Rory Block W/Opener Son Jack Jr.

Genre:  Contemporary blues Related Artists:  Sue Foley, Bonnie Raitt, Roy Rogers, Taj Mahal, Sippie Wallace "Singing as if every syllable were filled with an explosive charge, she makes traditional blues tunes sound menacing, ecstatic, redemptive and, most important, as if they were her own." (Boston Phoenix) Rory Block began the process of making the blues her own at the tender age of 14, enabled by a Greenwich Village upbringing during the early 60’s folk/blues revival. She had already been playing the guitar for four years when she met Reverend Gary Davis, who gave her first lessons in blues and gospel. This unlikely bond led Block to seek out other folk blues legends, among them Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt and Son House ("He kept asking, ‘Where did you learn to play like this?’"). She took to the road at 15, learning the vast country blues repertoire and hammering out her own guitar style. After recording a mid-60’s instructional LP, "How To Play Blues Guitar", under the pseudonym Sunshine Kate, Block took ten years off to start a family. When she returned to music in the mid-70’s, there was a brief dalliance with pop music, but the commercial distortion of her gifts frustrated her and "I gave up totally and went back to the blues." Her heroic persistence as an uncompromising blues artist over the 20-plus years since has rewarded her with accolades such as "a living landmark" (Berkeley Express) and "one of the greatest living acoustic blues artists" (Blues Revue). For four years’ running, she took home W.C. Handy Awards, Acoustic Blues Album Of The Year in 1996 and 1999, and Traditional Female Artist Of The Year in 1997 and 1998. For more information, visit www.roryblock.com