Feb. 27:
Ovation Releases Two New Videos

Memphis Library Protests Post Office Change
Yet another Tennessee community is sounding the alarm on the U.S. Postal Service's decision to spend more money to pack up and destroy undeliverable children's books from Dolly's Imagination Library than the USPS would expend if it allowed volunteers to pick up the misaddressed books. Memphis television station WREG reported on the controversy in Shelby County on Tuesday here.

'9 To 5' Hits Los Angeles Area
Another local production of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical has been noticed. The performance this weekend at 3-D Theatricals in Redondo Beach, Calif., is profiled in The Los Angeles Daily News here.

Feb. 26:
Ovation Premieres 'Song By Song' Six Days Early
Ovation has moved up its premiere of its limited series Song By Song: Dolly Parton. Instead of starting the show on the previously-announced March 10 date with two new episodes each following Sunday, it has been moved up six days to the Monday a week earlier each week. That means "I Will Always Love You" premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern next Monday, March 4, followed by "9 To 5" at 8:30 p.m. They will repeat several times over the subsequent week until "Coat Of Many Colors" premieres at 8 p.m. Monday, March 11, followed by "Jolene" at 8:30 p.m. The schedule for the subsequent week has not been released yet, but presumably the final two episodes, "Travelin' Thru" and "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right," will premiere on Monday, March 18, instead of the originally-announced Sunday, March 24. Various TV listing services had shown the changed dates for the past few days, but the schedule change was not confirmed until Ovation uploaded the schedule for March 4-17 on its official website this Monday.

Dolly On New Davies Tribute Album Next Month
Dolly is among many artists who have contributed to a tribute fundraising CD coming out next month, it has been announced. Country singer Gail Davies, with whom Dolly duetted in the past, recently produced an album of covers of her songwriter brother Ron Davies, who died in 2003. Dolly recorded the track "It's Too Late" for the album, Unsung Hero: A Tribute To The Music Of Ron Davies, coming out March 25. Others who appear on the project are Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Crystal Gayle, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, John Anderson, Shelby Lynne, Delbert McClinton, Jim Lauderdale, Mandy Barnett, Suzy Bogguss, Guy Clark, Robbie Fulks, Jeff Hanna, Matraca Berg, Jonell Mosser, Bonnie Bramlett, Jimmy Hall, Kevin Welch, Kelly Hogan and BR-549. Proceeds benefit Nashville's W. O. Smith Music School. Read more from CMT.com here.

More '9 To 5' News From Across The Pond
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical continues to march across Great Britain on tour. The show's April stop in Hull, England, made About My Area here, while an interview with "Roz," actress Bonnie Langford, was published in the Norwich Evening News here.

Another Story On USPS Controversy
Another Tennessee media outlet is covering the story of the Post Office stopping Imagination Library volunteers from picking up undeliverable books in Dolly's literacy program. Knoxville television station WBIR reports on the controversy here.

Feb. 25:
Ovation Launches 'Song By Song' Promotions

Australian Chart Update
Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 dips three this week to No. 38 on the top 40 Australian country albums chart, its 259th chart week there.

'9 To 5' Updates In South Carolina, Massachusetts
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical runs in Columbia, S.C., at the Town Theatre through March 16, The State reports here, and up in Massachusetts, The Worchester Telegram and Gazette reports here it runs through March 3 at Theatre at the Mount.

Feb. 23:
Dolly On New Paul Anka Duets Project
Dolly duets with legendary crooner Paul Anka on his upcoming album Duets, hitting stores April 9. Others on the project include Gloria Estefan, Willie Nelson and Michael Buble. In addition, the project creates "new" duets by adding Anka's vocals to existing recordings by deceased artists including Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Get your copy here! Thanks, Mike!

Library, Postal Service Conflict Coverage Expands
The decision of the U.S. Postal Service to discontinue allowing volunteers to pick-up undeliverable Imagination Library books across Tennessee continued to gain media attention on Friday with stories from News Channel 5 in Nashville here, WSMV in Nashville here and News Channel 9 in Chatanooga here.

Irish Chart Update
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, with her cover of Dolly's title track, slips 18 spots this week to No. 84 on the top 100 Irish pop albums chart.

Feb. 22:
Interview Up For Local Emmy Posted Online
The Dr. Steve Show, a nationally syndicated health and wellness program filmed at a New York television station, this week uploaded video of its entire episode featuring an interview with Dolly that was recently nominated for a New York Regional Emmy Award for Best Health/Science Program or Special. Watch it here. In its opening, the host says it's an interview like Dolly has never given before, and true to that tease it focuses largely on mountain medicine practiced by people in her family during her childhood and even her family's psychic abilities. In a press release celebrating the nomination, Dolly said: "It is always great to be nominated for anything. I remember doing The Dr. Steve Show and I was thinking at the time 'I have enjoyed doing this as much, if not more, than any show I have done in years and years.' So I was excited to be nominated for this particular show. So thanks, and wish me luck!" Emmy Awards for programs, however, don't usually go to the guest but the producer of the show. The interview was part of her promotions for the release of An Evening With . . . Dolly at Cracker Barrel restaurant last year and originally aired in April.

Library Expands In Maryland, Faces USPS Problems
Dolly's Imagination Library has launched in Washington County, Md., television station WHAG reported here and newspaper The Herald-Mail reported here. In less happy news about the program, Knoxville television station WATE reports here that a local post office informed program supporters in Maryville, Tenn., that due to a national directive over the postal service's cost-cutting measures, undeliverable books will not be returned to the program there any longer, something they said they were told would also be stopped by all other post offices in the country where the program operates. Instead, undeliverable books will be destroyed. Since its inception more than 15 years ago, the program has benefitted from local postmasters, nearly all of whom returned the books to the local distributors free of charge since it was not expressly prohibited by any postal regulations and since the increased postage cost of returning the books at first class rates made the program cost prohibitive. In response, Dollywood Foundation President David Dotson told the station: "They're throwing brand new children's books, bought and paid for by local people who are really trying to do a good thing for the kids in their community, they're throwing them away. For the most part throughout our history we've been able to retrieve the books all over country. It's really not been an issue. In the last 10 years we have generated $14.9 million of revenue for the United States Post Office. We consider ourselves a valued customer."

'Joyful' Falls Off Another Chart
Dolly's Joyful Noise soundtrack continues its to lose ground, the March 2 Billboard charts released Thursday showed. The CD falls off the 50-position Christian albums list, down from No. 50 the previous week, its 43rd, but it manages to inch up one spot to No. 70 in its 45th week on the combined Christian and gospel albums chart and rise six spots to No. 19 gospel albums in its 58th week there. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring her cover of Dolly's title track, gains nine digits to No. 99 pop in its 14th week and 10 to No. 90 current pop albums while rising five to No. 18 R&B/hip hop albums. Overall, Taylor Swift's Red regains one to No. 1 country and eight to No. 4 pop with 72,000 copies sold in its 17th week, while Tim McGraw's Two Lanes Of Freedom slips one to No. 2 country and 11 to No. 12 pop in its second week.

Feb. 21:
'Evening' Nearing 55,000 Copies Sold Since Release
Although the Billboard charts won't be out until later Thursday, some SoundScan tallies reflecting updated sales positions of Dolly products were leaked Wednesday. The Cracker Barrel release An Evening With . . . Dolly ranked as the 47th best-selling music DVD of the week, moving 239 copies to log a cumulative total since release of 54,908 units sold. Her Joyful Noise soundtrack sold 906 copies for the week to rank at No. 39 soundtracks and No. 116 independent albums, giving it a cumulative sales total of 129,658 since release.

'9 To 5' Heading To Another Fla. City, Conn. High School
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical is heading to Theatre Winter Haven in Winter Haven, Fla., Thursday through March 17, The Ledger reported here. Also, Cromwell High School in Connecticut is performing it this weekend, The Hartford Courant reported here.

No Dolly Show Down Under In May
Some fans Down Under may have gotten excited on Wednesday when several concert websites announced a May 10 Dolly performance at the Arts Theatre in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. Unfortunately, it appears a concert listing service mislabeled one of two performances by a Dolly tribute artist at the venue May 3 and 10. The mislabeled listing is available on Songkick here, among several other concert listing sites.

Feb. 19:
Duo Pays Musical Tribute To Porter & Dolly With New Song

Singers Ashley Monroe and Blake Shelton pay tribute to the legendary country duet of Dolly and Porter Wagoner with their new duet, "You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter)." The retro-sounding track was released as a preview Monday for Monroe's upcoming album, Like A Rose, which hits stores March 5. Monroe, who performs with Shelton's wife Miranda Lambert in the country girl group Pistol Annies, co-wrote the tune with another Dolly duet partner, Vince Gill, who produced the CD. (I wonder if the song was inspired by the time on an awards show where Dolly substituted for Patty Loveless with Gill on their hit, "My Kind Of Woman, My Kind Of Man," and Dolly quipped that she was no Patty Loveless but that Gill was no Porter Wagoner, either.) Monroe has idolized Dolly for her entire life, she has said, which prompted Dolly to send a letter to her when she was first starting out saying she was a fan and how much she reminded her of herself. Monroe also was chosen to perform one of Dolly's No. 1 covers, "But You Know That I Love You," as part of the Academy of Country Music's 2007 tribute to her in recognition of her receiving that year's Pioneer Award. Read about the song from USA Today here and take a listen here or in the media player above. Also, reserve your copy of her CD here.

Feb. 18:
'Very Best' Holds On Down Under
The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1, a stalwart on the top 40 Australian country albums chart pretty much since its 2007 release, holds steady this week at No. 35 on the tally Down Under, its 258th chart week there.

'9 To 5' Hits The Mile High City
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical is heading to Colorado, The Denver Post notes here this week. The Town Hall Arts Center in the suburb of Littleton is producing it Friday through March 24.

Feb. 16:
'9 To 5' Continues Performances Worldwide
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical continues its worldwide theatre rounds. Northern Life previews its Theatre Cambrian engagement in Canada here, while The Leighton Buzzard notes its Milton Keynes engagement on the U.K. tour here and Norwich Theatre Royal encourages fans in that British city to prepare for its shows there by attending a Dress Like Dolly Night at the Coach and Horses next Friday. Learn more here.

Houston Overseas Chart Update
In Ireland, I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring her cover of Dolly's classic title track, moves up 34 places to No. 66 on the top 100 Irish pop albums chart.

Feb. 15:
'Joyful Noise' Loses More Chart Ground
Dolly's Joyful Noise soundtrack continues its slide back down the spiritual music charts this week, the Feb. 23 Billboard tallies released Thursday showed. The CD loses a dozen digits to No. 50 Christian albums in its 43rd week there, 13 spots to No. 25 gospel albums in its 57th week there and 23 places to No. 71 in its 44th week on the combined Christian and gospel albums chart. Thanks to coverage of the one-year anniversary of her death, I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring the late singer's cover of Dolly's title track, rises 20 spaces to No. 108 pop in its 13th week and 14 slots to No. 100 current pop albums while inching down one to No. 23 R&B/hip hop albums. Overall, Tim McGraw's Two Lanes Of Freedom debuts at No. 1 country and pop with 107,000 units sold in its first week, while Taylor Swift's Red holds steady at No. 2 country and loses two to No. 12 pop in its 16th week.

Star Wants Dolly Cameo On 'The Client List'
Jennifer Love Hewitt is aiming to get Dolly on her Lifetime series The Client List, Yahoo reported Thursday here. "I would love to have Dolly Parton on the show," she said. "I think that would be really fun at some point, so we're trying for that. I'm not sure if that's going to happen this season or not."

ABC Show Uses '9 To 5' For Opening
Thanks to Larry for the heads up that Dolly's "9 To 5" was used for about a minute as the open for Wednesday night's The Neighbors on ABC. The song played while the mother woke up and began her daily routine.

'9 To 5: The Musical' Back In Florida
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical gets another staging in the Sunshine State, as Players of Sarasota are producing the show, The Bradenton Herald reported here.

Feb. 14:
Straight No Chaser Lands Dolly As Guest Artist
A capella group Straight No Chaser this week officially announced its next project, the CD Under The Influence, which will feature a Dolly guest appearance. The album will be released from Atlantic Records on May 7 with the ensemble "reimagining" their all-time favorite songs alongside several of the original icons who recorded them. Dolly's contribution will be guest vocals on a cover of her classic "Jolene." Other guests include Sara Bareilles on "I Want You Back," Phil Collins on "Against All Odds," Jason Mraz on "I Won't Give Up," Rob Thomas on "This Is How A Heart Breaks" and Seal on "Kiss From A Rose." Covers without the original artists guesting will be "Rolling In The Deep," "Some Nights/We Are Young" and "Hallelujah." In addition, two final tracks have yet to be announced for the project.

Reddit Spike Temporarily Shuts Down Library Site
Dolly's Imagination Library made it to the No. 1 spot Wednesday on the social news service Reddit, and the popularity led so many people to its website, tens of thousands of new visitors, that the traffic knocked the site offline for a few hours. Learn more about it from Network World here.

Field, Dolly Logged 'Steel' Protests
Dolly and Sally Field almost quit their 1989 blockbuster movie Steel Magnolias due to director Herbert Ross's mistreatment of co-star Julia Roberts. Field tells ABC News in an interview here this week: "He was really mean. He picked on Julie, I mean, for what reason? None of us knew. And we were all protective of her, but since I played her mother, I was particularly fiery and protective. I said, 'I'm walking off, next time this happens, I'm walking off,' but Dolly was seriously out there, too so I wasn't the only one."

'9 To 5' Is Back In Tennessee
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical heads to Chattanooga, Tenn., this weekend for a local production at The Center for Creative Arts, Nooga.com notes here.  

Fan's 'Coat' Cover Goes Viral
A Dolly cover has gone viral, according to Starcasm here. The site notes a West Virginia Walmart worker's version of Dolly's "Coat Of Many Colors" was so good that it became an Internet sensation, prompting her local television station to track her down and reveal her name to the world, Kayla Slone. Check out the video via Facebook here.

Feb. 11:
'Very Best' Returns Down Under, Houston Falls In U.K.
After being gone from the chart for just one week, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 re-enters the top 40 Australian country albums chart this week at No. 35 to log a 257th chart week since its 2007 release. Also overseas, the late Whitney Houston's Ultimate Collection, featuring her cover of Dolly's classic "I Will Always Love You," falls off the top 100 British pop albums chart, down from No. 69 in its 152nd chart week.

Another 'Dream More' Mention
Tennessee's Bristol Herald Courier profiles Dolly's recent inspirational book Dream More over the weekend. Read more here.

Feb. 9:
British '9 To 5' Tour Gets Local Promo

In anticipation of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical U.K. tour coming to Norwich, several folks at various businesses around town got together to lipsynch the title track from the cast album. Watch it in the media player above or by visiting YouTube here and read about who is in the video from EDP 24 here.

Library Adds English Isle To Program
It was previously reported here that the North Lincolnshire Council in England had voted to launch Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program in their area, piloting it on the Isle of Axholme before expanding to the entire community. Thorne Gazette reported here Friday on the official launch event.

Irish Chart Update
Continuing tonight's entirely across-the-pond update, the top 100 Irish pop albums chart was released Friday and Whitney Houston's Ultimate Collection, featuring the late singer's version of Dolly's classic "I Will Always Love You," falls off the chart this week, down from No. 81, while her I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston re-enters the chart at No. 100.

Feb. 8:
'Evening,' 'Noise' Sales And Chart Updates
Although for the second week in a row, the revamped Billboard.com did not publish the top music DVD chart, the SoundScan data on which the chart is based for this week show Dolly's Cracker Barrel release An Evening With . . . Dolly returns to the 40-position tally at No. 40 for a 35th chart week, gaining seven spots from its sales position the previous week. The set sold 190 copies for the week for a cumulative total since release 54,449 units. Also, while it has not been in the top 50 independent label albums chart for a couple of weeks, the SoundScan data show Dolly's Joyful Noise was the 92nd biggest-seller on that list, down from No. 62 last week, with 868 copies sold for the week, giving it a cumulative total of 128,033 since release. The Feb. 16 Billboard numbers showed the album falls out of the 25-position soundtrack albums chart, down from No. 21 last week, its 25th chart week; however, the SoundScan list showed it barely missed the tally, coming in at No. 26 for the week. The CD slips nine to No. 38 Christian albums for a 42nd week there, six to No. 12 gospel albums in its 56th week there and 14 to No. 48 on the combined Christian and gospel albums chart in its 43rd week there. Its tracks "From Here To The Moon And Back" by Dolly with Kris Kristofferson and Jeremy Jordan and "Higher Medley" by Dolly, Queen Latifah and cast both fall off the 25-position gospel digital songs chart, down from No. 15 and No. 19, respectively, in each song's 20th chart week. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring the late singer's cover of Dolly's title track, gains 21 to No. 128 pop in its 12th week and 15 to No. 114 current pop albums but slips two to No. 22 R&B/hip hop albums Overall, Gary Allan's   Set You Free remains at No. 1 country and looses seven to No. 8 pop with 34,000 copies sold in its second week, while Taylor Swift's Red holds steady at No. 2 country and dips one to No. 10 pop with 29,000 units moved in its 15th week.

Poll: 'I Will Always Love You' Top Love Song
Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly's classic "I Will Always Love You" has been voted the most popular love song in the U.S. in a nationwide poll. Sony Electronics Home Audio commissioned the poll, which saw the song receive 38 percent of the vote. In order, the remaining top 10 were "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers, Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love," Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," Patsy Cline's "Crazy," Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Read more here.

Latest '9 To 5' News From U.S., Canada, Britain
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical continues to burn up stages worldwide. Broadway World's Indianapolis page profiles its engagement at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre through March 24 here, Canada's The Sudbury Star covers its Northern Ontario premiere at Theatre Cambrian here and Entertainment Focus reports on the U.K. tour's Milton Keynes stop next month here.

Feb. 7:
Ovation 'Song' Series Set For March
Ovation television network's second Song by Song series, which it was announced in October would focus on Dolly, will air Sundays March 10, 17 and 24, it was revealed on Wednesday. Also disclosed were the songs to be profiled in the six half-hour episodes (two of which air each Sunday night at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) and who will be featured on them in addition to Dolly. Photo at left by Rick Diamond, Getty Images, courtesy PRNewsFoto/Ovation, Diamond, Getty Images. Used with permission.
      In a press release, the network noted that the series "will feature an exclusive interview with Dolly herself as she shares her most intimate memories and stories about the inspiration and impact of six of her most popular songs in six dedicated episodes." Ovation Chief Creative Officer Robert Weiss added: "Country music is a quintessential American art form. Dolly Parton's singing and songwriting talent has made her a music icon and she has inspired countless other musical artists.  We would be remiss if we did not include a tribute to Dolly in our popular Song by Song series."
      The show was created last year and featured songs by Johnny Cash in its first series. As expected, Dolly's big four signature numbers are well-represented, but I was surprised by the final two chosen, thinking that they would probably include her two biggest hits she didn't write, her only double-million-seller, "Islands in the Stream" with Kenny Rogers, and her first million-seller, "Here You Come Again." Instead, they focused only on material she had composed: