originally published: 06/29/2024

Rory Block relives her days growing up in Greenwich Village on her new album. In the 1960s, Greenwich Village was at the epicenter of the burgeoning folk music boom that was happening around the world, and a young Rory Block had a ringside seat to this evolution. With the release of her new album, Positively 4th Street: A Tribute to Bob Dylan, she gifts the sounds of that era to listeners everywhere.

Taking a break from her award-winning Power Women of The Blues series, which has shone a light on women songwriters and performers over her three most recent albums, Rory throws her skills as a finger-picker and traditional blues arranger behind one of the greatly respected leading artists and songwriter of all-time: Bob Dylan. Performing all instruments herself, Rory combines acoustic and slide guitars, as well as drums and acoustic bass, to create a one-of-a kind arrangement of Dylan’s songbook.

“Probably the most persistent and enthusiastic requests from my fans for anything outside of the blues genre has been the repeated calls to record a Bob Dylan tribute," explained Rory Block. "As with all my recordings, the songs that move me the most deeply, touching heart and soul, are the ones I choose to record.”

In addition to hits like "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Mr. Tambourine Man", the album includes lesser known songs from Dylan's more recent catalog.  Songs like "Ring Them Bells" and "Everything is Broken" from 1989's Oh Mercy album - one of our favorites at New Jersey Stage; "Not Dark Yet" from 1997's Time Out of My Mind; and two tracks from 2020's Rough and Rowdy Ways - "Mother of Muses" and "Murder Most Foul".

The album is available from the Stony Plain Records label website, Bandcamp, Amazon, Apple Music, and Spotify.

 

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Born in Princeton and raised in Manhattan, Rory Block is a Gold-album selling and 7-time Blues Music Award winner, widely regarded as the top female performer of traditional country-blues. Rory’s commitment as a blues preservationist with an ear for finding the soul of every song she performs has rewarded her with accolades from the blues and roots music community.

 

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