American musician, manager, talent booker, radio host, event MC, journalist and roots music promoter. Born August 19, 1955. Died March 11, 2015.
Block began playing drums as a kid in Texas, and by 1972, his senior year of high school, he was performing in a Houston club six nights a week. Before he turned 20, producer Huey P. Meaux, "The Crazy Cajun," tapped him to drum on Freddy Fender's records. In 1978, Block backed Billy Joe Shaver on a tour that included Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.
Block moved to Los Angeles in 1985. For nearly a decade, he drummed in the house band at the famous Palomino club for "The Ronnie Mack Barn Dance," where he played with California acts like Dale Watson and Rosie Flores. Los Angeles is also where he met his wife, Jill. The couple married in 1993, two years before they relocated to Nashville.
Nashville's first Western Beat Barn Dance was held at The Sutler in February 1996. It quickly became the epicenter of the alt-country scene, with Block serving as ringmaster and head cheerleader. Over the years, it moved from The Sutler to Zanies to The Exit/In to 12th & Porter to The Mercy Lounge, and changed its name to "The Billy Block Show." Despite those changes, it was second only to The Grand Ole Opry and Midnight Jamboree as Nashville's longest-running live radio show.
In 2000, CMT picked up Western Beat with Billy Block. The weekly television program highlighted alt-country acts like BR549 and Kevin Gordon. The show was short-lived, but it helped bring Americana music to a national audience, as did Block's syndicated radio series, which was broadcast on numerous stations.
Throughout, Block continued drumming. He appeared on albums recorded by The Pixies' Frank Black, Walt Wilkins and California country singer David Serby, and hosted Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang Live Blues Radio Show, where he also played in the house band, at Puckett's Boathouse every Thursday. As a drummer, his work can be heard on cuts by Little Milton, Steve Cropper, John Scott Sherrill, Tony Orlando, P.F. Sloan, Garnett Mimms, Essra Mohawk, the Woodys, Rick Vito and many others.
