Florence Dore “Hold the Spark”
Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Florence Dore’s song “Hold the Spark”from her forthcoming album. The album was produced by Don Dixon; recorded by Thom Canova at Overdub Lane with additional recording by Kelly Pratt; and mixed by Paul Voran; and features executive producers Jay Coyle and Jefferson Holt. It was mastered by Tim Smiley.
“Hold the Spark” is Florence Dore on guitar and vocals; Jeremy Chatzky on electric bass; Will Rigby on drums and percussion; Jason Wilber on lead guitar; Kelly Pratt on horns; and Libby Rodenbough on violins.
Florence Dore shared a little bit about the song with us: “For a mother, a child leaving home is the definition of bittersweet. I wrote “Hold the Spark” when my daughter was applying to college—excited, proud, overjoyed, and also thinking about that small bedroom with no girl I love in it anymore.
“The title remains a little mysterious to me: I guess her life began as a spark of light. And even when your children leave, that spark doesn’t disappear—if you can figure out how to hold it. It’s like that children’s book we read when she was little: the mother kisses the palm of her daughter’s hand before school and tells her to touch her face when she misses her. “Hold the Spark” is maybe the mother’s version of that.
“There’s also a way the song fills the hole it describes. When she started needing me to back off the mommy thing a bit, I poured myself into songwriting. The cycle of life—infinite spark for the artist.”
Life speeds along, and even when we are aware of that fact intellectually, it still very often takes us by surprise. Florence Dore’s song “Hold the Spark” brings us to the heart of that feeling when our once little child is off to college, and beyond. Bittersweet, heartbreaking, and Florence captures the feeling accurately in this song, as the video breaks our hearts sweetly with images of childhood turning into young adulthood.
Find the music here: https://links.propellersoundrecordings.com/florence-dore and also here on BandCamp: https://florencedore.bandcamp.com/album/hold-the-spark