Priscilla Block opens her next chapter with "Hey, Jack"

(Interview, written piece by: Jeffrey Kurtis/photo credit: Britton Lee) 

As the early evening sun had just started to slowly descend over Nashville, showering the stage at 1^st and Broadway in a bright glow, the 4^th of July crowd milled about as they staked lawn chair claim to their space for the biggest party this side of the pandemic.

2021 was a much-needed year of re-emerging back to normalcy, but for a fresh-faced newcomer who had just landed her breakout song “Just About Over You” in the Top 30, this stage was the biggest that she had played up to that point.

“I used to play at these bars that you see all around you, and now I’m here on this BIG stage,” exclaimed a spirited Priscilla Block that day. “Never stop dreaming y’all,” she said with an encouraging exclamation point that would launch one of the best career surges of the past 2 years.

Fast-forwarding to just a few months ago; Friday June 9, 2023, and 50 yards away from that 4^th of July stage on the edge of Broadway, Priscilla Block opened the second day of CMA Fest with a performance in front of a capacity crowd at the Chevy Riverfront Stage where she showed pure admiration for her ever-growing fanbase in a spotlight shining moment that stamped just how far country music’s hottest rising star had come.

Block now sets her exciting next chapter in motion with the release of what might be the most anticipated song of 2023, “Hey, Jack.”

“I feel like a lot of my songs have been directed at someone, but this one is just talking to the whiskey,” Block said about the tone of the moody new song, which shows an evolution within its flare that she tells felt like a natural progression coming off a similar vibe on “You, Me, And Whiskey.”

Further twisting into her noticeable evolution, she continued diving deeper into the song and her need to grow as an artist and writer while still carefully maintaining signature themes of familiarity so to not alienate her fans or who she is at her core.

“I never want to be the artist where you say that you've already heard that a million times from me. There's definitely still me in this song - lines like "Wal-Mart had press-ons" and "Walgreens covered the roots" - those are me! But there's also that moodiness that's a bit different. It's important to change it up for me a little bit like that, but not completely.”

Block co-wrote the song with Randy Montana, Jeremy Stover, and Dave Cohen, and she gave us a peek behind the curtain when she metaphorically took us into the writing room with her, placing high praise on all three of her co-writers and candidly sharing how the song could have just as easily been one for a guy singer:

“I was the only girl in the room that day, and I was just honored to be in the room with them. All three are such amazing songwriters! You know, I don’t have a super high range with my voice, and it almost feels like a dude could sing this one. I happened to be the girl in the room that day, but if it had a been a guy in there writing with them then this could have easily been a guy song,” she openly shared before then tilting into why it’s so unique coming from her, “but the female voice and that perspective gives it that something different.”

But “Hey, Jack” was so much more than just another typical song release for the country star; it was a concept of the total package that’s aptly earned her the tag of marketing genius – something she humbly blushed on when we labeled her with.

From the song release to the accompanying music video, her fashion on the CMA Awards red carpet, the social media output, and the announcement of her 2024 ‘Hey, Jack Tour,’ Block did everything right to hype this release, but she did it for the right reason – HER FANS!

“That brown sheet I had on the bed in the video…I was like, I’m gonna wear this on the red carpet,” she exclaimed with a smile. “You see a warning vest hanging in the bathroom during the video,” she said, alluding to the bright yellow outfit she wore that same red-carpet day. “And the bulldozer,” she said with a laugh… “That was crazy!”

We’ve seen her bold fashion statement over the past 6 months with wearing safety vests on stage, and we needed to know the story behind that unique fashion choice, which she was elated to tell as she gratefully showed her appreciation for her exuberant fans.

“I wore a safety vest at a show one night and then suddenly the fans showed up in them and they had my lyrics written on the back of them. That’s why I did what I did for the CMA Awards red carpet. When I got invited to the CMA Awards, I was like HOLY CRAP I just got invited to the CMA Awards! But if it wasn’t for the fans then that would have never happened, so I went all out for them.”

So, what’s next for Priscilla Block? New album?

While she couldn’t really tell us too much on that, she did say that a lot of its already been recorded and is ready to go while then sliding into talking about her upcoming tour and telling us that fans can expect to hear some of those new songs on these shows; igniting the excitement for these upcoming dates when she said, “I want to go bigger with everything on this tour; The songs, the performances, and we have a whole new merch line for it that I’m really excited about.”

As she throws open this next chapter of her career, we paused with her for a moment of reflection on her Welcome To The Block Party album where she gratefully shared how it was a milestone marker for her career and it opened the floodgates to everything that’s now happened, while then transparently stating that “Me Pt. 2” is one song that she thinks would have made another great single release from it.

“I was so vulnerable on that song. I wrote it by myself at 2AM and the response to it at the shows is always so strong. That’s not usually the case for a ballad. That connection with it, and there’s just something I’ve always loved about that song.”

But throughout our entire conversation, while we focused most of it on the here and now and the what’s next, her humbleness continually drew me back to that day when I was standing in front of the 4^th of July stage two years ago when she said, “Never stop dreaming y’all!”

“Don’t let anyone try to change who you are,” she said with bold confidence when asked to give a piece of advice to those aspiring artists and writers who are out there pounding the pavement today, before placing pure appreciation on Justin Moore when we asked her to take us into the moment she found out that “You, Me, And “Whiskey” had struck #1, echoing that similar statement she made two years earlier to now become the dream maker herself for generation next:

“Oh man! We cried, we partied…we did everything you do in those moments. It was really cool that Justin saw something in me and believed in me like that to be on this song with him. It’s something I’m hoping to do someday for someone who’s coming up in the industry now just like he did for me!”  

Catch Priscilla Block on her ‘Hey, Jack Tour’ in 2024:

February 7, 2024 - Moonshine Beach- San Diego, CA

February 8, 2024 – Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA

February 9, 2024 - Buck Owen's Crystal Palace - Bakersfield, CA

February 10, 2024- The Fremont Theater - San Luis Obispo, CA

February 15, 2024 – Showbox - Seattle, WA

February 16, 2024  - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR

February 17, 2024 - Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA

February 23, 2024 - Tannahill Tavern & Music Hall - Fort Worth, TX

February 24, 2024 - The Hall - Little Rock, AR

March 8 - 10, 2024 - C2C: Country to Country Festival - United Kingdom (*Festival)

March 15-17, 2024 - CMC: Rocks Festival - Willowbank, Australia (*Festival)

April 18, 2024 - The Pageant - Saint Louis, MO

April 19, 2024 - The Intersection - Grand Rapids, MI

April 20, 2024 - Roxian Theatre - McKees Rocks, PA

April 25, 2024 - The Paramount - Huntington, NY

April 26, 2024 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA

April 27, 2024 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.

May 2, 2024 - The Georgia Theatre - Athens, GA

May 3, 2024 - The Windjammer - Isle of Palms, SC

May 4, 2024 - The Ritz - Raleigh, NC

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