R
I have good
doctors - good
makeup - and
a good
attitude and
whatever it
takes to keep
myself
looking better
and better,
that’s what
I’m gonna try
and do from
now on...
arely does an
artist evoke a
reaction like the
one Dolly
rece ives. I told a
number of people I was
going to interview Dolly
and young and old alike
knew exactly who I was
talking about. You see she’s
an artist who transcends
demographics, she’s loved
by all and sundry. This is
fact. Having recently
finished a sell out World
tour, headlined at
Glastonbury and become
one of just a handful of
women to top 100 million
world wide record sales, a
number of journalists were
invited to a press
conference with the star,
here is what we learnt.
Dolly is an unstoppable,
loveable and relatable
force of nature and she’s
one of the nicest ‘town
tramps’ we know.
Your connection to the gay
community is strong and
undeniable, is there a song or album
over the years that you’ve heard
from your gay fans they particularly
connect with?
Oh, I think a lot of my fans relate to
different songs, a lot of them like Light Of
A Blue Morning, it’s a very uplifting song,
it’s really a song of overcoming different
things, but I think they just relate to my
songs just in general. Hopefully, I think,
they relate to me more than any particular
song, although, at some point, I would
like to do a dance record and I have
several songs that are targeted towards the
gay community, like a fun little song called
Just A Wee Bit Gay, it’s a great little dance
tune. I do write a lot of songs along those
lines for people that are different and
unusual and for people that are, you know,
just themselves.
I have a lot of those good positive uplifting
songs and hopefully eventually I will get
(them) out there.
Can you update us on Doggie
Parton?
YESSS! ...We gotta call with the main
people with the government and they told
us that the true owners did come forward.
They had reported the dog missing. It was
a language barrier. I think they were from
another country and they got the dog back.
Everybody feels good about it. I do not get
to take her home, I was looking forward to
it. I was going to rename her Glassie
because of Glastonbury. I was gonna say
Glassie comes home, but they want her
and they feel good about that and I have
been very instrumental in making sure
that the dog is taken care of all the way
through. So now they have her back. She’s
15 years-old, they thought at one time she
was seven, but she’s 15, so everyone’s
happy that she’s back where she belongs.
I’m a little sad, because I was looking
forward to taking her home, but I’m glad
she’s back where she belongs.
On your newest album Blue Smoke,
Lay Your Hands On Me and Miss
You Miss Me are great songs about
strength and comfort, can you talk
about the background of those and
what you would say to kids who are
feeling broken or rejected?
Lay Your Hands On Me, I just always
loved that song and when I first heard it
years ago it just sounded like a gospel song
‘cause I grew up in the church where
people did, you know, lay hands on just to
pray for the sick or just to make you feel
better as a spiritual thing. So I just
thought it’d make a good song to turn into
a gospel song - just having a conversation
with God. I asked Jon Bon Jovi and Richie
if they’d reconsider reworking it and
working it into a gospel tune and they
were willing to do that and it’s actually one
of my favourites and as far as the Miss You
Miss Me track I actually had a niece who
was going through a divorce and my little
grand niece who was part of that whole
divorce, was feeling like she didn’t quite
understand why there were such problems
between her Mum and her Dad and that’s
what inspired that particular song. I just
think that so many children get caught up
in the divorce and children are left to be
made to feel like they’ve done something
wrong when two grown people, even if
they can’t get along should be more
considerate where the children are
concerned.
You mentioned being disappointed
about not being able to take Doggie
Parton home with you, do you think
you’ll get a new dog to adopt from
the Happy Landing Shelter?
Well, no, I don’t believe we’re looking, I
have a big responsibility at home. My
heart went out to this particular dog,
because of the way, it was like it was
meant to be somehow. It was just so
touching to me, that she got lost there at
the festival where we were. I would
definitely want to make sure when we all
became aware, that this dog was lost and
found. It just really broke our hearts, that
someone could abandon it, but I’m not
looking to adopt another dog. This one
AUG / SEPT 2014 | THEGAYUK 35