Norwich, NY – Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival announced the addition of award-winning blues artist Rory Block to the star-studded lineup of performers who will take the stage September 7 and 8 in Norwich.
Recently named Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year at the 2019 Blues Music Awards, Rory Block is a singer and musician dedicated to the Delta blues tradition and bringing it to life for 21st century audiences around the world.
Born in Princeton, NJ and raised in Manhattan, Block’s talent was shaped by experiences playing with great Delta Blues artists including Rev. Gary Davis, Skip James, John Hurt, and Son House.
Block described her early musical upbringing: “Many people ask me why a fourteen year old white girl from New York City felt so deeply and personally connected to the music of the black rural south from another era. How can you explain love? The music resonated inside me, felt real, beautiful, spoke to what was in my heart, moved my soul. It cried out as I cried out, it wept when I wept, it haunted and rolled and wandered as I did. I always say that before I’m white, black, male or female, I’m human. But does it really need to be explained? Inspiration is born in the deepest part of the soul, where boundaries don’t exist. If you live with your soul extending beyond the borders of your body, you never see boundaries.”
She began recording in the mid-1960s and has since received multiple Artist of the Year and Album of the Year recognitions, including five Blues Music Awards. The Blues Foundation declared of Block, “She is widely regarded as the top female interpreter and authority on traditional country blues worldwide.”
Celeste Friend, executive director of Colorscape, stated, “We are thrilled to bring Rory Block to the stage on Sunday, September 8. She is a tremendous talent and a world renowned artist, and the perfect fit for Colorscape’s 25th anniversary. Our attendees are sure to be blown away by the performance.”
Block joins the previously announced headliners Slambovian Circus of Dreams, performance painter Robert Channing, and world-champion slam poet Buddy Wakefield. Other live acts include, John Gorka; Fred Eaglesmith and Tiff Ginn; Runa; Caravan of Thieves; Answer the Muse; Nate Gross and Americana Strings; the Real Time Dixieland Band; Bruce Beadle and Mike O’Connor; the Dovetones; Drumzzone; the Catskill Puppet Theater; juggler Steve Corning; Hilby the German Juggle Boy; guitarist George Anderson; the Meena Conant Singers; the PPD2 dance company, the Claddagh Ring Irish Dancers; and Martha Brower Ballroom Dancing.
Information on show times and more festival information can be found on the Attendify app, available for free download from the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
About Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival: Recognized as one of the top 100 fine arts and design festivals in the country by Sunshine Artists Magazine, Colorscape Chenango has been celebrating premier artists in downtown Norwich since 1995. The free, two-day festival in September features 127 creators displaying and selling their paintings, sculptures, fabric art, fine crafts, photography and more. Colorscape also offers nationally renowned musical performers, poetry and literary arts, food, and interactive arts activities for all ages. The 2019 Colorscape will be held rain or shine, September 7-8 in East and West Parks in Norwich. For more information, visit www.colorscape.org.