Page 10 - BiTS_08_AUGUST_2024

BiTS INTERVIEW: RORY BLOCK

Aurora "Rory" Block (born November 6, 1949, in Princeton, New
Jersey) is an American blues guitarist and singer, a notable exponent

of the country blues style.

She found the blues when she was 15 and later was tutored and

mentored by blues giants such as Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary

Davis, and Son House.

Her latest CD is “Positively 4th Street: A Tribute To Bob Dylan”. Ian
McKenzie spoke to her on the telephone at her home in New York.

RB: Hello.

BiTS: Hello there. Nice to speak to you.
May I call you Rory?

RB: Yes, yes, it's Rory.

BiTS: Good, that's wonderful. I want to
talk to you about the new record and
what I want to do, if I may, is to start
almost at the very beginning. On your
website, you've got a little note which
says that you first saw Dylan, I don't
think you really met him, in your
father’s sandal shop. You describe him
as an artistic-looking man. What does
that actually mean?

RB: He was unique, not like the average
person walking down the street. He had
a very artistic appearance. I don't know
how else to describe it. I knew he had to
be somebody like a poet, or a musician.

BiTS: I think Dylan thought of himself
more as the poet, certainly in the early
days, than as any kind of an entertainer,
I guess.

RB: Yes, I agree. Afterwards my dad
told me Bob had just signed with a
label, but that he didn’t care much
about the business side of things. He
was a poet first and foremost who