Rory Block
Legendary Blues
Artist
Performance Review
My good friend and fellow guitarist Randy Rick lives in Dahlonega Georgia located about one
hour north of Atlanta. He invited my wife Kay for dinner and blues at a wonderful music venue called The Crimson Moon which is an 1850s era historic building that has been artfully converted into a two story coffee house and gourmet restaurant dedicated to local, regional and national performing arts. Their main mission is to present music you don't hear on the radio and popular media. They also sell paintings, crafts and other works of art and display them throughout the building. Owner and visionary Dana Marie Lachance has worked for many years building this venue and in many ways Rory Block's concert was a huge stepping stone in realizing that dream. This was a very special night I'd like to share with you. I also captured a small piece of video during three songs you can enjoy.
The evening started off with a wonderful dinner and a crowd of about 75-100 people. We had some great conversation and drink for about an hour in a wonderful atmosphere. Rory then came on stage to a warm round of applause and standing ovation. She had four Martin guitars surrounding her and each one tuned to a specific tuning. Two of them were her very own signature models. You could tell the warm welcome put her at ease and she soon fell into a nice groove. They requested no camera flashes so I was only able to grab some limited footage and one or two fuzzy photos but I can assure you she was in top form and she really looked happy, healthy and on top of her game. It's so much more of a rich experience seeing artists like this in person.
In many ways I think her story telling and humor was as enjoyable as the music and she really has some great things to say. Although myself and many other serious blues heads enjoyed the slapping popping Delta slide style her originals and more contemporary music was the highlight of the show in my opinion. Especially when she showcased many songs from her latest two CDs titled "From the Dust" and "Last Fair Deal". She had a little something for everyone. Her vocals were just fantastic and only matched by her mastery of the guitar. She certainly gave me a lesson in humility and even performed one of my favorites the "Titanic" and how the "great ship went down".
Rory played two 50 minute sets and came back out for an encore after a huge standing ovation. It was such a pleasure for me to see her in such a well organized and perfect acoustic setting. The venue even avoided serving drinks and customers until she was between songs. It was just a delightful evening and I walked away a much bigger fan of Rory Block and even more impressed with the way she carries herself on and off stage and what a genuine person she was. Her heartfelt music and respect for the blues and it's history was evident as she referenced the artists and families she learned her music from throughout the show. In fact she will return in 2007 and may bring the grandson of legendary blues artists Robert Johnson. They are often touring together mixing blues and gospel together in one show. Stay tuned to The Crimson Moon's site schedule. Many other great performers are scheduled too.
Rory is a four time WC Handy blues award winner and her 30 year career started in the mid 60s learning from legendary blues artists such as Son House who also taught Robert Johnson to play. She is regarded as the top female authority and interpreter of prewar acoustic country blues in the world today. You can see more photos, listen and purchase her CDs from her website. Please check her schedule and support her live shows. She's worth the trip.