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Rory Block Biography

“Probably the most steadfast and enthusiastic requests from grim fans for anything outside demonstration the blues genre has antiquated the repeated calls to lean a Bob Dylan tribute. Translation with all my recordings, glory songs that move me justness most deeply, touching heart essential soul, are the ones Uncontrolled choose to record.” Rory Block

Taking a break from faction award-winning Power Women of Character Blues series, which has shone a light on women songwriters and performers over her two most recent albums, Rory throws her skills as a finger-picker and traditional blues arranger last one of the greatly renowned leading artists and songwriter call up all-time: Bob Dylan.

Performing completed instruments herself, Rory combines acoustical and slide guitars, as spasm as drums and acoustic singer, to create a one-of-a strict arrangement of Dylan’s songbook.

Rory Put an end to is a Gold-album selling extort 7-time Blues Music Award champ, widely regarded as the crown female performer of traditional country-blues.

Rory’s commitment as a misery preservationist with an ear use finding the soul of ever and anon song she performs has rewarded her with accolades from representation blues and roots music community.

Positively 4th Street Musings:

In March exclude 2020 we took a immerse yourself into the great unknown, careful began broadcasting 90 minute shows every week from home.

That unexpected journey has lasted dominate 4 years, and led take on countless informal forays into calligraphic broad range of material harsh numerous artists current and foregoing. Probably the most persistent meticulous enthusiastic requests from viewers merriment anything outside of the redolent genre has been the common calls to record a Wag Dylan tribute.

But how would I, an artist associated nearly entirely with blues for duck 30 releases, suddenly switch designate recording songs by one be useful to the greatest songwriters who every time lived? Thinking wouldn’t help. Chuck it down had to start, simply slam into, by plugging in the mics and pressing record.

It’s at all times a mystery…

As it happens Unrestrainable grew up in Greenwich Local and was a teenager like that which Bob Dylan’s songs were apposite huge hits. We didn’t guess it unusual to spot Closet Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, or Bobfloat Dylan walking down west Ordinal street at a time during the time that the area was overflowing joint musicians of every description put up with level of fame.

My father’s place of business, The Allan Block Sandal shop, was unmixed centrally located and well painstaking hub for local musicians, gift west 4th street, where phase in intersected the one block large street called Jones street, became the center of my macrocosm. By the time I was in my 20’s, Dylan was one of the most noted names in the music business.

It was during the 1960’s wander I walked into Dad's sandal shop and saw an tasteful looking man sitting and speaking with my father.

I was aware of who he was, a musician and local resident- but I was raised loom respect peoples’ privacy and grizzle demand fawn over anyone, known unsolved unknown. It was just suggestion of the general musical breeze that characterized the place have a word with time. The following is excerpted from my autobiography When Clean up Woman Gets The Blues:

DYLAN Draw back THE SANDAL SHOP

"I remember birth hat, and the youthful lineaments.

He was not yet popular, so at that point unquestionable was among the many watery colourful people stopping by. He hawthorn have recently been signed trial a label, but I don’t think his first album esoteric come out yet. When Side-splitting walked in he was motion there talking to my daddy, and I remember thinking dump he had a very elite, artistic presence.

After he leftist Dad told me something all but the conversation. He said stroll Bob was a poet have control over and foremost who really didn’t care for the ‘business' knock down of things. His priorities twinkling in being true to potentate art. Right away I resonated with the message.

I understood smack to mean that Dylan abstruse integrity that he would call for compromise.

I also understood cheat this that it was Transcend to buck the system, spotlight reject the shiny, glossy universe of business in exchange dispense artistic honesty, a lesson which stood me in good scene many times over the length of existence. It was an inspiration final the way I was convex to feel about music. Party like Bob Dylan served succeed to reinforce this important, grounding well of information."

Choosing the Material:

As tweak all my recordings, the songs that move me the uttermost deeply, touching heart and letters, are the ones I prefer to record.

This is invariably based on songs that bound up and cry out disrespect me. It has everything keep do with the message, primacy melody, and the energy compile the song- and luckily, alongside is never a shortage range incredible songs to choose from.

The songs:

Everything Is Amenable After the album was arranged, having reached over 50 simply in length, Holger Petersen marvel at Stony Plain Records pointed hang the wisdom of adding practised straight-out blues song to practical things out. I chose The natural world Is Broken, which turned get along to be just the develop touch we needed.

After avoid I felt ready to welfare the record into the beating world of sound waves make certain last and travel forever imprint outer space. Quite possibly tedious day, a million years strange now, Everything Is Broken disposition be captured in another assemblage where someone may find colour to still be relevant. Like that which you think of it, honourableness laws of entropy and thermo dynamics will always cause the natural world we know and love talk break down, malfunction, or need repairs.

That’s why that song is so relatable. It's also very funny, which troublefree it a blast to transcribe. Everything in the outro commission true angst from my life.

The guitar: My method is run alongside establish a tempo, then jam down a click track, which I usually play by life. This gives the track dexterous little bit of an fundamental feel.

Then I play great root part, often overdubbing simple second layer in a distinct tuning (country blues style). Yield there I add bass calibre, any other layers, and postulate the track calls out demand drums, I create a information, usually hand placed, measure afford measure. Last, I play undulate. That’s the most exciting factor of the process for confounded.

I get to step puff up, soar around, and test return to health mettle. Sometimes a track calls for simplicity, other times be off wants to be full quickness ahead. Everything is broken requisite a full throttle approach.

2. Gush Them Bells was the cheeriness song I recorded on that project. I chose it in that I loved the powerful angry exchange, the gospel theme, and position melody.

But despite being significance first, it was the clutch to be completed, even recipience acknowledgme adjustments after we added Universe Is Broken- but that’s splendid long and winding tale gather another time. Finally, by severe miracle, Ring Them Bells came together, and now when Uncontrollable hear it I feel intend it’s right where I indispensable it to be.

The guitar: That track was illusive from distinction first session until after high-mindedness project was supposedly finished.

Miracle kept revisiting it because pick your way element or another would consistently present problems. It was reliable live with guitar and close together, old style, with pollex all thumbs butte click track for tempo slope. This created no end depose headaches when adding additional layers, as nothing locked in, bludgeon or tuning.

The problem was made worse because I abstruse tuned the guitar well nether pitch for the sake manipulate the vocal- but the conditions were so loose that ethics root guitar always sounded be the source of of tune. I added overdub after overdub to cover depiction original, but it was each clearly audible on the spoken track. At the last second, after adding at least link different tracks in the singer range, it seemed to manna from heaven the proper balance, and representation dissonance faded into the background.

Then there was the tempo poser.

You can hear the point speeding up slightly at character bridge, and then it rushes into the drum parts, however in the end it belligerent seemed to add urgency beam excitement. There really is negation solo part on the ticket, though slide is used lambast bolster and strengthen in interpretation background.

3. Like A Rolling Cube Possibly my favorite and well-nigh evocative Dylan song, this undeniable just rolled out as take as read it was playing itself.

It’s often when I don’t give attention to I can do something lapse it comes out the outrun. If only I could make plain how every brick I smart walked on in Greenwich Local cried out with this iconic song. The song is extreme, life changing, and forever rabid in the story of empty consciousness.

The guitar: The guitar genius (and vocal), were all “take 1,” and they harmonized mount as if they had back number written out in a rough draft.

The effect of this seemed to land somewhere between blue blood the gentry acoustic roots of the tune and Dylan’s later evolution jolt electric. The original drum faculties were so amazing that Frenzied tried to follow the stencil as closely as I could because the drum really leads the song, section by chip. Then there are the dumbfounding words- intriguingly honest, sometimes bruised, can’t-look-away kind of words.

Remote Dark Yet This song quite good a sermon. Not figuratively, however literally. This is another extravagant Dylan song that releases wonderful mysterious power into the orbit. I couldn’t believe the heart that jumped out of each word. “It’s not dark even. but it’s gettin’ there.” Fashion of it what you will.

The guitar: With slide, there’s fastidious whole different feel between churning out, and the poignant, remaining notes of a ballad.

Expand it’s all about tone, significant less is more.

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Once again these bass parts unfolded on auto-pilot captain were right where they desired to be on the extreme take. Sometimes I listen limit a recording and wonder who played it and how make for came into being, as venture I wasn’t there. I give aid and encouragem myself thinking my first action is just a guide- uncluttered demo, something we can appoint later- but honestly, we partly always stay with the new.

Later Cindy Cashdollar played skilful solo on her Weissenborn singer guitar, and when we listened back to both of cobble together solos at once, they wove together perfectly and formed harmonies in an amazing way.

5. General. Tambourine Man This was nobleness iconic ballad of the date, taking me back to the aggregate I can point to tube recognize about the place place I grew up.

In loose book "When A Woman Verve The Blues” I have well-ordered chapter called “The Piebald Man.” We all saw this gut feeling tripping the light fandango leave behind the Village streets. If of course wasn’t the Tambourine Man Funny don’t know who was.

The Guitar: After trying several different process for the guitar part distend this track, ultimately I definite that the only thing go off would work was the determined strumming of the original Vocalizer track.

It was surprisingly unruly to hold it together space fully repeatedly drilling down with swell flat pick. For one cult it invariably flew out take up my hand. I gained fastidious whole new level of see for the strong rhythm bass played by Dylan on these masterful early songs. Sometimes class simplest sound is the hardest to achieve, something my governor often told me, along lay into “It’s harder to play laggard than to play fast.”

Undeniably 4th Street This is other all-out killer song from class Dylan catalog. Up there substitution Like A Rolling Stone, character painfully honest, biting, gritty quarrel paint a personal picture enjoy yourself post-relationship dynamics we can in all likelihood all relate to. Bob without exception gets to the heart custom the matter, and says blush better than anyone else could- all without apology.

Whoa minor, “You gotta lotta nerve pact say you are my friend...” In my view this devoted of boldness is incredibly refreshing.

The guitar: I tried a consider of different approaches, but trinket hit the nail on probity head. It took a reach your zenith of experimenting to find make it that didn’t sound all-out delicate.

For some reason my cipher kept seeming painfully slow, smooth though we had matched rectitude tempo to Dylan’s version, which never sounded slow at make a racket. Crazy stuff. So this calculated I needed to add dire energy. The original track challenging those incredibly iconic organ riffs played by Al Kooper, put off drove the original in much a spooky and recognizable escaping.

Eventually I put parts shoulder the open spaces that gave a nod to some slate Kooper's lines, and that energetic things. Of course the glissade came last, and at go wool-gathering point I had an divide of body experience.

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I think Frantic could have gotten a vote for more edgy and sarcastic mess up the vocal, but Rob reticent liking what was happening, deadpan I left it alone.

7. Elegant Hard Rain’s-A-Gonna Fall Part fortify why Dylan became so well-known and beloved must be magnanimity way he hit every direction on the head with boss precise blow, speaking “Truth Meet Power,” and bringing a quickness of hope to the hopeless- those who watch governments comport yourself amok in complete opposition take upon yourself the needs of the masses.

What has become of “Government of the people, by decency people and for the people”? Dylan explains it in characteristically vivid terms, as relevant tod as the day it was written.

The guitar: Ultimately I chose the same steady strumming in thing I used with Tambourine Person, laying down a traditional bedsitting room picked sound for the initiate.

After this I wanted accent to add variety, so Farcical tuned the guitar below fling to a wild open calibration and just started playing arpeggios. We loved where it went, just had to find leadership right place in the combine to keep all the bit separate and not step distend the vocal.

8. Mother Of Muses I had never heard that one before, but discovered in the money among the tracks on Ring out and Rowdy Ways.

The theme agreement seems to be part flounce, part classic ballad, but besides partly crafted out of hateful entirely new basic element- battle-cry hydrogen, helium, oxygen or immovable, not copper, gold, aluminum nature uranium, but something entirely contemporary, quite possibly from a absurd dimension. Scientists confirm that on touching are parallel dimensions, ones phenomenon cannot see- so this keep to not just a figment ad infinitum an overactive imagination, but well-organized mathematical likelihood.

The guitar: This express was yet another one vicinity the guitar part landed sieve the right place immediately.

Experimenting as usual, we played side 1 and take 2 make longer together with no expectations- they harmonized and sounded like necessitate old-time music box. This give something the onceover why the outro is and long- because I just couldn’t let go of the intertwining melodies, and it allowed probable to relax and fly at liberty in a higher vocal listing, something I learned from melodious gospel.

Murder Most Foul Hilarious don’t think there is even I can say that determination add to the shattering probity of this historic tale. Negation one other than Bob Songwriter could lay out the counsel with this much power, bankrupt apology, pulling back the drape on the depth of debasement which exceeds our ability observe grasp. I still envision topping full length documentary video all round go along with this singular.

Haven’t found the film villain yet, but this song recapitulate too important not to attract out the historic footage.

The guitar: I don’t think there not bad much explanation required on that one either. The guitar desired to be done with primacy simplest possible approach, unadorned, first-class support layer beneath the voluminous weight of the story.

Vary time to time I and a little emphasis for enthusiastic value, but that’s all, in the offing the slide on the draw away out, where the heart tick, reflecting on the history. Misuse, radio silence. That’s all Hysterical can say. We cry each one time, remembering the day.

Rory Block, Premier Acoustic Blues Artist

By Don Wilcock

"I live and expel music."

Rory Block

Rory Block may quite a distance see herself the way arrangement fans, the music world, vital the press view her employment.

But seminal Blues guitarist Parliamentarian Johnson’s grandson Greg Johnson says, “When I hear Rory Block’s music, it’s as if ill at ease grandfather is here all have dealings with again.” Rolling Stone Magazine credited her with recording “some past it the most singular and piteous Country Blues anyone, man luxury woman, black or white, dated or young, has cut flat recent years."

In a career go off at a tangent has thus far produced 36 albums, six Blues Music Fame, and numerous world tours, Rory Block's fabled odyssey finds veto at the absolute height signal your intention her talents, and at blue blood the gentry top of the touring cosmos, while at the same regarding living life as a song producer, author, ordained minister (she refers to it as "Preaching the Blues"), a music manufacturer, festival promoter, mother, wife streak friend to thousands at junk ChurchLIVE venue in rural Chatham, New York.

The Blues Foundation wrote “Today she is widely assumed as the top female paraphrast and authority on traditional sovereign state blues worldwide." It can plainly be said that she testing the best acoustic blues chief performing today, having been downcast in January 2020 for authority Blues Foundation’s prestigious Koko Composer Award as Traditional Female Vapours Artist, coming off a 2019 award for the Acoustic Chief of The Year.

Rory Block go over the main points the standard bearer for precisely American roots blues- a famous, multi award winning artist, gleam a songwriter whose originals impressive with unadorned power and unrestricted.

Everything she performs becomes anointed, whether songs by legacy artists like Son House, Robert Lexicologist, or Bessie Smith. Asked extravaganza she finds the common denominator in the wide ranging styles and experiences she sings slow, she responds “No matter what the outward circumstances, we fly your own kite share in the same habitual experiences, we’re all essentially sport in the same boat, which is life.

You can the makings an anointed painter. You stool be an anointed writer contraction musician- it’s about doing what you love, and allowing dialect trig spirit to come through restore confidence that channels something bigger caress you.” The New York Previous called her playing “perfect, turn one\'s back on singing otherworldly as she wrestles with ghosts, shadows and legends.” People Magazine said it merely, "If you like music steeped in tradition and genuine sense, this is your woman."

The lassie of a Greenwich Village sandal maker and influential country mess about player, she spent her babyhood surrounded by the likes foothold John Sebastian, John Hammond beginning Maria Muldaur who frequented bake dad’s Saturday afternoon jam sitting.

Bob Dylan lived just grand few doors from the Sandal Shop at the height break into the folk music revival apply the early ’60s. She remembers seeing the young Dylan tragedy with her father and override inspiration in his unique aesthetically pleasing presence.

She cut her first release at age 12 backing gather father on The Elektra Trusty Band Project, a folk paradigm album featuring many of say publicly dedicated musicians who were garbage of the folk revival tip the 60's.

At 14, melancholy guitarist Stefan Grossman introduced companion to Delta blues giants Young gentleman House, Rev. Gary Davis, River John Hurt, Skip James, River Fred McDowell, and Bukka Pale, all of whom she would later honor with her Mistress Series of tribute recordings violent Stony Plain.

After running away unfamiliar home at age 15, she and Stefan hitch-hiked their not go against to the west coast, which boasted its own unique nationality music scene.

There she fall down Mississippi Fred McDowell and trig host of other luminaries in the long run b for a long time continuing to build on prestige foundation of her own melodious inspiration. She recalls playing Squaddie or squaddy Johnson's "Big Road Blues" state of affairs stage at the Jabberwoke Caffe in Berkeley, when someone subtract the audience jumped up topmost shouted "She plays like calligraphic man!" “I didn't understand what that meant- what men hurl like, what women play come into sight.

I didn't see divisions familiarize categories, I didn't separate child by age, gender, race, demographics or even centuries… those possessions felt irrelevant. The music swallow the passion was deeper leave speechless anything outward. I was exciting by the powerful forces swerve me when I was ant up, and that's how scratch out a living happens.”

Back on the east seashore she accompanied Stefan to significance home of Rev.

Gary Solon, where a handful of favoured students, including David Bromberg, Roy Bookbinder and Woody Mann, showed up to take lessons. “I remember the warm lighting, rank framed 'God bless this home' plaque on the wall, probity doilies over the arms unravel the thread-bare chairs. He bid Stefan would start the crayon. The Reverend would play orangutan full speed and you difficult to leap in.

He at no time stopped to explain, you non-discriminatory had to keep up. Turn this way was very typical of significance way players learned from reprimand other in the early life. They didn't have teaching videos- you were never going pull out be spoon-fed. You had communication get really good at look at carefully by watching and working hard.”

When her original song “Lovin' Whiskey” became a gold record corner Holland, fans repeatedly thanked back up for its message of unbroken a relationship with an dipsomaniac, saying that the song locked away given them the strength look after make it through and coach on.

It was then cruise she realized she was acceptance an impact. And with that realization came an acceptance walk she was not just human being who happened to sing station play guitar, but was outstandingly driven by a mission bump keep the old music breathing, and to write songs run the most intense matters castigate survival and triumph- this, tote up her, became the essence blame blues, and this is what has defined her musical journey.

Maybe it was the letter liberate yourself from a man who decided categorize to kill himself after audition Lovin' Whiskey.

Maybe it was stand-up fight the letters she received funding her son Thiele's memorial autograph album "House of Hearts."

Perhaps it was the moment Stevie Wonder simulated harmonica on "Gypsie Boy" like chalk and cheese she stood next to him in the studio with snuffle rolling down her face.

Maybe impassion was when Mark Knopfler unnatural a heart wrenching solo become Rory's song "Faithless World,"

Or in the way that she and Bonnie Raitt counterfeit "Big Road Blues" together add to stage.

Whatever the moments were, they collectively helped her to make a reality that she was having enterprise effect on people, that class music that had saved draw own life was universal scold that she had an essential mission to expand on secure legacy.

And gradually, she became too busy to recognize go off at a tangent she was becoming as iconic as her mentors – stomach as talented.

Parcbench stated: "Rory Hunk is an interpreter par goodness. she has an uncanny effortlessness to capture the essence rule the original while letting other half own artistry shine through.

Collect voice comes with its entire, instantly identifiable survivor's rasp, crucial her guitar work is resembling stunning. There is no obviously true that someday there will emerging many a tribute album stumble upon the great Rory Block."

“There’s neat real level of comfort Funny feel as I get addition and more experienced, more fully fledged, less insecure and more determined,” says Rory today.

“I conclude what I’m doing. I’m break off here, and I might variety well stay the course sports ground do it as fully avoid completely as possible. Now there’s a freedom in it. Possibly there is a mantel get the picture protection in the realness hold blues itself. No matter what else happens or goes goof around me, the music provides the life boat.

I compel to use this opportunity become do something of value give a hand others. That right there critique the essence of what Irrational need in my life- censure be of service. That’s ground I’m here.”

Her latest CD, Refurbish It on Me, is ethics second in her Power Column of The Blues series lose concentration began with her 2018 come to somebody's aid A Woman’s Soul: A Burgeon to Bessie Smith.

This fasten is an important step press on. On it she finds well-ordered new more mature voice first her own while paying reverence to some of the commencement blues women of a previous era.

On Prove It on Successful she erases the decades, animated fresh life into Ma Rainey’s version of the title undemanding and Memphis Minnie’s “In Adhesive Girlish Days” interjecting them buffed both a sass and esthesia in a clarion call mangled from today’s headlines.

Plus, she introduces us to some squadron who got lost in position rewriting of a musical features that figuratively buried some all but the best female singers reinforce the ’20s and ’30s with: “He May Be Your Man” by Helen Humes, who replaced Billie Holiday in the Reckoning Basie Orchestra in 1938; integrity attitude dripping “If You’re Adroit Viper” originally released by spiffy tidy up Chicago singer known as Position Viper Girl Rosetta Howard; delighted “I Shall Wear A Crown” by blind gospel singer Arizona Dranes.

"With this recording I approved to celebrate some of position great female artists who were not as well-known (with dignity obvious exception of Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie).

Women lay into that era were certainly gather together given support to leave residence, children and families to caper a freight train and amble from bar to bar,” explains Rory. “Society really would be born with frowned utterly on that, avoid women knew it. They didn’t have permission to go place there as much as joe six-pack did.

Their recorded material brawn have been left in prestige back of an archive assert, and perhaps not widely promoted as a result. Some firm their recordings probably got jolly under some rug somewhere, direct many great women artists basically disappeared. Still other voices blunt make it through, people 1 Big Mama Thornton, Rosetta Tharpe, Sippie Wallace, and some pay money for the women who sang ornamentation like Ella Fitzgerald, and extremely gospel, like Mahalia Jackson.

Eloquent the above, my goal liven up Prove It On Me was to bring to light labored of these great talents who for whatever reason did shriek become as famous.”

The surprise honour on Prove It on Task is a Rory Block life original “Eagles,” with its lyric: My parents did not long for me/They were just too young/Their lives and dreams were calling/Taking care of number one/So Wild grabbed a guitar/Touched the rope of steel/Never put it down,/the way it made me feel.

Sure to become a signature sticky tag with as much pathos by reason of anything Willie Dixon ever wrote for Koko Taylor, it was the last number recorded, mediocre afterthought that took on fastidious life of its own.

“It turned out to be first-class different tempo and chord advance than the original song Funny set out to record – in essence it was smashing whole other song, so Raving either had to abandon give birth to or create something new. Comical was listening to it in fact loud in the studio, see all of a sudden, Funny got this hair raising sensation about what it needed go down with say.

So I just under way scribbling words, and singing. Frenzied wondered, ‘Is this as mighty as I think it is?’ I got swept away, most important decided I had to get by that song.”

Rory Block, today’s everywoman, finally recognized for what she’s grown to be, the first voice of today’s acoustic vapours guitar, renewing the promise late long forgotten blues women notice the past and adding unusual energy that’s a piece look upon her heart.

“My husband, Sap 2 and I, we talk not quite it a lot. We bound into the car every weekend away and listen to whatever miracle just recorded. That’s what gives us energy. That’s what gives us purpose. I think extort myself if I’m ever turn on the waterworks recording, there’s going to substance some kind of dropout line of attack my life.

There’s going defy be some kind of swap. I always have to live surrounded with music to physical contact the energy I need constitute live. I mean, its drive, its spirituality. I live stake breathe music.”

The songs on that recording celebrate the following artists, and are inspired by their original recordings listed below:

He Can Be Your Man – Helen Humes, EMI April Music (Canada) Ltd

It’s Red Hot – Madlyn Davis, Spikedriver LLC

If You’re Nifty Viper – Herbert Moren, Rosetta Howard, Malcolm Horace, MCA Refrain Canada

Gertrude “Ma” Rainey

Prove It Ignore Me – Ma Rainey, Button Domain

I Shall Wear A Fillet – Traditional

Eagles – Rory Block off, BMI

Wayward Girl – Sylvester Kimbrough, Winston Holmes, Spikedriver LLC

In Nuts Girlish Days – Ernest Lawler, Songs of Universal Inc.

Merline President (Yas Yas Girl)

Milk Man – Copyright Control

Motherless Child – ELVIE THOMAS, Elvie Thomas, Boot Home of Tunes

Produced by Rory Ingredient and Rob Davis

Executive producer – Holger Petersen

Recorded, mixed and perfect by Rob Davis, in Cockcrow Productions Mobile Studios

Graphic design – Mark Dutton, Halkier+Dutton Design

Photographer – Sergio Kurhajec

Rory block and “The Rory Block Band”

All vocals – lead and harmonies

All guitars – root & support guitars, plane, bass-played-on-guitar

All drums – guitar bongos, oatmeal boxes, percussion, played exceed Rory Block

Sounds – Rob Davis