Priscilla Block is excited about the future, recognizing that it’s her past that has guided her toward where she has always wanted to be. After graduating from high school, she moved from her native North Carolina to Nashville where she spent years hustling writing songs, and performing at singer-songwriter rounds. Block finally had her breakthrough when her song “Just About Over You” went viral on TikTok in 2020. Since then, Block has shared stages with Shania Twain and has been nominated twice for New Female Artist of the Year at the ACM Awards, among other achievements. “It’s been a really fun journey,” Block shares with American Songwriter. “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned that just because things might not be working the way that you think they should, that doesn’t mean you’re not succeeding.”
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The 28-year-old admits that when “Just About Over You” didn’t make it to No. 1, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, she felt like she was “failing.” “That wasn’t the case at all,” she reflects. “It’s learning how to love this slow climb, and I’m really thankful for it because you appreciate a lot of things way more when you have that work that goes into it. I’ve learned to trust my gut.” The singer says that despite the emotional journey she’s had with “Just About Over You,” she now feels a deep sense of gratitude for all the joy it’s brought her. “That song changed a lot for me,” she expresses. “It’s still one of my favorite songs to sing because even when I’m having a hard day, it’s that song at the end of the night that if I could’ve told myself that I’d be doing this right now, I wouldn’t even believe you. So it’s just the constant gratitude and it always will be.”
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It was following her artistic instinct that led her to duet with Justin Moore on “You, Me, and Whiskey.” The two met while performing in a guitar pull for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Block professed to Moore that she was “such a big fan.” Block clearly made an impression, because after the show Moore approached her with words of encouragement. “Before he went to his bus he was like, ‘I need you to know I am such a big fan of you and if there’s anything that I can do for you to help your career, here’s my number,’” Block recalls of the exchange. It wasn’t long after that Moore sent her the demo for “You, Me, and Whiskey” that she instantly connected to. “When I listened to the song the first time, I felt like I wrote it. It just felt very me,” she says of the “amazing” song.” “I had a really strong feeling about this song. There was something that I feel like it’s a hit.”
Block’s instincts were correct. The song went No. 1 on country radio and reached No. 3 on the Country Airplay chart, No. 8 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and the Top 40 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Block remarks that the success of the song has blended their fanbases, with Block’s young fans showing up to Moore’s shows wearing bedazzled traffic controller vests like the one Block once wore to a show due to a fashion emergency. Block also says that “You, Me, and Whiskey” has lit a fire under her, gearing her up for the next phase of her career which begins with the new song “Hey Jack.”
“It gets me fired up about the future. I’ve always wanted to hear myself on the radio and hoped that this would happen, and it has. It’s been a big blessing and I hope that I get to do it again. I want to write the best music, put out the best music. That’s why I’m really excited about ‘Hey Jack,’ I think it’s the start of this new era for me,” she proclaims. “I think that like I’ve been able to really hone in on who I am and who I wanna be as an artist. I’m fired up. I am ready.”
Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images for Smirnoff ICE
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