The Many Colors of Dolly

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THE MANY COLORS OF

photo courtesy of Dolly Records.

by Jesse Walker (developmental editing by Ben Rock)

A star since the 1960s, Dolly Parton has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. With her latest album, Blue Smoke, releasing on May 13, the 68-year-old country music legend still has the energy to embark on a new world tour to promote the album and reach out to her fans.

Having grown up poor in East Tennessee, Dolly has deeply rooted Blue Smoke in a variety of influences from her life, and she feels that one of the most notable tracks is “Lay Your Hands on Me,” written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

“When I heard that song years and years ago when it first came out, I thought it would make such a perfect gospel song. I grew up in a Pentecostal Church where we really believed in laying your hands on people and praying for them,” Dolly says. “I really think it made a great gospel song! It’s one of my favorites on the whole album just because it’s different and we did all those bluegrass harmonies in addition to the choir.”

That gospel sound is just one of the “many colors” Dolly said is found on the album. She explained she makes music that her fans want to hear and that she personally enjoys, rather than catering to a commercialized radio sound. Bluegrass, gospel, mountain, country, pop, and rock aspects can all be found on the new album, creating a variety of sound that is very much on purpose.

Blue Smoke had been on Dolly’s mind as a great title for a project since her early bluegrass music, and she wrote the title track

to recall the many things that blue smoke means to her. The song is a great reflection of where she grew up, the Great Smoky Mountains, often called the “Blue Smokies” because of the blue, smoke-like mist that rises from them.

“The other ‘blue’ part of that smoke is that there was so much bluegrass influence with the instruments and the harmonies,” she says, before adding that the song is most literally about a train.

“You just feel like you are going somewhere. You are getting out of a mess,” she says. Then, she adds with a laugh, “I don’t like to fly so I would rather ride a train. ‘Blue Smoke’ just seemed to fit all of those things.”

Having already completed the Australia and New Zealand legs of her tour, Dolly will have a run of shows in the United States in May, followed by a widespread visit to Europe in June and July, including stops in Ireland, England, Wales, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. She notes the differences between American audiences and those in another country, especially how international audiences are so responsive to her show because neither she nor they know when they will get to see each other again. “I give it all I have got, and they give it all they have got,” she says, “so it really makes for a nice, fun show.”

Even while traveling, Dolly makes sure to write something every day. “Songwriting is just as natural as breathing to me,” she says.

“It was a song that brought me out of the Smoky Mountains and sent me around the world.”

When she is home, Dolly likes to plan two- to three-week periods when she will retreat to either her East Tennessee home or her Nashville lake house to do nothing but write. “I can come up with anywhere from 20 to 30 songs during that period of time,” she says and then quickly adds, “but they are not all good!

“I do prefer to write alone because I just have such definite thoughts; it is like my little private time,” she continues, explaining that she has different instruments, including guitars, banjos, and a piano, in her home depending on what sound she is wanting for a particular song. Still, she sometimes will write with others, such as her brother, her uncle, and one of her aunts.

Dolly realizes her international fans are not the only ones who have lifted her to icon-level status and embraces the way the LGBT community has come to love her.

“Well, first of all, the guys want to look like me,” she jokes. “I’ve always said, it is a good thing I was born a woman or I would have definitely been a drag queen!” She thinks the community supports her because she, too, has been condemned and persecuted for who she is, what she thinks, and what she looks like.

“I think people relate to me because they know that I understand what it’s like to

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photo courtesy of Dolly Records.

fight for being myself and overcoming all sorts of things,” she says. “I don’t judge or criticize anybody. I’m not God, and I’m not a judge. I just love everybody.” She is honored and flattered not only that the drag queens like to dress like her but that the LGBT community truly understands her. “We are just people. We do what we do, love who we love, and can’t help who we are. We should proudly be that.”

When it comes to what she does next, Dolly has a lot of ideas.

“I just want to continue to do more and be better with the things I’ve got,” she says. “I want to write better songs. I want to record better records. I would love to do a children’s [television] show someday. I would love to have my own cosmetic company. I just always look for good things to write about, to talk about, and just try to do something to help somebody else. I have new dreams everyday, but one thing I am proud of is the Imagination Library and giving books to children.”

Dolly has also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006 from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is very proud and grateful for the recognition of her achievements.

“It’s different than your family and friends saying it, but when that many special people think I’ve done something, I must have done pretty good,” she says. “I’m so grateful and thankful that I have had a chance to see my dreams come true unlike so many people in this world that can never say that.

“I ain’t done yet!” she adds. “I hope to do this for a long time more. I don’t ever intend to retire.”

Dolly will be bringing her classics like “Jolene” and “Coat of Many Colors” as well as all the new tunes from Blue Smoke to audiences in the United States and worldwide as her Blue Smoke World Tour continues. The album launches May 13. Visit www.dollyparton.com for a full list of tour dates.

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