'Unapologetically proud': How Priscilla Block keeps it real on her rise to country stardom

By the end of summer, it's likely that an unexpected outsider — 27-year-old rising star Priscilla Block — will join female performers Gabby Barrett, Katelyn Brown, Ashley McBryde, Megan Moroney, Mackenzie Porter and Lainey Wilson in achieving chart-topping country music radio status since 2020.

As she speaks with The Tennessean before taking the stage at City Winery for CMT's latest Next Women of Country Showcase series, her ballad duet with 10-time country radio No. 1 artist Justin Moore, "You, Me, and Whiskey," sits in the Top 5 on both the Billboard and Mediabase country radio charts.

"Three singles into my career as a signed artist and I'm already achieving so many of my dreams," Block says.

She potentially is still stunned by the swiftness of using TikTok popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic to go from being four months behind on her rent to being a Universal Records-signed artist opening for Shania Twain and Old Dominion and playing fairs and country festivals nationwide.

Nothing better showcases streaming's dynamic impact on country's expanding demographics than the slowly broadening diversity of backgrounds and presentations of the genre's latest crop of female stars.

McBryde and Wilson are the rock-tinged veterans from the wild, funky space between Nashville and East Texas. Barrett is a contemporary Christian-adjacent power vocalist and a 23-year-old wife and mother of two from Pittsburgh's suburbs. Brown is married to Kane Brown, but she's also a Berklee College of Music-educated singer. Moroney is a singer-songwriter and a recent University of Georgia graduate. Porter is also a renowned artist north of the border with a decade of experience.

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Block's story began with fans who loved her songs like "My Bar," "Off the Deep End" and "Thick Thighs" and mimic her adoration of high ponytail hairdos, hoop earrings, bandannas and blinged-out gold chains. She's advanced past that.

Her hyper-aware branding has yielded chart-toping success. However, she remains incredibly approachable to her fanbase.

Yes, that means she's advanced past the hustle and grind of maintaining high revenue with low overhead, staying stocked in affordable, plus-sized fast fashion from brands like Shein and becoming a Shein-sponsored artist with her own Shein fashion line.

However, that doesn't mean that she's not bemoaning having "thick thighs," posting Instagram videos from the road where she's switching from Shein's leather shorts to those of the jean variety — which she may have redesigned for comfort via a pair of scissors and her imagination — because of summer's heat and humidity.

"On the road, I keep it real," Block jokes.

"I'm a normal human, and people champion those with whom they relate."

Relatability reached a new high when Block was confronted with a frenetic touring schedule that included opening Day 2 of CMA Fest at the ever-popular Riverside Stage. The neon safety vest she wore with black, stacked-heel Steve Madden boots and matching neon-striped bottoms are an example of how, rather hilariously, serendipity has melded with her planning and hard work to expand her brand and career.

"I didn't have shoes to match my blinged-out safety vest, so I went to Walmart, found duct tape that matched the color of my vest and made a duct tape stripe around the bottom of my boots."

"Blinged-out safety vest," you ask?

Yes. It's a thing. It's crucial to Block's fans, who have evolved past dressing in all-blue and wearing their hair tied in top knots to support the burgeoning star's rise.

Seven months ago, Block was staring down a set of dates in North and South Dakota, opening for "You, Me and Whiskey" duet partner Moore, and was lacking enough clean performance clothing. So she stopped at a gas station ("I'm the truck stop fashion queen") and saw safety vests on the wall. Hours later, Block was sporting a cropped vest. Now, those cropped vests are rhinestoned.

Like everything in her career, it is a study of adaptation yielding excellence.

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The spate of "girls night out" songs about "going too hard" and being "bats--- crazy" upon which Block has built her success are nearly a half-decade old. Will her forthcoming material continue in this vein or have acclaim and the road mellowed her artistry?

"I've gone through so much and am at a different place in my life now," Block says. "However, the songs are still mainly remaining fun. It's not just the guys who will be able to go out and talk about the kinds of good times they're having.

"Yeah, I think I'm a trainwreck, but many other women, people in general, feel that way, too. Making anyone feel boldly and unapologetically proud of who they are is awesome."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Priscilla Block keeps it real as she rises on country music charts