The old adage goes that you should never meet your heroes because they'll disappoint you. Priscilla Block says bring on the disappointment!

The country newcomer has a growing list of inspirations, and she's dying to meet them. During normal times, she would have had an opportunity at this point in her career. The viral sensation drove "Just About Over You" inside the Top 20 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, and her new single, "My Bar," is off to a fine start. For an artist on a major label, that kind of success is a key to open up doors to new stages, tours, collaborations, etc, but ...

"Obviously this whole thing has happened in the middle of a pandemic, so I really haven’t been able to meet the people that I’ve looked up to for a long time," Block tells Taste of Country Nights, "but I know one day it’s gonna happen. I’m just gonna freak out and pass out and be the total fan girl. There will be no chill.”

So, who's on her hit list? Many of her influences you'll hear on songs from her new Welcome to the Block Party album, dropping Feb. 11. The 20-something from Raleigh, N.C., lists Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton (a labelmate), Miranda LambertLuke Combs ...

And Kelly Clarkson.

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“I love Kelly Clarkson," Block says, reserving no emphasis. "I remember watching her back on Idol (American Idol). I just think she’s awesome."

Block and host Evan Paul start to reflect on Clarkson's coronation song, "A Moment Like This."

"That was just so much of my teenage years, was listening to her songs,” she says.

Find "Ever Since You Left" on the new album to hear how one singer inspired another. Block beams when a comparison is made between this song and Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone," but she gets uncharacteristically sheepish when asked to let manifest a meeting. Then a switch flips.

“I am going to meet Kelly Clarkson," she begins with football coach conviction. "I am going to tell her that she changed my life with ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ and ‘A Moment Like This.’ I’m going to see her and be like, ‘I have been dreaming for a moment like this!'"

Listen to the Full Interview With Priscilla Block:

At this point, her energy and that pun crack up the interview. It should be no surprise that a woman who brought big energy to TikTok does the same during radio interviews. Welcome to the Block Party might be filled with songs about breakups (or, more accurately, one awful breakup), but years later, she hardly seems defeated. It doesn't feel real, she says.

“The other day," Block begins, earlier in the conversation, "I went over to my little sister’s and I was telling her what I had going on and she just started crying. She was like, ‘I can’t believe you’re my sister.’ It was just such a moment.”

Look for Block to celebrate her new album at the Grand Ole Opry later in February. In March, she'll play C2C Festival in London, Glasgow and Dublin before a string of club dates round out her spring.

PICTURES: See Inside Carrie Underwood's Breathtaking Nashville Mansion

Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, owned a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom, 2-half-bathroom home in an affluent Nashville suburb called Brentwood. The 7,000-square-foot mansion features a wet bar, fitness center and tennis court, as well as a four-car garage, walk-out basement with heated marble floors and extra appliances, including a sub-zero fridge and wine fridge. That house is where Underwood suffered a devastating fall in 2017.

The couple sold the luxurious home for $1,410,000 in March of 2019, after they moved into the massive dream home that they had spent several years building from scratch.

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