Priscilla Block And Russell Dickerson Join Smirnoff ICE Relaunch Tour!

Country music stars Priscilla Block and Russell Dickerson will hit the stage to conclude the 2023 Smirnoff ICE Relaunch Tour on Thursday, August 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The summer concert series supports Women In Music while bringing old and new artist pairings to the stage for a fun, memorable event.

Both Block and Dickerson had time before hitting the road to gear up for their big show on Thursday and sat down to talk about the show and their careers exclusively with The Blast.

The show supports Women In Music, a non-profit organization "committed to advancing equality, visibility and opportunities for women in the musical arts through education, support, empowerment and recognition," according to their website.

Block was excited to be asked to be a part of the Smirnoff ICE Relaunch Tour to help benefit Women In Music. She said it's going to be a really great night.

"Fans can expect a really fun time. We put on a very energetic show. It's just a really good time. Songs that make you laugh, cry, wanna hang out all night, it's a good time," she told The Blast. "I think that anyway that we can give back to Women In Music and give them opportunities, it's really important. I do think giving women an opportunity to shine, or whatever, I think it's awesome. There's been a lot of women who have helped me along the way so anytime we can give back to help women in music is really important."

Block moved to Nashville from North Carolina, so being a part of this show is like going home for her.

"I was right out of high school, packed up all my stuff in my Chevy Malibu and just was holding on for dear life and things are kind of working out great," she said about moving to Nashville. "I just had my first number one and it's the moment that I'm like wow, this thing is actually working out, it's pretty cool."

Block nearly quit trying to make it in music, but she credits a chance meeting with Taylor Swift for getting her to stick with it and give it her all. A year into living in Nashville and working a 9 to 5 at a yogurt shop and going to college, she got pretty depressed.

But then that one moment that changed everything happened. As she was leaving work one day, wearing a Taylor Swift shirt, Swift saw her as she was driving by and told her she loved her shirt. That was the day she decided she thought it might be time to give up and go back home to figure out her life, but that one moment was everything she needed to keep going.

"It was the moment I quit my job, I quit school and I was like I'm really going to go take a chance on myself and figure this out and here we are," she explained.

Block has advice for anyone just starting out in the industry.

"I think it's just, be easy on yourself and don't' put anything off the table. It's easy to get in your head as an artist, but who cares, just put it all out there. I would have never expected that I would have blown up on the internet," she said.

"I thought maybe I would get discovered in a bar and that's why I moved to Nashville and started singing everywhere and doing anything that I could. And then TikTok came around and is started posting tons of videos a day and I think that if you want it, you gotta work and try anything that you possibly can."

For Dickerson, supporting Women In Music is important and something he tries to do as much as possible.

"I've always felt like any of the ladies, especially in country music, they're my little sisters. I watched Priscilla Block, who we are doing this show with, watched her from the beginning and watched her pop off on TikTok, and her having her first number one in country has been so awesome to watch," Dickerson told The Blast exclusively.

"I'm just a fan. I love to support these women and that's what this whole thing is all about, supporting them, in a genre that's heavily male focused. I love to support and listen and bring on tour, whatever it means to support them as much as I can."

Dickerson said music is something he's always wanted to do. With parents who were both in music, he had an early start.

"Both my parents were in music. My dad was the choir director in church. My mom played piano in church, taught piano lessons. It wasn't until I was 16 that I picked up a guitar and started learning. I really started with worship songs because my parents were in church and that led to Nirvana," he said.

"I guess I started writing songs around 20, 21. I just wanted to perform. I wanted to be on stage like the people of the concerts that we went to. I wanted to write songs so I could hold the microphone out and hear the crowd scream every word. That's been the motivation factor this whole time."

After the Smirnoff ICE Relaunch show, the country singer is gearing up to hit the road for his "Big Wheels and Back Roads" tour, as well as getting ready to welcome a baby with his wife in early October.

For tickets to the Smirnoff ICE Relaunch Tour, visit their website.