Dead Dad Club

By: Katie Moulton

Narrated by: Katie Moulton

What are the limits of what the past can return to us—and can we make the record jump the loop?

Dead Dad Club is the lucid, prismatic memoir of Katie Moulton, a millennial music critic who grew up in a die-hard rock-and-roll family, about her father’s unexpected death from addiction shortly before her 17th birthday, and the music obsession she inherited from him that shaped her early adulthood. A quintessentially American tale about family, grief, identity, and dependency, set in the Midwest and scored in the writer’s imagination by the timeless Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Dead Dad Club follows Katie as she navigates her grief and moves to Bloomington, Indiana–the town where her parents began their love story–to write and work as a radio DJ, spinning records that defined her father, a former record-store manager, and her relationship to him. In struggling to carve out her own space, she grapples with the inevitable questions of one’s 20s: How should we relate to our families as we become our own people? Are we fated to become our parents, or can we change the narrative?

Scored with entirely original music by Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall, Dead Dad Club collapses the space between joy and sorrow, and what emerges is a personal yet universal story that spans genres and eras, richly told with tenderness, humor, and the knowledge of how nostalgia colors our lives—even as we endeavor to push forward past our grief.

©2022 Katie Moulton (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC.

An Amazing Journey with Katie and Tom

Katie Moulton has pulled off the rare feat of being introspective without being overly indulgent. I almost didn't select this book because of the title. Other than country and geography, I don't share much in common with this writer but I connected with her love of music (live and recorded) and dealing with loss. The audiobook provides the opportunity to hear the writer speak her story in her own voice.

Compelling memoir

Great weaving of different stories into one cohesive work. Moulton masterfully connects each section (that read like essays) with strong themes and a through line of mourning, growth, and Tom Petty.

Haunting debut

This audiobook fully embraces its medium, pairing a beautifully written, complex, and deeply engaging story with an original music score and a writer who truly knows how to read her own work (a rare skill in and of itself!). In addition to a narrative that would be excellent in any format, Dead Dad Club is impressively edited and a compelling listen. I meant to parcel it out over a week but binged it in a day.

gorgeous writing. deeply felt and portrayed reflection on grief and music and the power they possess to connect us all.

I loved this book so much. Gifted writer who weaved the loss of her father and their connection to music in ways that were deeply felt, beautifully portrayed and entirely unexpected.

Magnificently Deep

Katie Moulton’s story is one of inspiration. She speaks through the universal language of music, carrying us down a river of lifelong emotions. For those who have experienced any kind of loss, big or small, this work shows you the kinds of connections that can be made to both embrace and overcome the challenges that come along with such loss.

Katie Moulton’s narration is heartfelt, and the accompanying musical arrangement adds the perfect touch to her story.