Notes From The Road Continued
CANADA
The Edmonton Blues Festival

Over the summer I appeared at both the Edmonton Folk Festival and the San Francisco Blues Festival, among others. (Please check the tour schedule on this site). The following is an excerpt from a review in The Edmonton Journal:

"There are few experiences like being bowled over by an artistic performance. About 600 to 700 acoustic blues and folk fans experienced that wonderful feeling Sunday as Rory Block showed why she's won four WC Handy Awards in the past few years... Powerful at every twist and turn, this American woman left the stage to the kind of spontaneous standing ovation that erupts on the spur of the moment... First it was Terraplane Blues with all it's sexual innuendo percolating into an instrumental climax, which was followed by a soul-searing interpretation of If I Had Posession Over Judgement Day. If you desire some of this kind of material for your home system check out Rory Block's '98 Rounder release Confessions Of A Blues Singer... When it was all said and done this observer couldn't help but think it was one of the finest mini-concerts ever turned in at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival." - Peter North
EUROPE

I'm updating my news once again on the flight home from our latest European tour. Even though some felt it not the best time to tour, my manager convinced me with his total upbeat attitude that it would be wonderful, and he was so right. Everywhere we went we were welcomed with a special gratitude, perhaps more than ever, and we came away with full hearts and with beautiful memories.

ENGLAND

We have just completed another thoroughly enjoyable tour of the UK. Booked by (son) Jordan, we did fourteen shows across the country for the most wonderful and enthusiastic audiences. Just as Holland became a second home after the success of Best Blues and Originals, England is becoming a favorite place to play, familiar and very welcoming. Given that the British Isles have been experiencing severe flooding in many areas it is nothing short of miraculous to me that the fans were able to come out despite the worst weather. Due to heavy winds and rain I thought we'd never make the ferry ride to the Isle Of Wight, but the hardy mariners and seasoned locals took it all in stride. A big "thank you" is in order along with best wishes for blue skies!

ITALY

Strange how a person like myself (by all accounts a computer dummy), is able to sit in a hotel room in Salerno, Italy, and update my newsletter on a laptop! This has been one of the most relaxing tours I have done in a while, wonderful people, beautiful sights, the freshest food, and performances by the sea. Special thanks to Blue Sky Promotions, Luca and Christina, Vanya (the ever-patient and charming translator/road manager), Claudio, our tireless driver, my son Jordan, who booked the whole European tour in collaboration with local promoters, and Jennie, who took care of details and helped the whole tour move smoothly. We were all there... it was a family affair.
Jordan and Claudio have no problem communicating in two separate languagues.

Mom and Jenny chat in the background.

FRANCE

The Passion Blues Festival

After Polermo we headed to Cognac, France, to perform at The Passion Blues Festival. While riding on a canal boat in Cognac, I looked up at the incredibly blue sky. As two boys cranked open the water gate at the lock, I wondered aloud if it was fair for me to get paid for this... it almost made me forget the grueling side of touring and the fact that within five minutes I had a show to do. It seems that the recent tours have been planned with sanity in mind, unlike the tours of yesteryear where all I ever had the time to do was sleep, play and travel. Now there is a real sense of gratitude and joy for the priviledge of being able to perform. And of course the festival was a special pleasure, with a tremendous lineup of guests including the all-time classic headliner, Ray Charles. Special thanks to Noelle and Nadege for their kind assistance and graciousness, Guillaume and the other drivers who patiently shuttled us from place to place, the good folks from French National Television who honored me repeatedly with their presence, and also to the many journalists who made me feel welcomed with a press conference and numerous interviews. And finally, thanks to the charming elderly couple who recognized me at the train station saying they had seen me twice on TV.

Paris

Two days off in Paris was a decidedly brilliant idea! We found the ultimate small hotel in The West Bank area. We were able to walk to the Louvre and various other incredible monuments, although the walk back took some endurance. There are always cabs.
Rory contemplates the artistic genius of the human race.

NORWAY

When we crossed the border into Denmark I found myself feeling that strange kind of excitement I always get when I see a place for the first time. Our train came to a stop near the border, and then with incredible smoothness it rolled onto a boat with everyone still in their seats. The doors opened and we were able to get off and walk around the largest ferry I have ever seen. It didn't even rock as this solid steel giant took its place on-board.

The Notodden Blues Festival

The Notodden Blues Festival was a lot like Greenwhich Village in the sixties... practically every influential musician I ever met in my life was there! Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, John Sebastian, Bernard Allison, Wilson Pickett... the place was all about blues. There were signs pointing to places like "Blues Camp", local scholars giving lectures on the roots of blues, and local artists singing every word of every Tommy Johnson song ever written. I even signed a brick for the foundation of a building dedicated entirely to blues. So much love, so much reverence for this magnificent music that once all but disappeared.

Very special thanks to Ole, who brought his own car and for three days, drove us everywhere we wanted to go. Also thanks to Nils, the festival coordinator, who dropped everything several times to help us out in the most gracious way, and to the Norwegian fans who made the festival a success (I never felt so welcomed or had my hand kissed so many times). Thanks to the man who had every LP and CD I had ever recorded since 1966, including "How To Play Blues Guitar" which I recorded when I was sixteen- of course I signed them all, it was the least I could do! I thank the press and the Norwegian Radio, NRK, who broadcast my concert live, and also the friends from Radio Woodstock back in the USA for filming my show for internet webcast.

SCOTLAND

The following is excerpted from a review of the show in Aberdeen, Scotland:

"The woman who walked out on stage did not fit any of my stereotypes, but her music had the soulful passion of someone who had always known the blues... For such a tiny lady her stage presence and the force behind her music was quite awesome... At the end you felt almost as if you were the only one in the concert hall. She was so personal and down to earth and each song became more than a song... this woman was sheer genius... So many sounds and feelings emanated from the stage that it was hard at times to imagine only one woman on the stage. Her amazing acoustic guitar was matched by her great lyrics. Without being trite, she was able to touch deep and very human issues in her songs. When I hear music that touches my soul the way Rory Block's did, I feel like I have just won the lottery."

At long last I found myself back on the bonnie shores of England, and from the moment we arrived it was pure excitement. Starting in Sunderland, and ending in London, I felt as ready to play as the audiences seemed ready to listen.. the level of enthusiasm was unprecedented. Having some English ancestors on my mother's side, I always have a sense of walking on ancient familiar ground, and on this tour there was a particularly strong sense of connecting with old friends. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy every moment, but every night I met illustrious local blues musicians and went home with an impressive collection of CDs. One is repeatedly made aware of the great talent that continues to come out of this part of the world.

The following is excerpted from a review by Maurice Hope:

"Impassioned blues act New York born singer/songwriter/guitarist Rory Block, although greeted by a typical chilly, grey winter's day on her arrival at Sunderland's Ropery, didn't have her fire dampened as she almost set alight the atmosphere charged venue.
..the level of anticipation neared fever pitch as Rory Block, exponent of Delta blues in its purest form, appeared. Seated, an acoustic steel-strung guitar in hand, rocking to and fro, her high heeled shoes stomping as her fingers belted out a gut thumping beat and sound waves vibrated round the room.
..Her raw firey style, passed down by such masters as Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell and the mystical Robert Johnson, was always in evidence as the music rained down - thunderstorm fashion. Whether delivering nerve tingling, self-penned songs from her own emotional experiences or authentic unshaven heart-rending smoking interpretations of the aforementioned plus Kansas Joe McCoy, Tommy Johnson ('Canned Heat') and Buddy Boy Hawkins, this erstwhile student of the blues not only rattled along the rails but ripped some of them up. Her pounding rhythms, the unashamed honesty, and her own standing in music (arguably best viewed by others - Bonnie Raitt citing her as being a 'great inspiration', typical of the esteem in which she's held by her contemporaries). Versions of 'Big Road Blues', 'If I Had Posession Over Judgement Day', Robert Johnson's curtain closer 'Come On In My Kitchen', and with her son, the talented Jordan Valdina (for confirmation hear Rory's latest album 'Confessions Of A Blues Singer'), lending harmonica/vocal harmony on 'Gypsy Boy'.

GUITAR SUMMIT TOURS

Guitar fans everywhere should know about the Guitar Summit tours which feature four guitarists, each masters of a different style. In fall '97 and spring '98 yours truly was the blues guitarist, Herb Ellis the jazz guitarist, Sharon Isbin the classical guitarist, and in '97 our dear friend Michael Hedges was the contemporary master prior to his tragic death in a car accident. He was replaced by Stanley Jordan in the 1998 Guitar Summit tour. Each show consisted of all four performers, two in the first half and two in the second half. We traveled by tour bus and played some of the nicest halls, auditoriums and theaters around.

It is with great shock and grief that we learned of the death of our good friend Michael Hedges. My mind is now filled with his words, his astounding, inspiring playing, and his incredible, generous presence. As a memorial to Michael, I am leaving the following text unchanged:

The Guitar Summit tour was a blast! Our different styles were even more diverse than expected, and yet our similarities were also extraordinary. I felt we were truly paying homage to the guitar, and haven't been more challenged to play since I was struggling with old blues songs at the age of 15. I started the tour with my familiar format, but ended up doing two or three instrumentals nightly. It was like I was discovering the guitar all over again. In the beginning all four of us played a finale together. After several shows Herb Ellis and I began doing Willie Brown's classic "Mississippi Blues", and had such a great time that we decided to do two duets, Michael and Sharon, then me and Herb, and that was big fun. We did reserve "The Water Is Wide" for an additional tune if necessary, with everyone taking a solo verse. We reached our stride about mid tour and are now raring to go in the spring, (see itinerary 2/26-3/15 '98).

One evening after Michael and Sharon did a beautiful version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", followed by Herb and I playing "Mississippi Blues", Michael looked over to the rest of us and whispered, "Now we have a show!" (He should know, he's the consummate performer). Sharon and I began having a bit of fun with Michael, noting the changes in hair and outfits nightly. He started the tour with hair, and ended with none, happily because of a razor and not from stress.. one night he appeared in what I termed his "medieval veterinarian" look.. with Michael, one never knows. That night he ended the show with the most incredible back flip over the stage and landed on his feet. We were all wowed by his agility, but he later revealed that it was an unplanned event caused by a collision with the raised area of the stage, which he managed to turn into a fabulous yoga move. We were vastly impressed.

We traveled caravan style with two buses, the band bus and mine, which we dragged along because of Chester and Ranger, the touring Labradors, (see Doghouse) Otis, the long suffering bus driver, had to endure our chatter on the CB, but maintained his cool to the last. After all, he's been doing this for a long time. We never ceased to taunt him with how slow he was going and how we were going to pass him on the road, when in fact he did the speed limit, (once it was 75 on the open road and he had no problem with it,) where my husband is obliged, (he says, "It's more than my life is worth",) never to exceed 65. So Otis gets there first, but we always say, "Hey, what took you man, we went back and forth twice before you got here!" Otis is cool.

I went home with a feeling that the guitar was an unlimited instrument, versatile beyond imagining, and I knew I had my work cut out for me. "Rorita", as Taj Mahal sometimes calls me, has actually been practicing. What will happen next?!
FUR PEACE RANCH

September 10th through 12th were spent teaching country blues guitar at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Guitar Ranch in Pomeroy, Ohio, along with fellow instructors Arlo Guthrie, Jorma, and Jack Casady.  I don't see how it's possible to get closer to the music than spending an entire weekend with your favorite artist, (check schedules) hanging out, studying, swapping stories, breaking bread, and asking all the questions you ever had but never thought you'd be able to ask. I can personally say my students taught me more than I taught them and bowled me over with the intensisty of their commitment. At the end of the first day we covered some very intricate and involved country blues techniques, more than could be easily retained, and that very evening my entire class was spotted in the video library working diligently with my video. The following day they had all reached a new level of accomplishment leading me to believe that this could only really happen in this concentrated kind of environment. If this is what you're looking for, ya gotta try it! The natural foods in the dining room and the surrounding Appalachian countryside alone are worth the ticket price. The instructor/student concert at the end is also not to be missed.

This September I will be at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur peace Guitar Ranch. I protest up and down the wall that I don't teach guitar outside of my videos, but I always manage to end up giving workshops- and loving it! The enthusiasm and drive of the students always makes it a really rewarding experience. Thanks, guys!