Dolly Parton News

It was just announced that Dolly will be playing at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Canada on May 10th, 11th, and 12th. Tickets go on-sale tomorrow at noon with prices at $84.80 and $127.20 Canadian and can be purchased via Ticket Master or by calling the casino’s box office at (888) 836-8118.

Today’s issue of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat features a great article on the diversity of Dolly’s fans and previews her Valentine’s Day show that she will be performing this Wednesday. Several fans were interviewed and quoted in the article including your very own Dolly On-Line webmaster. Aside from discussing her diverse fan base, Dolly reveals several details about her upcoming album, Backwoods Barbie, that is due out sometime this summer. Twenty-four tracks have been recorded for the album, including a cover of “She Drives Me Crazy” originally by the Fine Young Cannibals and a new recording of her classic “Put It Off Until Tomorrow” that she recorded with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. As a bonus, reporter John Beck blogs about his interview with Dolly and includes an mp3 podcast of interview that you can listen to on his blog. Not included in the article, Dolly also mentions that she recorded Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks Of My Tears” for her new album after hearing it at the Kennedy Center Awards back in December.

Another great article from the February 8th issue of the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, CA mentions Dolly’s current efforts to get back onto country radio. The tracks recorded for her upcoming album include everything “from radio-friendly pop to country rock and bluegrass” and Dolly is hoping her new album will gain acceptance from a wider audience. “This time around I’ve really been listening to what they like and I think I have some stuff that has a chance,” Dolly says. “I understand that you can’t stay at the top of the charts forever, but I feel like I still have a lot to offer.”

Finally, the Desert Entertainer in Palm Desert, CA does a great profile of Dolly to promote her upcoming Indio concert date, covering her personality, her family and upbringing, and her beliefs. “I’m really not very religious, but I am very spiritual. I deeply appreciate the way I was raised. My people gave me a very real relationship with God, and I’ll always have that.”

Read the Press Democrat article >>
Listen to Dolly’s Press Democrat interview >>
Read the Press-Enterprise article >>
Read the Desert Entertainer article >>

Dolly is scheduled to perform a special charity concert on May 20th to raise money for the new Ft. Sanders Sevier Medical Center in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. The concert is expected to raise about $500,000 for the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation which will go to help build the new $90 million medical center. Dolly has also donated $500,000 from her Dollywood Foundation and her Dixie Stampede chain, bringing her total donation to one million dollars. The concert is scheduled for 7:30 PM on May 20th at the Smokies Stadium in Sevierville. Tickets for this charity concert are priced at $33, $75, and $150 (plus service charges) and will go on-sale Thursday, February 8th at 9:00 AM through Tickets Unlimited. For more information, check out the websites below.

Tickets Unlimited >>
Concerts In The Smokies Website >>

Six classic Dolly albums from the 1970s and 1980s are being re-issued on CD in the UK by SonyBMG on March 5th to coincide with her European tour. Project coordinator Stephen Munns has been working for years to get some of Dolly’s classic albums out on CD, choosing the albums that fans most wanted to hear. The six albums are being released onto three separate discs with two albums per disc, five of which have never previously been available on CD. The six albums chosen were Burlap & Satin, Real Love, Great Balls Of Fire, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, All I Can Do, and New Harvest…First Gathering, all of which were recording during her years with RCA.

Also being released on March 5th to coincide with her European tour is a brand new compilation CD titled The Very Best Of Dolly Parton. The career-spanning twenty-one song collection will feature the usual hits from her early days like “Coat of Many Colors” and “Jolene” as well as her more recently acclaimed work like “Shine” from her 2001 Little Sparrow album and her Oscar and Grammy nominated song “Travelin’ Thru” from the Transamerica soundtrack. The Very Best of Dolly Parton is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. The full track listing for this release is listed here:

1. 9 To 5
2. I Will Always Love You
3. Islands In The Stream (With Kenny Rogers)
4. Jolene
5. Coat Of Many Colors
6. My Tennessee Mountain Home
7. Here You Come Again
8. Baby I’m Burnin’
9. Love Is Like A Butterfly
10. The Bargain Store
11. Potential New Boyfriend
12. Everything’s Beautiful (In It’s Own Way)
    (with Willie Nelson)
13. Silver Threads And Golden Needles
    (with Tammy Wynette & Loretta Lynn)
14. To Know Him Is To Love Him
    (with Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris)
15. Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That
16. Romeo (with Billy Ray Cyrus, Tanya Tucker, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea and Pam Tillis)
17. Tennessee Homesick Blues
18. The Grass Is Blue
19. Little Sparrow
20. Shine
21. Travelin Thru’ (From Transamerica OST)

For more information about these releases, check out Stephen Munns’ website.

Stephen Munns’ UK Web Wonders Site >>
Pre-Order All I Can Do/New Harvest-First Gathering >>
Pre-Order Burlap & Satin/Real Love >>
Pre-Order Great Balls Of Fire/Dolly, Dolly, Dolly >>
Pre-Order The Very Best of Dolly Parton >>