KJFM NEWS — On The Verge Artist is featured each month in The Eagle 102 Patriot. The June/July On The Verge Artist is Priscilla Block. You can pick up a copy of The Patriot on news stands around the Twin Pike Region.
Priscilla Block found her recipe to a career in country music at an early age included the standard blend of limited finances, hard work, long hours, true country grit and an unexpected secret ingredient.
Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Block began displaying her musical talents by singing in church and performing at talent shows early on. She played the piano and even began writing her own music in her teen years. Encouraged by her mom, she picked up the guitar she found in the attic of her family home. Block was then able add musician to her skillset. Honing her talents through years of onstage experience helped her to follow her dreams and make the big move to Nashville.
Nothing went right at first. Her house was broken in to more than once and she wasn’t old enough to even get into bars to perform or attend songwriting rounds. It was discouraging to say the least. It was while working at a yogurt shop, taking classes in the evening, and reaching what she thought may be her final straw of misfortune, when things suddenly changed. In an interview Block said one day she called her sister saying it might be time for her to move back home. Her sister encouraged her to stick it out a little longer and then Taylor Swift stepped in. That same day she talked to her sister, Taylor Swift, Block’s hero, drove by seeing Block happen to be wearing one of Taylor’s t-shirts. Block said Taylor pulled her car over to the side of the road and hopped into her passenger seat, opened the car door and was like, “Hey girl, I love your shirt!” Block said it was the moment that she needed. Block never told Taylor that she was trying to break into music, but that chance meeting was exactly the push Block needed to continue giving music a shot. She quit her job and school that night. From then, every waking hour was dedicated to songwriting.
Block and her then roommate Sarah Jones made a fake booking company to try and secure the band gigs around town. The young performer and her band were gaining some momentum when they were dealt a blow with the arrival of COVID-19. Prior to lockdown in March of 2020, Block had been writing songs nonstop, though she’d never considered sharing them on social media until then.
Block created a country fanbase on TikTok whenever she started posting songs like “Thick Thighs” and “PMS.” However, Block was still struggling for money. In the summer of 2020, she ran into an ex-boyfriend at a bar. A few days later, during a FaceTime writing session with friends, they wrote “Just About Over You.”
She uploaded her new song on TikTok and fans were blown away by her talent. They donated money for her to record the single professionally. Three weeks later, she self-released it to streaming services. Not only was her first hit entirely funded on social media by fans, but it also unexpectedly topped the iTunes sales chart…one day following its release.
In September 2020 Block signed with Mercury Nashville Records, and began working on her 6-song EP, Priscilla Block, which was released in April 2021 and featured her top 20 song “Just About Over You.” She followed that with the release her full-length debut album, Welcome to the Block Party in February 2022 where you can find her current single, “My Bar.”
After nearly a sold-out U.S. run, Block is currently on the second leg of her world tour and will now headline her run overseas in a five-date tour across the UK and Ireland.
You can hear “Just About Over You,” “My Bar,” and more from Priscilla Block by tuning into 102.1 FM or by listening to Eagle 102 online at kjfmradio.com, through the KJFM Radio App, and on Alexa. Watch for artists On The Verge every month in the Eagle 102 Patriot.