphone onstage while playing guitar. She is wearing a long coat (akin to a lab coat) with several images painted on it, including a record and a pink cartoon of Cher with the slogan "What Would Cher Do?" | image_size = | alias = | origin = Portland, Oregon | genre = Rock, indie pop | years_active = 1997–2008, 2017–present | label = Magic Marker, States Rights Records, Valve Records, Orindal Records | associated_acts = Lloyd and Michael<br>Manta<br>Dirty Projectors<br>Casiotone for the Painfully Alone | website = [http://katydavidsonandfriends.com/ Katy Davidson and Friends] | current_members = Katy Davidson | past_members = Gretchen Hildebran<br>Jaime Knight<br>Jake Longstreth<br>Marianna Ritchey<br>Nora Roman<br>Antonio Roman-Alcalá<br>Ryan Wise }}
'''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.<ref name=AMG>{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Bryan|title=Dear Nora|publisher=Allmusic|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p431440|pure_url=yes}}|accessdate=2008-04-03}}</ref> Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel.<ref name=AMG/> They named their new band after Lewis & Clark College music professor Aaron Beck.<ref name=mercuryinterview>{{cite news|last=Gnade|first=Adam|title=Up & Coming (concert listings)|publisher=Willamette Week|date=2006-10-12|url=http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=71157&category=22187|accessdate=2007-04-03}}</ref> Dear Nora's first album, ''We'll Have a Time'', was produced by Amy Linton of The Aislers Set and released on the Portland label Magic Marker Records in 2001.<ref name=AMG/>
After moving to San Francisco, 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 and EPs.<ref name=AMG/> From 2004 to 2007, they performed locally in San Francisco and toured with musicians such as The Blow, Mirah, and YACHT.<ref name=myspace>[http://www.myspace.com/dearnora Dear Nora] at MySpace</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Heller|first=Jason|title=Dear Nora|publisher=Denver Westword|date=2005-11-17|url=http://www.westword.com/2005-11-17/music/dear-nora/|accessdate=2008-04-03|archive-date=2011-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608070919/http://www.westword.com/2005-11-17/music/dear-nora/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
After a tour of Florida with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone in 2008, Davidson retired the name Dear Nora, though they continue to record music.<ref name=mercuryinterview/> 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.<ref>Dear Nora, [http://www.statesrightsrecords.com/shop/SRRSD.html States Rights Records]</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lomberg|first=Corey|title=12 Years Later, Dear Nora Looks Back on the Beauty and Terror of 'Mountain Rock'|date=22 February 2017 |publisher=noisey.vice.com|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/12-years-later-dear-nora-looks-back-on-the-beauty-and-terror-of-mountain-rock/|access-date=2017-09-21}}</ref>
In May, 2018, Dear Nora released their fourth album ''Skulls Example'' on Orindal Records.<ref>Rettig, James. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20180425102406/https://www.stereogum.com/1990111/katy-davidson-on-skulls-example-the-first-dear-nora-album-in-12-years/franchises/interview/ Katy Davidson On Skulls Example, The First Dear Nora Album In 12 Years]". Stereogum, April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2019</ref>
In October, 2022, Dear Nora released ''human futures'' on Orindal Records.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dear Nora: human futures |url=https://www.humpday.news/music/dear-nora-human-futures |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=HUMP DAY NEWS |language=en-US}}</ref>
==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<ref name="Allmusic's The New Year review">{{cite web|last=Cramer|first=Stephen|title=The New Year [EP] - Dear Nora|url=http://allmusic.com/album/the-new-year-ep-r591444|work=Allmusic|accessdate=26 November 2011}}</ref> * 2003 - split w/ Mates of State (7"), Polyvinyl Records * 2004 - ''Mountain Rock'', Magic Marker Records<ref name="PopMatters Mountain Rock review">{{cite web|last=Heaton|first=Dave|title=Dear Nora: Mountain Rock|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/dearnora-mountain|work=PopMatters|accessdate=26 November 2011|date=1 December 2004}}</ref> * 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 - ''Skulls Example'', Orindal Records * 2022 - ''human futures'', Orindal Records
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links == *[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p431440|pure_url=yes}} Dear Nora] at Allmusic *[http://www.magicmarkerrecords.com Magic Marker Records] * {{Official website|http://katydavidsonandfriends.com/|Katy Davidson's official website}} *[https://archive.today/20130222140652/http://www.sfweekly.net/2001-05-16/music/dear-nora/ Review] at SF Weekly *[http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/d/dearnora-well.shtml Review] at PopMatters *[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/sunset-on-humanity/ Dear Nora: Sunset on Humanity]
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Category:Indie rock musical groups from Oregon Category:Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Category:Polyvinyl Record Co. artists