Dolly Parton Discusses "Blue Smoke" and What Makes Music So Universal

Country music's multi-media icon returns with new music and discusses the album which ranks amongst her best work to date.

At a time many other country artists her age are either touring the county fair circuit or releasing ‘best of’ albums -- if they’re releasing any albums at all -- Dolly Parton has a brand new album out this week, Blue Smoke, which includes plenty of original tunes (after all, Parton is one of America’s greatest songwriters) as well as some interesting and unusual covers. For instance, Parton can be heard singing her unique take on the Bon Jovi song “Lay Your Hands on Me,” as well as covering Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice.” She also sings duets with both Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson. It has everything we’ve always loved about Dolly, along with a few surprises.

Parton recently participated in a media conference call where she talked about this latest recording. 

“I always get excited with any and every album I do,” says Parton. “I always think what I’ve just done is the best yet. I’ve always said I wake up with new dreams every day. But with this particular one, I wanted to kind of do one that had all the colors of my whole career. That’s why we have some bluegrass stuff. We have some gospel flavored tunes. We have some mountain style. So it’s fun to write ‘em, sing ‘em and get up there and do ‘em.” 

Not surprisingly, it’s tough for Parton to narrow down her favorite songs on this (or any) new recording.

“It’s like I’ve always said about my songs, they’re my children and I hope to have ‘em support me when I’m old,” she elaborates jokingly. “It’s one of my favorite jokes, but it’s true. And so they’re like your kids. You love ‘em all. Some of ‘em are a little more special and you sense that and know that. It doesn’t mean you love ‘em less. Some of these songs I really enjoy singing. I love the song “If I Had Wings” because I love to sing that kind of song. I love to write that kind of song. It’s got that old world feeling. It’s got a little bit of spiritual flavor to it. And I love the little song “Miss You, Miss Me” because it came from a very personal place with something going on in my own family. I think so many people can relate to it because of so many people divorcing and the kids always wind up suffering the most. Those two are real special to me, but I do enjoy doing songs like the rewrite and reworking of “Lay Your Hands On Me,” the Bon Jovi song. It’s fun to get in and cover other people’s songs, like the Bob Dylan “Don’t Think Twice.” It’s always a challenge and it’s always fun to experiment with new things.” 

Parton remains relevant, whereas many of her contemporaries do not, because she realizes that songs with universal themes that touch upon timeless human emotions will always find an audience.

“People are always going to have the same thoughts, the same heartaches and everybody -- no matter what’s going on in the world -- we have our true feelings, whether it’s our faith in God, our faith in family, our love for one another or our children. And I just love life. I’ve kept a good attitude about it. Who knows why we’re really here? So I figure we need to make the most of everything we can while we’re here.” 

With Blue Smoke, Parton is indeed making the best of it with one of her strongest albums to date. 

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