Country legend Dolly Parton will debut her new label, Dolly Records, with the release of a country album next February. "It's really the first mainstream country record Dolly has done in 17 years," says Parton's manager, Danny Nozell, who also serves as the GM of Dolly Records.
"She's going to be the only person on that label. We're not signing any other artists -- it's going to be strictly for Dolly Parton," Nozell tells Billboard.com.
So why go independent and in-house? "She's a free agent right now so we decided to go around to the majors to at least see what kind of distribution deals they were bringing in, and didn't see anything I was interested in," says Nozell, who adds that he then proceeded to put a marketing plan together on his own.
"To be honest, we have the finances the major labels have, and I put together a marketing plan that was way more extensive than any major has brought to me," Nozell says.
Distribution is still being finalized, but a deal is in the works with iTunes for digital sales. The first single, "Better Get To Livin'," will impact radio Sept. 24, and Parton will perform it on a "national TV show" a few days later.
Touring will begin in the first quarter of next year. "We're going to definitely do a world tour to support the album, starting in March," Nozell says. "We're going to be doing Europe, Australia, America and Canada."
