Album Review – Jack Blocker’s “The Land On Most High”
Classic Country (#510.1) on the Country DDS.
Treating songs like poetic travelogues, and then gracing them with tasteful treatments steeped in the country & Western legacy until they come out of the oven golden brown and tasty, Texas native Jack Blocker demands your attention with his debut album The Land On Most High. Little patience or persuasion is necessary to find yourself on the agreeable side of what’s going on here. You push play, and crack a smile.
The country music world is not bereft for up-and-coming buckaroos singing their guts out. Some guy who you’d never heard of five minutes ago has 2 million TikTok followers, and Spotify singles with over 70 million spins, even though he sounds like a bad version of Zach Bryan. Somebody recommends them to you, and then you’re left staring at a profile picture, wondering if the mustache and cowboy hat is authentic or ironic.
With Jack Blocker, you feel safe. You’re in for the long haul, because you can tell he is too. This is a country music investment to get on the ground floor with and ride the tide. Jack’s voice is attuned to accentuating the emotion of a lyric and following a melody, while the music is pleasantly understated and sumptuous, though present and full-bodied all the same.
Produced by Patrick Lyons who made his name cutting records with Colter Wall, the sound of Jack Blocker is classic, traditional, and a little bit Western at times, which is good because geography plays such an important role in these songs.
From singing the virtues of The Natural State in a song that could almost be bluegrass in its acoustical rendering in “If Heaven Looks Like Arkansas,” to “Saguaro” about the Arizona cactus that look like stick figures, to back home in the album’s final song “Lonestar,” Jack Blocker takes you places in his tunes, and you’re a willing passenger.
“[This] is a collection of nostalgic daydreams,” says Blocker. “It’s a picture that’s painted using hundreds of little memories and moments—the driveway basketball games, motel naps, homemade slip ‘n slides, and trailside snacks that seemed insignificant at the time but continually creep back around to scratch my brain. My hope is that the deeper I dive into my own memories through these songs, the more vividly each person listening will imagine theirs.”
There are perhaps easier and more lucrative paths forward in music and entertainment, and in country music specifically compared to the one Jack Blocker has chosen. But he’s intentionally looking to folks like fellow Texans Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, and Guy Clark for inspiration. He just also happens to be a better singer, and coming along at a time when thirsty listeners are seeking more honest voices.
The Land On Most High is just the start. And from the super twangy opening song “Worth His Salt,” Jack Blocker immediately has you hooked. And with these artists who have more time on this earth ahead than behind, it’s hard to not get excited by what the future holds when the present sounds so promising.
8.2/10
September 23, 2025 @ 7:34 am
Just finished listening to this album this morning after liking the song on the SCM playlist. Really dug it. Glad to see the review. Thanks Trig.
September 23, 2025 @ 7:41 am
I don’t hate the two songs featured here.
September 23, 2025 @ 8:03 am
Boy is this going to be confusing given that there’s also a Jake Blocker who plays honky tonk.
September 23, 2025 @ 5:49 pm
“Jake Blocker”? Heck there’s actually another artist named “Jack Blocker.” Exact same name. I never heard of him, but per Google, and his own Wikipedia page, he’s an alt-rock/ pop singer and was a finalist on the last “American Idol.” And he’s from Texas. I don’t know how they’ll sort that out. I’d think one of them would at least use a middle initial. Or a nickname: could be “Country” Jack Blocker like “Country” Charley Pride.
September 23, 2025 @ 9:42 am
Texas seems to be where its at for Country music these days. Worth It’s Salt has a twangy Bakersfield sound to it
October 5, 2025 @ 12:46 pm
It’s the same guy.
September 23, 2025 @ 10:12 am
Having spent the first three years of my working life in Arkansas, and knowing far too well that attitude many Texans have of it, I feared that “If Heaven Looks Like Arkansas,” written and sung by a Texan, would be a laundry list of negative stereotypes. Credit to Jack for not taking that route. It’s a beautiful state, even in the flatlands of the Delta, where I lived.
September 24, 2025 @ 5:42 pm
That’s funny. I’ve never really felt any inclination to visit Arkansas save for perhaps a mountain biking trip in Bentonville. That song was the first thing to ever make me think, “You know, Arkansas sounds beautiful. Maybe it’s worth a trip!”
September 23, 2025 @ 11:13 am
i like the whole album and also the production here. I’m getting started on mandolin and “if heaven looks like Arkansas” is the first song i could play along with from start to finish! Love it!
September 23, 2025 @ 1:30 pm
he sounds great. and he sounds a lot like Nicholas Jamerson, which is great
September 23, 2025 @ 3:03 pm
I have been a huge fan of Jack’s since discovering him on American Idol a couple of years ago. (Yes, I still watch it. Jack finished third.). He won me over as soon as he did an acoustic version of Your Cheating Heart and knocked it out of the park. So glad you reviewed him. Along with fellow singing show alum Jake Worthington, he is the truth.
September 23, 2025 @ 6:11 pm
If this is the same guy as the American idol singer, then he’s totally changed his sound and his look and the country thing is an affectation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrrAP3q7Sf8
September 24, 2025 @ 7:34 am
That is a transformation, but I like his country sound better.
September 24, 2025 @ 5:44 am
I believe Worthington was on The Voice. Agree with the comment though.
September 23, 2025 @ 6:45 pm
Listening to it now and totally dig his sound. Good stuff.
September 24, 2025 @ 5:43 am
I know it’s not cool to say you watch American Idol, but my wife likes it, and we have watched almost every season since Kelly Clarkson was on. I usually forget about most of the artists after a season or two past, but I remember Jack because he was one of my wife’s favorites. She called him the guy who makes funny faces. But it’s been a few years now, so when I saw this album pop up I didn’t realize it was the Jack Blocker from American Idol until after listening to the album.
I have to say this album had my attention right away. There are a lot of different styles of traditional country music going on here, but it all comes across cohesively. Hard to believe this is the same guy from Idol who proclaimed to want to be the next Tyler Childers and played mostly acoustic. There is a little of the Childers influence here, especially in the first song Worth His Salt. But the vocals and styling has me thinking a better comparison might be Colby Acuff.
Overall a great debut and start to his career for Jack Blocker. Don’t think there is a bad song on this. Looking forward to see where he’s headed.
September 24, 2025 @ 7:28 am
I have to thank you for this review Trig, this kid had a very good voice and can paint you a picture with his songs. I was very impressed by this album and hope the kid keeps it up.
September 26, 2025 @ 3:52 pm
Been following JACK BLOCKER’S videos since his Idol appearance — thanks “Saving Country Music” for your review.
September 27, 2025 @ 2:00 am
I feel that Jack should have won on Idol & listening to this album just affirmed that feeling! Somebody Sign this young man!
September 29, 2025 @ 8:08 am
Thanks for this review! This is one of those rare albums that I liked instantly. Not a bad song on here. Ive listened through 4 times already and first discovered Jack through your review yesterday.