Rory Block is Making a Scene
Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Rory Block
Rory Block grew up in New York's Greenwich Village at the height of the "folk music revival", a time when a number of the founding giants of traditional country blues were being rediscovered and brought through New York City to perform. At the age of 14, already an accomplished guitarist, Rory was able to meet and play music with Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, Reverend Gary Davis, Skip James and Bukka White. Rory's father, sandal maker and country fiddle player Allan Block, founded the Allan Block Sandal Shop on West 4th Street, which quickly became a central hub for many luminaries of the folk and blues world. A young neighbor named Bob Dylan, fellow Village residents like John Sebastian, Maria Muldaur, John Hammond and many others frequented Block's famed Saturday afternoon jam sessions, which filled the shop and spilled out onto the sidewalks. This incredible time period formed the basis of almost all of Rory's formative musical inspiration.