Priscilla Block is releasing her first major label EP at the end of this month. The self-titled 6-song collection will be out on April 30th, and features her hit song “Just About Over You.” The following day, May 1st, Priscilla will be making her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.
While it’s been on a lot of hard work and dedication by Priscilla…the road to get here has included many twists, turns, obstacles…and Taylor Swift.
Growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, Priscilla always wanted to be the star of the show — so she created her own audiences out of her family members, “Well, I have been an attention ho since day one. (laughs) My mom can let you know that’s true. I would make my siblings sit down and they had to listen to me sing songs growing up.”
While the reaction of the crowd was great, she discovered that performing sparked a feeling inside her that Priscilla knew she wanted to keep going, “Yeah, I mean when I started singing and performing in front of people, whether it was in church or any of the first little shows that I played, it was a feeling that I never felt before. I felt good enough. I felt just kind of like in a different world, and I loved it. I loved it, ’cause I’ve gone through times where I don’t feel good enough, but when I get up and sing, all that goes away and I feel so good”
The next phase was when she started creating her own material, by writing songs when she was a teenager, “So, I actually started writing when I was 15, and I never really had any other passions or anything that I really wanted to do after high school. I fell in love with music and couldn’t put my guitar down, and decided to make the move right outta high school.”
That move to Nashville did not start off as she had hoped — while she may have been the star of her friends and family, Priscilla faced a different reality in Music City, “My first year in Nashville was pretty tough. I kinda fell on my face pretty hard, being this 18 year old girl having no clue what I was doing in town and I just found myself at a place where you know I didn’t know what I was doing I just felt super duper lost.”
Lost to the point where a call to her sister had her on the verge of packing it all in and heading back to North Carolina, “That day I had called my sister and I said “You know, I feel like it might be time to maybe move home or whatever” and she kinda encouraged me to stick it out a little bit.”
Now cue Taylor Swift.
Priscilla has been a big fan for a long time, “So, I was a massive Taylor Swift fan growing up. I just loved her so much…I looked up to her and she was a huge reason why I moved to Nashville and I was like ‘Oh if she could do it I wanna do it’.”
On that same day as the call to her sister where she was ready to call it quits, a chance encounter with Taylor on a street in Nashville turned Priscilla’s career…and life, around.
She shares the story, “That day Taylor Swift was driving by, I was wearing a Taylor Swift t-shirt, and she pulled her car over to the side of the road and hopped into her passenger seat, opened up her car door and was like ‘Hey girl, I love your shirt’ and it was really the moment that I needed. It’s funny like I didn’t even tell her I did music I was just like ‘Thank you so much’ like, she had no clue how much that meant to me but that really was the day that I knew that I needed to give music a shot. I quit my job, I quit school, and I just ran fast, and I don’t run!!!”
Now that it was full steam ahead thanks to the Taylor pep talk, Priscilla made one other change in her career as well, “When it really started working was when I was like, ‘Man, I am who I am. I’m a curvy girl – I’m gonna sing about it, I’m kind of like a big ol’ hot mess all the time – I’m gonna sing about that, too. I’m also the girl that can break down crying, so I’m gonna sing about that, too.’ And, you know, once I really made that switch and realized that I didn’t have to be anybody that anybody wanted me to be, was when it all kinda started shifting.”
“Just About Over You” is her current single that’s climbing the country airplay chart, and while she wrote it from her personal experience, and from a female point of view, Priscilla feels its a relatable song to anyone because of the emotions it deals with, “That’s what I love so much about this song…is I feel like the guys can relate to it…the girls can, and you know, it doesn’t necessarily have to be either side.”
Having that connection, for Priscilla, is what country music is all about, “Listening to country music makes me feel every emotion in the world, whether I’m sad or happy. I remember the first time I heard ‘Stupid Boy,’ and there was just something about that song that moved me completely. This is why I write country music”
Talking about her new collection of music that’s coming out on April 30th, Priscilla says, “This EP is such a vulnerable side of who I am and where I’ve been, it’s my story of falling apart in order to find myself again. I hope that when you hear these songs, they make you feel that it’s ok to not be perfect and realize that sometimes we need the lows to value the highs… AND ONCE YOU REGAIN THAT CONFIDENCE… LET IT SHOW BABY!”
Priscilla had a hand in writing all 6-songs on her EP, which you can pre-save right HERE – including this one…check out the music video of Priscilla Block’s “Just About Over You.”
Photos Courtesy of UMG Nashville
