Rory Block, From The Dust (Telarc Blues)


Block offers up a great collection of acoustically rendered original songs on her new disc. Block’s voice and guitar stylings are so original that her covers of classic blues like “Stones In My Passway” and “High Water Everywhere” are rewoven into something else entirely. She also includes her take on a more obscure Muddy Waters tune on this album, “I Be Bound.”

Block’s guitar playing is sharp and precise and she in fine voice throughout the album, despite some recording studio tricks.

If you don’t share Block’s passion for dogs, you’ll find “Runaway Dog” to be one of the weaker tracks on the album, yet she closes the album with two strong, thought-provoking tracks. “Remember” deals with Block’s own Christian beliefs and the after life, while “Unprecedented Quiet” is an instrumental mood piece that makes a fine closing track to the album.

An animal lover and animal rights activist, Block dedicates From The Dust to her four dogs.