Rhythm of the Street

Four o'clock, five o'clock, six o'clock -- it's time to rock.

Rock the Block, the annual party that fills downtown Winston-Salem with revelers, will crank to life this year from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday on and around Fourth Street.

Rock The Block started in 2002 as a means of celebrating the re-emergence of downtown as a hive of multifaceted entertainment. What began as a "throw it and they will come" concept has since grown into a much-anticipated yearly street party that draws as many as 30,000 people, to not only the featured events but also to restaurants, bars and art galleries throughout downtown.

There have been bumps in the road -- it's expected when having to deal with shifts in weather -- but Rock The Block continues to evolve as the rare event that offers something for just about everybody.

The year, BMX stunt bikers will perform feats of derring-do to assorted oohs, ahs and ouches.

A kid zone is perfect for kids who get tired of walking around trying to see over adults.

And, of course, there is the usual array of tasty-food vendors and cold-beverage hawkers eager to serve parched and hungry revelers who come to Rock the Block in search of (relatively) free fun.

But for many Block-heads the main allure of Rock the Block, beyond the guzzling of adult beverages and wandering the streets of downtown Winston-Salem, pizza in hand and/or on shirt, is the opportunity to see a variety of live bands perform equally varied music.

Hence, the amorphous "rock" in Rock the Block.

The bands have been separated by category and assigned to one of five categorically designated stages -- ranging from rock and Americana to Christian/country, beach and R&B (which encompasses smooth jazz, but no traditional jazz).

There is no traditional jazz, no Hispanic music, no street-flavored hip-hop acts (and Winston-Salem has plenty of bands to fit the slots). Maybe next year?

What follows is a brief guide to help navigate all of this year's musical choices. Dancing is encouraged, but not required.

The Rock Stage

(Fourth Street)

Jews & Catholics (6-7:45 p.m.): Not old-school rock, but an inventive hybrid of electric guitar, upright bass and programmed beats and effects that is performed by two people -- and sounds like more. Jews & Catholics is Winston-Salem's, if not the state's, best and most innovative band. Hand's down, a must-see performance by Rock the Block's premiere musical act.

Eric Dodd Band (8:10-9:45 p.m.): Carefully calculated mainstream-sounding rock is the forte of the Eric Dodd Band from Athens, Ga. It's as wholesome as white bread -- newly written rock that lists toward over-earnest emo. Spirited, but unoriginal -- so they could well be the Next Big Thing.

Southpaw (10:15-11:45): Southpaw hails from Virginia, and mixes the odd Southern-flavored original song within a BIC-flickin' playlist that stretches from AC/DC and Bob Seger to Lynyrd Skynyrd. A very professional way to get your "Freebird" going on.

The R&B Stage

(Spruce and Fourth streets)

Freeport Jazz (6-&:45 p.m.): Freeport Jazz, based in Winston-Salem, plays what many wags have dubbed "smooth jazz" -- a wholly unfrenetic blend of contemporary jazz improvisation and R&B groove. Call it what you want -- these cats can play.

Dezmond (8:05-9:40 p.m.): Singer Dezmond hails from Salisbury and has roots in gospel music. His new music moves into contemporary R&B, blending hip-hop bounce with fervent soul singing. He can sing, he can swing, and his songs are strong enough to make him an R&B player.

Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen (10-11:45 p.m.): Cohen is every inch the classic, sassy blues mama. She was raised in North Carolina, but has since relocated to New Orleans, where she performs on Bourbon Street in the style of Ma Rainey, Etta James, Bessie Smith and Koko Taylor. And she has bright blue hair. Big fun.

The Americana Stage

(Cherry and Fourth streets)

Corduroy Road (6:30-7:45 p.m.): This bluegrass-rooted quartet from Athens, Ga., aspires to mine the ground between the Avett Brothers and the Felice Brothers, and ends up being a lively and entertaining way to pass time.

Dan Dockery and The Rising: Dockery is a longtime Winston-Salem musician who dropped out, and is now back with sturdy original material that is long on heartfelt emotion. He breaks no new ground, but he doesn't give any, either.

Billie Feather (9:45-10:45 p.m.): Feather is best-known to local music fans as the little girl who slaps a big doghouse bass for the bo-stevens. But her solo appearance will show there's a lot more to Feather, who studied classical guitar at the UNCSA. She writes. She sings. She plays guitar. Should be interesting.

The Darnell Woodies (10:45 p.m.-midnight): The still-wet-behind-the-ears Darnell Woodies are the second must-see band at Rock the Block. Lanky Matt Smith, he of Subculture and The Johnsons, returns in bluegrass guise, making a joyful down-home racket that splits the woozy difference between The Pogues and The Dillards. Great players, great songs. A large time.

Beach Stage

(Fourth Street)

Doubletake (7-8:50 p.m.) and Craig Woolard Band (9:10-11 p.m.): Truth in advertising. Doubletake, from Winston-Salem, leans toward the Top 40, country-club side of beach music, while Woolard, a fine singer who performs his own beach-music material, maintains the genre's shag-ready roots.

Country/Christian Stage

(Marshall and Fourth Street)

Old Stone Revue (6:30-7:30 p.m.): Old Stone Revue, based in the Triad, is not a country band, per se, although its music certainly takes its cues from rural roots-music traditions. As for the Christian part -- that's the band's business. Either way, the band's comfortable, harmonious take on roots music, showcased to grand advantage on Heirloom, its debut album, is the stuff of peaceful, easy evenings.

Cindy Johnson (7:50-9:45 p.m.): Johnson, who lives in North Carolina, has released four well-received albums of cliché-free contemporary Christian music. She's a fine singer, the songs are personable and rootsy, and the message is unflaggingly positive.

Caleb Caudle and The Bayonets (10:05 p.m. to midnight): Fans who fell in love with Caudle's Red Bank Road album will be thrilled with the material he and his band, The Bayonets, have since recorded. The new material emphasizes Caudle's growth as a singer and songwriter, and the added oomph of The Bayonets brings new dimension to Caudle's sound. One of Winston-Salem's best roots bands just got better.