'Viva' Rising
Dolly's cover of "Viva Las Vegas" with The Grascals moves up two places to No. 11 for September on the monthly Bluegrass Unlimited singles chart, it was announced Tuesday. The album which contains the song, The Grascals, holds steady at No. 3 for the month.

Dolly's 'Rollie Coaster' Takes Home Award
Dollywood took home the Best Wooden Coaster honor over the weekend at the eighth annual Golden Ticket Awards, the amusement industry's top annual awards ceremony in San Antonio. Thunderhead, which opened in 2004 and cost $7 million to construct, was responsible for the award from the Amusement Today newspaper, adding to its already impressive list of accolades, including Theme Parks magazine's 2004 Reader's Choice Award for favorite new ride of the year and its designation by ThrillRide.com as the world's No. 1 wooden roller coaster. The park was also a finalist in four additional categories -- Friendliest Park, Best Food, Best Shows and Best Water Ride -- and adjacent Dollywood's Splash Country was a finalist for Best Landscape for water parks, but Thunderhead was the only one to take home a prize.

Dinner With Dolly Raises $10K
According to The Mountain Press, last weekend's Evening of Elegance fund-raiser hosted by the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation raised more than $120,000 for charities in Dolly's home county in East Tennessee, with the night's biggest-ticket live auction item, a private dinner for two with Dolly, taking in nearly $10,000. Read about the event here.

Aug. 30:
A Few New Pics
Special thanks to "B.H." and Stephen for sending in their shots from the Halifax show over the weekend. Look at those here. I'm also told that more may come soon. So far, no one has written in about the St. John show, so if you were there please let us know how it went :) "The Vintage Tour" continues this week in Ottawa Wednesday and Toronto on Thursday.

Read More About 'Days'
The publicity team for Dolly's tour and upcoming CD, Those Were The Days, on Monday posted what is titled a new Dolly biography but is really an extended story about the tour and album in which she discusses the individual songs for the project and the artists with whom she worked. Take a read here. The story includes confirmation of the participation of members of the Moscow Circus in the song "Those Were The Days," with whom she sang it at this year's season opening of Dollywood.

Minor Chart Updates
The September issue of Power Source magazine is out, and there's mixed Dolly news. On the positive side, "Viva Las Vegas" with The Grascals gains nine spots to enter the top 10 at No. 10 on the independent country singles chart, while "It Looked Good On Paper," her duet with Randy Kohrs from his CD I'm Torn, appears to have peaked at No. 25 last month, as it slips five places on the bluegrass singles chart to come in at No. 30 for September.

Yet More Paisley Praise
Hazel Smith's CMT.com column this week praises her work with Brad Paisley on his new CD, Time Well Wasted, saying if you want to feel "magic," take a listen to their performance on "When I Get Where I'm Going." Read her full column, which also contains another mention of her Grand Ole Opry appearance from April, here. Thanks, Bridget!

Thank You!
For those readers who were so kind to inquire, Hurricane Katrina has passed your Webmaster's immediate area. While we had some damage to a couple of trees in the back yard and lost some roof shingles, we seem to have come through fairly well. Thank you all for your concern, and please keep your thoughts and prayers with those on the coast and in New Orleans who bore the brunt of the storm and those who will suffer its winds and rains as it progresses through Tennessee and Ohio in coming days.

Aug. 29:
Dolly In Canada
A couple of readers have written in from Dolly's Saturday concert in Nova Scotia, with one saying "What a show. Wow!" I'm told she received numerous standing ovations with people "singing, crying and up dancing" (in the isles, no less) throughout the performance. The set list was the same as in previous shows, except no "PMS Blues" or "Smoky Mountain Memories." However, she added "Hard Candy Christmas" after some members of the audience screamed for it (doing an unplanned song is a rarity for Dolly) and also performed "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" and the Cat Stevens tune "Where Do The Children Play," which she announced would be the first single from Those Were The Days. Also of note, "Coat Of Many Colors" was followed by a standing ovation which lasted for several minutes, and the crowd's energy translated to Dolly on the stage as well, where she twirled around and danced a little during a few numbers. A review was also published Sunday in Halifax's The Daily News. Read it here. Look for some photos soon! Thanks, Dion and Brad!

European CMA Chart Updates
"Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by Dolly and Roy Rivers, the cover which reigned at No. 1 on the European CMA country singles chart for five weeks, inches up one notch this week to No. 16 in the Aug. 26 tally, it was announced Saturday. It also re-enters the top 20 country singles airplay chart in Italy at No. 12. Get the CD featuring the track here.

Can't Help Lovin' That Dolly!
Another story of Jessica Simpson idolizing Dolly came out over the weekend, this time in The Sunday Mail in Queensland, Australia. The blonde singer-actress notes: "She is my mentor, my idol. To be a singer, a songwriter, an amazing businesswoman, a blonde who has the best one-liners of all time and a phenomenal actress. If I could have a career like Dolly Parton and end up having my own theme park one day, that's success." Read more here.

Paisley Popular Down Under
Brad Paisley's new CD, Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly vocals on one track and her comedy skills on another, debuts at No. 11 in this week's Australian country albums chart, it was announced Sunday. The disc didn't sell enough copies, though, to make it into the top 50 pop tally.

Library Update
The Tennessean on Sunday profiled efforts in nearby Williamson County to enact Dolly's national Imagination Library literacy program. Read more here.

Thanks For The Prayers
To the many readers who wrote in because they know your Webmaster lives in Mississippi, thanks for your concern and prayers. We're actually about 150 miles inland, but we're still expected to receive several inches of rain and possibly low-grade hurricane force winds on Monday afternoon and Monday night from Hurricane Katrina. So if no updates are posted for a couple of days, it would likely be due to power outages. Thanks for your understanding!

Aug. 27:
Dallas 'Private Show' Revealed As Benefit
Dolly will perform a concert fund-raiser in Dallas for a charity which provides underprivileged children with tickets to stage musicals and operates a musical theatre school, it was announced this week. Tickets for the second annual Curtain Call Gala, this year titled "An Intimate Evening with Dolly Parton," are available from 214-890-4220 and cost $500 and $1,000 each to benefit Dallas Summer Musicals. The black-tie Dec. 2 event, which is limited to 1,000 audience members at the Adam's Mark Lone Star Ballroom, comes one day after her public concert at the city's Nokia Live Theatre. This event is the "private show" first reported on Dollymania a week ago as having been added to the tour schedule. Click here for more information on the performance as well as underwriting sponsorship opportunities.

Parton Plays Portland, Pics Posted
Readers who wrote in Friday to tell Dollymania of Dolly's Portland, Maine, show Thursday night say it was wonderful but not without a problem. Dolly's opening act didn't show, which she said she assumed was due to their bus breaking down, which delayed the start of the performance by half an hour. But they say it was worth the wait. The set list was pretty much the same as in previous shows with the exception that "PMS Blues" wasn't performed. Some audience members said her original material garnered the best response from the crowd, but others said the folks around them seemed to really get into "Imagine" and "Crimson And Clover." Perhaps due to the recent publicity surrounding the perceived political themes of her song choices, I'm also told she may have been a little more talkative than at previous engagements about her intent that the songs not to be taken as a political statement. Also, I'm told that tour merchandize was reduced a little from previous shows as well, with tour books and shirts lowered to $25 each. They also had $5 magnets and $10 guitar pics, items which readers had not mentioned being offered at the earlier dates. Thanks to those who wrote in with their recaps!

Request Dolly And George Today!
"The Blues Man," Dolly's duet with George Jones from his Sept. 13 covers album Hits I Missed . . . And One I Didn't, has been shipped to country radio, Bandit Records President Evelyn Shriver confirms to Dollymania. The single went out to "grassroots" markets about a week ago and was sent to the major market stations earlier this week, so call your local country station today and ask them to play it! The video which the two filmed for the song early this month is nearing the end of the editing process, she added, and will likely be ready to send to CMT and GAC next week. She says in markets that have played the song thus far, radio programmers have told the label that "the phones are going crazy" with listeners calling to ask about it once they hear it on the air. Thanks! And a reader tells me she attended Jones's Thursday night concert at the Kentucky State Fair, where they played the song over the speakers just before the show began and the audience appeared to love it. Thanks, Amanda!

Duets Show Broadcast Time Revealed
CMT has announced the air time for its 100 Greatest Duets special. Although the Sept. 17 air date has been known since the concert counting down the top 12 was filmed over the summer, the network has revealed that the five-hour show will premiere at 5 p.m. Eastern. It concludes with the one-hour concert filmed live in Nashville counting down the top 12 songs, which begins at 9 p.m. Eastern that night. "Islands In The Stream," Dolly's mega-smash hit with Kenny Rogers (who performed it with her at the concert), tops the list at No. 1, but the full countdown also includes "Rockin' Years" with Ricky Van Shelton, her duet version of "I Will Always Love You" with Vince Gill and three entries with duet partner Porter Wagoner.

Praising Young For Songwriting
Dolly gave the Associated Press her opinion of singer-songwriter Neil Young in a story released this week about the performer's filming a concert in Nashville, where he compared his songs to classic country. "I think he's one of the greatest songwriters of all time," she said of the composer of "After The Goldrush," a song for which she and Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris won a Grammy award. "Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams. All of them are different styles, but those are the songs that make the times. They're the songs that last through time." Read the full article here.

Supporting A Friend
As was expected, Dolly paid tribute to a friend on the Mississippi Gulf Coast via videotape this week, sending her well wishes to Buddy Sheffield at the ceremony honoring him with this year's Biloxian Made Good Award. The Emmy-nominated head writer of In Living Color also wrote on Dolly's ABC variety show and composed the song "Sittin' On The Front Porch Swing," which she recorded with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. Biloxi's Sun Herald reports that she started off her remarks with jokes and then turned serious is her tribute to her friend. Read the story here.

Library News
Another Tennessee affiliate in Dolly's national Imagination Library literacy program is profiled this week in its local paper. Read about the successes in Fayette County, where more than 5,000 books have been delivered in the past 10 months, from the Fayette County Review here.

Lee Ann Loves Dolly
Lee Ann Womack is again talking up her idolization of Dolly. In a story in The Boston Herald Friday, the singer says she learned of music early from her disc jockey father but it was Dolly who fascinated her most. "I remember watching Dolly Parton on TV as a kid and thinking, 'If this is what country singing is all about, then I want to do it,'" she told the paper. Read the full story here. Womack joins Norah Jones to sing harmonies for Dolly on her version of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" for October's Those Were The Days.

Vote For Dollymania
The BT Digital Music Awards are gearing back up for the year, and readers of Dollymania are once again asked to vote for the site for the People's Choice Award. In years past, the site has ranked as high as No. 102 out of the several thousand entries worldwide in the competition based on Internet voting. And if you live in the U.K., your vote makes you eligible to win a year's worth of broadband service from BT and 100 free downloads from I-Tunes. Click here or on the logo below to cast your vote. The top sites will be announced in October. Thanks!

Aug. 26:
Tour Heads To Maine
As Dolly's "Vintage Tour" headed into Portland, Maine, Thursday, the local Portland Press Herald previewed the show and her upcoming CD with an interview here, which also includes brief samples from her covers of "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Both Sides Now." Dolly tells the paper that the songs are especially relevant today given the war in Iraq but once again points out that she is not protesting the war. "Those songs now, it's like they were written the day before yesterday," she said. "Whatever war it may be, someone is going off to die somewhere. I am not protesting anything. I am not political. But I am a patriot and peace-loving." (If any readers take in the show, please send your re-caps and pics here. Thanks!)

Overseas Releases Revealed
Fans Down Under will be able to get Dolly's Those Were The Days from Shock Records on Oct. 10, the label has announced. A page dedicated to the project has been posted on the label's Web site here. Thanks, Tony! Although it lists the Moscow Circus as performing on the title track, the folks at Sugar Hill tell me that group is not mentioned in the current draft of the album's liner notes, so it may not be correct. And Oct. 10 is the same day the set is slated to be released in Europe through British label Sanctuary, it has been announced. It comes out Oct. 11 in the U.S.; reserve your copy here!

Dolly Products Do Well On Charts
As was reported here Wednesday night, Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted debuts at No. 1 country and No. 2 pop in the Sept. 3 Billboard albums charts, but it was also revealed Thursday that the CD with its two Dolly contributions also comes in at No. 2 on the comprehensive albums chart and No. 5 for Internet album sales in its debut week. Up north, it debuts at No. 2 country and No. 18 pop on the Canadian albums charts. But that's not the only Dolly product getting numbers. Her cover of "Viva Las Vegas" with The Grascals logs its 31st week on the country singles sales chart, slipping one spot to No. 8. The band's debut CD, The Grascals, however, falls back out of the 15-position bluegrass albums tally, down from No. 15 in its 16th week last week. On the same chart, Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, with her live cover of "Jolene," remains steady at No. 7 in its 23rd chart week, while Ralph Stanley's Shine On, featuring his cover of the Dolly title tune, falls four to No. 14 in its 11th week. Elsewhere on the country albums list, The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways, which includes the Trio's "To Know Him Is To Love Him," slides five spots to No. 39 in the U.S. and is down nine places to No. 43 in Canada in its fifth week, while Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, with "Islands In The Stream," enjoys its 43rd chart week by remaining steady at No. 74. The week's No. 2 country disc is Faith Hill's Fireflies, which loses one spot with sales of 73,000 copies after its two-week reign at the pole position, and it also drops five spaces to No. 8 pop. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" rises three to No. 8 on the pop singles sales chart in its 19th week.

Not The Next Single, Yet At Least
Although a post on the CMT.com message boards claims Brad Paisley's track "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Dolly from Time Well Wasted will be the CD's second single, the album's promotions team says not so fast. They said they can neither confirm nor deny the claim because the project's second single has yet to be announced to anyone, so it could be any of the tracks on the disc. Also, the follow-up usually is not revealed until after the previous track begins to slip on the charts, and the disc's first single, the light-hearted "Alcohol," is still climbing the country chart, currently sitting at No. 5 in its 18th chart week, and it's possible it could go even higher in coming weeks. Thanks!

For A Good Cause
Tickets remain available for Saturday's Evening of Elegance fund-raiser hosted by the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation in Sevierville, Tenn., according to The Mountain Press. Tickets will not be sold at the door, so if you want to get in and bid on the dinner for two with Dolly at the charity's live auction, you must get a $150 ticket in advance. Read more here or call 865-429-6715 to order a ticket.

Another Library Addition
Tennessee's Carroll County News Leader reports this week on another community in the state signing up for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program: the South Carroll school district. County leaders there decided to allow each of the five school districts to opt into the program if they wish to participate, according to the story here. The program, which provides one free, age-appropriate, hardcover book monthly to every child birth to age 5 whose parents sign up in a participating community, is currently active in more than 500 communities across 40 states and distributes more than 2 million books each year.

A Flattering Ballplayer?
If you missed this week's Surreal Life on VH1, I'm told there was a Dolly connection. The has-been celebrities living together on the reality show had to put together a baseball team and they played a team comprised of celebrity impersonators, and, of course, they had a "Dolly" in the mix (female, though). Thanks, Mark!

Aug. 25:
Dolly Delivers In D.C.
Thanks to the readers who wrote in with their observations from Tuesday night's show in Washington, D.C., here's your Dollymania recap:
          The audience enthusiastically welcomed her, giving her a standing ovation upon her entrance to the stage. Another standing O followed the opening number of "Those Were The Days," which one audience member said appeared to catch Dolly off-guard. Her set list was the same as the previous concerts thus far on the tour with the exception that she did not perform "Smoky Mountain Memories" and moved "Little Sparrow" to between "Coat Of Many Colors" and "Marry Me."
          She noticed a Dolly impersonator in the front row and cried, "There's a woman dressed like me down here in the front...but I think its a boy!!!!" When the imitation Dolly answered in the affirmative, she joked for him "not to prove it!" She dedicated her next number, "Jolene," to him, including her alternate "drag queen" chorus in the performance.
          She also told the story behind the song "Two Doors Down." She explained that back in the 1970s she was dieting while on tour but the Howard Johnson where she and the band stayed one night had the most wonderful fried clams from the attached restaurant. The band members were down the hall laughing and drinking and indulging in fried clams while she endured a liquid diet meal in her room. Miserable, she penned the song.
          One reader described her performance of "Little Sparrow" as "mind blowing" and "Imagine" as "out of this world." Another said while he thought the audience seemed to react more to her classic hits than the new material, they were still wonderfully done.
          As she ended the show, she thanked the fans for allowing her to live her dreams before she launched into "I Will Always Love You." With the encore of "Hello God," she again thanked the audience and, with real emotion in her voice and face, said their warmth had moved her tremendously.
          On related notes, one reader waited to see her exit her bus just before the show, wearing a black skirt and jacket with pink trim and her wig done in a pony tail. He said she waved at everyone and sort of "jogged" into the building. Also, several readers commented that they wished the show had seen more advertising in the local media, attributing the empty seats to a lack of promotion.

Disc With Double Dose O'Dolly Debuts At Top
Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly vocals on the track "When I Get Where I'm Going" and her dialogue on the comedy skit "Cornography," will debut at No. 1 country and No. 2 pop in the Sept. 3 album charts to be released Thursday, Billboard announced Wednesday. The set sold nearly 200,000 copies in its first week.

Writer Discusses '9 To 5' Musical
Playbill on Wednesday posted an interview with Patricia Resnick, who is penning the libretto for the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of 9 To 5, for which Dolly has composed the music and lyrics. The general plans for the show have been known for several months, but Resnick reveals that it will have a large cast of about 25 actors including the three female leads, the boss, the office spy plus a couple of additional male roles from the film which have been "beefed up" for the stage version, set in the original movie's release year of 1980. The show aims for a fall 2006 or early 2007 launch, and the story reports that superstar director Joe Mantello is in talks to helm the show. Read the story, which also includes some discussion of how the original movie came to be made, here.

Tribute Quilt Coming To D.C.
The Sept. 11th memorial quilt, which includes a panel from Dolly, will be on display at the Smith Center on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9-11, the school's GW Hatchet student newspaper reported Wednesday. Read more here and learn more about the quilt here.

More From Reese
Actress Reese Witherspoon is again talking up her idolization of Dolly. The Boston Herald noted here Wednesday that in a new Reader's Digest interview, the Legally Blonde star, who will play June Carter Cash in the upcoming bio-pic Walk The Line, says: "Ever since I was 6 years old, when people would say, `Who are you going to be when you grow up?' I'd say, `Dolly Parton,' She's a nice country girl, with a lot of sense and a lot of pizzaz. I think she's great."

Library Touted In Minn.
Thanks to the United Way of Southwest Minnesota, children in the region are benefiting from the free monthly books in Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program. Read a recap of their presentation to the local Kiwanis Club about the project in The Murray County News here.

Kids Come To Dollywood
Dollywood officials say students from as far away as Maryland, Florida and New York are set to descend on the Tennessee theme park for its annual Home School Day Friday. Find out more here.

Aug. 24:
Tour In D.C., Tickets On Sale In Fla., Denver
"The Vintage Tour" rolls into Washington, D.C., Tuesday, and hours before the show the venue released several seats on the previously sold-out main floor to Ticketmaster. Those attending the show are encouraged to e-mail their recaps (and photos, if you have them!) here for reporting on the site. Thanks in advance! Dolly's tour next moves on to Portland, Maine, Thursday, tickets for which remain on sale at Ticketmaster.

CD Getting Noticed On Amazon
Amazon.com on Tuesday dropped its sale price for Dolly's Oct. 11 release, Those Were The Days, to $13.99 and also started counting advance orders for the bluegrass-inspired set of folk rock era cover songs as compared with the tens of thousands of titles they offer for sale. The disc made it as high as the 700s for CD sales on the site Tuesday. Reserve your copy here. Thanks, Chad!

Grascals On CMT
Dolly pals The Grascals show up this week in CMT's 330 Sessions series, performing their songs "Me And John And Paul," "Mourning Dove" "Hard Times" and "Viva Las Vegas" (alas, without duet partner Dolly). Take a look here.

Aug. 23:
Denver Date Set For Ticket Sales
Denver fans may start ordering tickets for Dolly's Oct. 6 concert in the Mile High City on Wednesday, it was announced Monday. A pre-sale for HOB Members will kick off at 10 a.m. Mountain time Wednesday, with tickets ($45-$65) going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Mountain time Saturday via Ticketmaster. Those are the same days for ticket sales for her "Vintage Tour" stop in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 26, with that pre-sale starting at 10 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday and public sale starting at 10 a.m. Eastern time Saturday.

Brad Gets Even More Kudos
Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted continues to just rub critics the right way. The Tennessean on Monday lauded the album, calling the comedy skit "Cornography" with Dolly, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones and others "country music's best few minutes of 2006"-- although I bet he meant 2005 :) The reviewer also calls Dolly's guest spot on "When I Get Where I'm Going" "gorgeous." Read the review here. And up in Canada, The Brandon Sun in Manitoba also praises the project, giving it five out of five stars and singling out "When I Get Where I'm Going" as "one of the strongest and most poignant songs released in country music in recent memory." Read more here.

Dolly Producer On Martha's Show
Would you expect a Dolly connection to Martha Stewart and her new reality show? Well, there is one! It was announced Monday that Charles Koppelman, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's Chairman of the Board, will serve with Stewart's daughter as her official advisors for her spin-off of The Apprentice. Koppelman in the mid-1970s founded the Entertainment Company, a music production firm responsible for creating Dolly's pop crossover albums. Koppelman himself served as executive producer of her records from 1977 through 1980, including Here You Come Again, Heartbreaker, Great Balls Of Fire and Dolly, Dolly, Dolly.

Dolly Writer Honored
Buddy Sheffield, a former writer on Dolly's ABC variety show and composer of the song "Sittin' On The Front Porch Swing" from her trio project with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, Honky Tonk Angels, is to be honored Thursday in his hometown of Biloxi, Miss., as this year's Biloxian Made Good award recipient. Although officials told the local newspaper here that they're "hoping for an appearance by Dolly," any such recognition from her would have to be via videotape, since she'll be in concert in Maine that night.

Water Park Addition Pictured
Dollywood's Splash Country on Monday released the artist's rendering of next year's addition to the water park, Fire Tower Falls (see image at left; click for larger view). As was previously reported here, the ride will constitute the park's tallest and fastest, featuring two free-fall speed slides on a 280-foot track. Construction is expected to begin in October and the ride should be open for the fifth season start in May.

Phone Number Correction
Officials with the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation in Sevierville, Tenn., alerted me Monday that I had posted an incorrect phone number on the site last week for information on its Evening of Elegance fund-raiser. Tickets for Saturday's black-tie-optional charity event, $150 each, are available from 865-429-6715 (the wrong area code had been published previously). Up for bids in a live auction that evening will be dinner for two with Dolly herself. My apologies for the error, and best of luck to all bidders that evening.

Aug. 22:
'Vintage Tour' Continues, NY Pics Posted
I'm told Dolly's weekend performances in Connecticut and Philadelphia again brought the houses down. Readers who wrote in following the concerts say the set lists were the same as her previous dates on the tour, and while Friday's show had the same curtain problem as New York, the curtain fell with no difficulties on Saturday night. Friday saw Dolly almost suffer a "wardrobe malfunction," constantly fiddling with the dress sleeve, which by the end of the show was causing the shoulder of her dress to hang off her arm. In Philadelphia, there were no problems with the clothing there -- a silver gown beaded with colorful rhinestones and sequins. I was also corrected by one reader who tells me the tour book was selling for $30 in Philly, not the $40 previously reported here from the New York show. Thanks to those who wrote in with their recaps!

More Compliments For Paisley Collaboration
Brad Paisley's disc Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly on the song "When I Get Where I'm Going" and the comedy track "Cornography," continues to rack up praise from reviewers across the country. Chicago's Sun Times over the weekend gave the disc four stars, calling the spiritual duet with Dolly "one of her most inspired guest performances," adding that their "harmonious, tandem vocals are simply heavenly." Read it here. And Paisley spoke to The Toledo Blade about the project in a story also posted over the weekend, repeating how he was inspired to record the song with Dolly after his aunt's death from cancer and how he was moved to tears in the studio listening to Dolly record her lines for the track. "Dolly was a really big influence in my life and for my aunt, too. She's the voice I hear in my mind when I hear that song," he said. "It's just a moment that you never expect you'll see in life. You're listening to your voice, and then Dolly making the song her own, doing her thing. I think my aunt would love it." Read the full article here.

Aug. 20:
Big Apple Show Wows Crowd
The concert to end all concerts -- that how one fan described Dolly's spectacular performance Thursday night at New York's famed Radio City Music Hall on the second stop of "The Vintage Tour." Thanks to the many, many, many readers who wrote in the wee hours of Friday morning and throughout the day with their recollections, Dollymania offers this recap of the show.
          The Grascals kicked the night off with a bang, thrilling the audience with their virtuoso picking and singing, getting everyone wound up for the main event, even if they did offer their rendition of "Viva Las Vegas" without their duet partner. After an intermission, Dolly was to hit the stage with a surprise curtain drop, but a technical glitch kept the curtain elevated and Dolly hidden behind it. "They won't let me out of here!" she screamed over the microphone, explaining the snafu to the cheering crowd at the nearly-sold-out venue. "Hello, I swear I'm behind here. We're just having some curtain problems!"
          The show opener, "Those Were The Days," brought the crowd to its feet and had them "eating out of the palm of her hand," one attendee commented. "9 To 5" got them up, dancing and stomping their feet, and "Crimson And Clover" got them singing along to the "cri-mson-and-clo-ver-ov-er-and-ov-er" at the end of the song.
          Of course the boob jokes were back (including last year's mic down the shirt shtick with her echoing "hellos" directed toward her bosom), and she tried out some new material comparing the time of most of the songs from the upcoming CD with today, such as it's the "dawning of the age spots of Aquarius" and "then we would drop acid, now we take antacids."
          She strummed the dulcimer for "My Tennessee Mountain Home" and the autoharp for "Coat Of Many Colors" before choosing to perform an almost a capella rendition of "Smoky Mountain Memories," backed only by an occasional drum beat and pennywhistle line.
          She merged "Marry Me" with "Applejack" to get another audience sing-a-long, shattered the rafters with "Little Sparrow," and silenced the crowd to a hush with her heartfelt take on "Blowin' In The Wind," for which she received one of several standing ovations and the longest period of applause for the night. Another "standing O" came after "Imagine," although one concert-goer said he saw a handful of people leave during that song. It was followed quickly by "I Will Always Love You" and an encore number of "Hello God," which finished with a chorus of "He's Alive."
          Said to be in attendance at the show were Tommy James, Judy Collins and pretty much the entire cast of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Unfortunately, venue staff confiscated cameras which the audience brought to the show (although they were returned afterward), but fortunately, Dolly played her full 90-minute set instead of the 75-minute performance which Radio City Music Hall officials had told attendees to expect.
Set List

In other news:

Merchandize Out The Yin-Yang
For the many readers who have been writing in to ask about Dolly goodies for sale at the concerts, those who attended the New York show provided the following information. Thanks so much!

Music Mixed With Politics -- Or Not
In an Associated Press interview posted online Friday evening (read it and see a photo on Yahoo here), Dolly repeated her denial that her upcoming CD, Those Were The Days, is intended as a political statement even though it contains several Vietnam-era war protest songs, but one editor at Slate.com read a lot more politics into her New York performance in a column posted around the same time here (you need to click through an ad to access the story if you're not a member of their site). In the AP story, the achievement of recording the project and landing its many guest stars is lauded -- although it also reveals that in addition to Bob Dylan declining to perform on "Blowin' In The Wind," his son, Jacob, also turned down a request to do so, as did John Lennon's children, Sean and Julian, for "Imagine" (it also noted as was previously reported here that "Both Sides Now" composer Joni Mitchell had agreed to participate but had to cancel due to a family illness). Dolly said in the article she feared some listeners may take the songs the wrong way, explaining: "I'm certainly not into any kind of political thing or protest. People who know me will know I've chosen these songs to really kind of uplift and to give hope, like they were written for at the time. I just felt it was good time to bring a lot of these songs back. We don't want to be at war, but of course we have to fight if we have to. We don't want to lose our children in war, but of course we do. So we write about it and sing about it, and it kind of helps us relieve our grief and express ourselves." However, as with any such project, there will be folks who read more into it. Take Salon writer Rebecca Traister, for example. In recapping Thursday night's concert, she dissected Dolly's performance and her banter to infer that "however unlikely the messenger, it was almost impossible to imagine" that several parts of the show were anything but an anti-war message aimed directly at President Bush. In related news, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday also featured a small interview about the tour and album here.

European Chart Updates
The former five-week No. 1 of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by Dolly and Roy Rivers continues its slide on the European CMA chart, dropping six spots to No. 17 for the week, it was announced Friday. It also drops back out of the top 20 country singles airplay tally in Italy, down from No. 12. Get the CD featuring the track here. Elsewhere on the chart, "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)" by The Bellamy Brothers and Dolly from Angels & Outlaws, Vol. 1 debuts on the British country singles airplay charts at No. 20 and the overall continental airplay list at No. 137. On a different chart from overseas, the monthly European Christian Country Chart, Dolly's "John Daniel" from Halos And Horns shoots up 28 places for September to No. 17 in its third month on the chart, it was announced this week. The CD's title track debuts at No. 49, and "Raven Dove" falls out of the 100-position list, down from No. 21 in August, its sixth chart month.

From One Brad To Another
The Tennessean columnist Brad Schmidt plays up Dolly's role in the comedy skit "Cornography" from Brad Paisley's new album, Time Well Wasted, in his column Friday. Read it here. (He also says the paper will feature a review of the CD Monday.)

Aug. 19:
Latest New Tour Dates
As Dolly and The Grascals prepared to rock New York City's Radio City Music Hall Thursday, the promoters for her "Vintage Tour" revealed a few more dates for the tour. The previously-announced Oct. 8 date at Calgary's Pengrowth Saddledome in Canada has been removed from the schedule, they confirm, and the venue for the previously-listed Oct. 4 show in Santa Rosa, Calif., has been announced as the Luther Burbank Center. The new dates include Nov. 11 in Fayetteville, N.C.; Nov. 27 in Boca Raton, Fla.; Nov. 28 in Clearwater, Fla.; and Dec. 2 in a private show in Dallas, Texas, after her public Dec. 1 concert there. They also confirm she is scheduled to perform songs from her new CD on Good Morning America on its release date of Oct. 11. In other tour news:

Behind-The-Scenes Of 'Days'
The Hartford Courant on Thursday offered what thus far is the most revealing interview with Dolly about October's CD, Those Were The Days. Among its tid-bits: Bob Dylan turned down a request to sing on "Blowin' In The Wind," and Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) had recorded vocals for her cover of his song "Where Do The Children Play," but he wasn't pleased with his final track and asked her not to use it, although his guitar playing on the song remains. She also made her first public comment on the artist having been placed on the U.S. terrorist watch list, telling the paper: "That was a mistake. This man seems like someone who wants to save the world, not destroy it." Also, she said she recorded about 20 covers for the CD, and since it only contains a dozen, those other eight tracks could either appear on a follow-up covers album or as individual songs on various future projects. Read the full story here. The project was also noted on CMT.com Wednesday night here.

Grascals, Dolly Return To Singles Chart
Likely a result of their recent performance on national television, "Viva Las Vegas" by Dolly and The Grascals returns to the country singles sales chart in the Aug. 27 numbers released Thursday by Billboard. The song logs its 30th week on the 10-position tally, coming in at No. 7. Meanwhile, the band's debut CD, The Grascals earns its 16th week on the bluegrass albums chart, remaining steady at No. 15 on the 15-position chart. Also on the bluegrass side, Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, featuring a cover of "Jolene," inches down one to No. 7 in its 22nd week, while Ralph Stanley's Shine On, and its Dolly title track, rises three to No. 10 in its 10th chart week. Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, featuring "Islands In The Stream," re-enters the country albums chart at No. 74 in its 42nd week, while The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways, featuring one Trio recording, slips two notches to No. 34 country, falls from No. 179 pop to no longer being in the pop 200, and gains six spaces to No. 34 Canadian country in its fourth week Faith Hill's Fireflies remains at No. 1 country but slides two to No. 3 pop 124,000 copies sold in its second week, while Keith Urban's Be Here shoots up three spaces to No. 2 country and 11 spots to No. 11 pop in its 47th week. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" falls two to No. 11 on the pop singles sales chart in its 18th week. Dolly friends and labelmates Nickel Creek, who will appear on Those Were The Days, see their awesome third CD, Why Should The Fire Die?, debut at No. 1 bluegrass, No. 1 independent label albums and No. 17 pop. Interestingly, the magazine didn't categorize it as a country release to place it on the country chart, where it would have been No. 4.

Library Update
Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program was in a couple of places this week, with stories profiling its efforts in Stephens County, Ga., from TV station WNEG here and Fayette County, Tenn., in the Fayette County Review here.

More Love For Dolly
Actress and Nashville native Reese Witherspoon has long made public her love for Dolly, and she tells columnist Liz Smith this week that her idolization of the singer helped her prepare for her actual singing in the upcoming Johnny Cash bio-pic Walk The Line, in which she plays the legendary June Carter Cash. "She is an amazing songwriter and she has such a beautiful voice," the actress said of Dolly. "She's so kind and giving and open ... she's a nice country girl, with a lot of sense and a lot of pizzazz!" Read the column here. Witherspoon has also been known to include Dolly karaoke on the sets of her various films.

Under The Covers
LA City Beat this week praised soul legend Bettye LaVette's cover of Dolly's "Little Sparrow," saying the singer performed the tune at a concert last week "like she was shredding yards of silk with every syllable." As was previously reported here, LaVette has recorded the song for her next CD, I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, due out Sept. 27. Read the review here.

Aug. 18:
Dolly Rocks Atlantic City, N.Y. Next
Only a handful of readers wrote in Wednesday with their recaps from Dolly's "Vintage Tour" opening night in Atlantic City Tuesday, but they agreed it was one awesome show. As promised, her set list mixed her own "vintage" hits ("9 To 5," "Here You Come Again," "I Will Always Love You," "My Tennessee Mountain Home," "PMS Blues," "Jolene," and "Coat Of Many Colors") with her "vintage" covers from the upcoming album (including the show opener "Those Were The Days" as well as ""Imagine," "Blowin' In The Wind," "Crimson And Clover," "Turn, Turn, Turn," and "Me And Bobby McGee"). Readers say she looked and sounded "terrific," and one said the show's closing numbers, "Hello God" and "He's Alive," were even better than her performance of the former on last year's tour. The tour continues with Thursday night's Radio City Music Hall stop in New York City, the ordering page for which was removed from Ticketmaster late Wednesday, which could indicate the show has sold out (since tickets usually remain available until a few hours before the concert). Thanks!

Quentin, Johnny & Dolly
Director Quentin Tarantino, known for his innovative use of eclectic classic music in his films, has tapped a Dolly tune for inclusion in his next motion picture, Daltry Calhoun starring Johnny Knoxville, Lakeshore Records has announced. While the track listing has not been released to reveal which Dolly song is included, the label, which will release the soundtrack CD Sept. 20, says the disc will feature music from Dolly, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Wilco, Dusty Springfield, Marty Robbins, The Everly Brothers, the Ventures, Frankie Valli, Crystal Gayle and Leo Kottke. The Mirmiax/Disney film hits screens nationwide Sept. 30. Pre-order the soundtrack here.

Paisley, Dolly Raves Continue
Glowing reviews of Brad Paisley's new CD, Time Well Wasted, continue to fill newspapers across the country. The Washington Post this week singled out his track with Dolly, "When I Get Where I'm Going," as perhaps the best cut on the disc for its "statement of faith featuring a goose-bump-inducing vocal from Parton that's free of the cheap piousness that's alarmingly prevalent in country music today." Read the full review here. And Paisley talks more about how he came to record the song in an Associated Press story published in several papers Wednesday. Read a version from USA Today here.

More From Rhonda
Rhonda Vincent issued a press release Wednesday updating fans on her recovery from recent surgery and again thanking Dolly for her surprise visit to her ill friend. "Words cannot describe this generous gesture of pure love and friendship," she said. Read the full release on Cybergrass here.

Aug. 17:
Tour Begins, Grascals Go To N.Y.
As Dolly and crew were gearing up for Tuesday's "Vintage Tour" opener in Atlantic City, word was released that her backing band and opening act from last year's tour, The Grascals, would open Thursday's New York stop at Radio City Music Hall, tickets for which remain available at Ticketmaster. That is the only date on the tour announced thus far which is slated to include the band. According to the venue, the band will open with a 45-minute set, followed by a half-hour intermission, and then Dolly is expected to play for about an hour and 15 minutes, slightly shorter than her usual shows of about 90 minutes. Thanks, James!

Dine With Dolly
Why just meet Dolly when you can share a meal with her? Well, one lucky pair will get to do just that and help a good cause at the same time, according to The Mountain Press. A dinner for two with Dolly will be among the items featured in a live auction for the 16th annual Evening of Elegance, a black tie-optional fund-raiser held by the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation to benefit a local medical clinic, hospital and Boys and Girls Club. Tickets for the Aug. 27 Sevierville, Tenn., event are $150 each and required in advance by calling 865-429-6715. Read more here. The foundation was established in 1983 in honor of the physician who brought medical care to the rural residents of Sevier County for the early and mid-20th century, including delivering a baby in January 1946 named Dolly in exchange for a sack of cornmeal.

Paisley Press Continues, Dolly An 'Alien'?
Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted came out Tuesday, and the media coverage continued to grow. The disc, which includes Dolly harmonies on the ballad "When I Get Where I'm Going" and some Dolly comedy on the skit "Cornography," gets good marks in reviews from The Washington Times here and Atlanta Journal-Constitution here. And in an interview posted on CMT.com Tuesday, Paisley said of Dolly: "She is unbelievable. Everybody says it, but having been in the studio and seen her do it, I can't believe that she is who she is and that she is so ... I don't know ... extra-terrestrial-like. It's amazing. She can walk in there [the studio] and just elevate anything, I think. Just by being in the room, she makes something legitimate. I was there when she sang and couldn't believe it. I've never heard anything like what the song sounded like before she was on it compared to when she was done. And it's a harmony part. It's not even a duet, but it becomes an event." Read more here.

Aug. 16:
Hello Atlantic City! Sorry Vancouver, Edmondton
As Dolly's "Vintage Tour" prepares for Tuesday night's kick-off in Atlantic City, word has come that she is not going to Edmonton, Alb., on the tour and is not scheduled to play Vancouver either, officials with the venues there confirm to Dollymania. The Oct. 6 Vancouver show and Oct. 7 Edmonton concert were among four new dates announced via a press release from the tour's promoters last week -- the day before a list posted by Sugar Hill Records said she would be in Denver on Oct. 6. As two of these listings have been confirmed as erroneous, it calls into question whether the other two announced at the same time (Oct. 4 in Santa Rosa, Calif., and Oct. 8 in Calgary) are accurate. Negotiations are continuing with most of the other venues announced thus far on the tour for which ticket sales have not gone on sale, the managers at several confirmed. Until ticket sale dates are announced, any of the other dates could change, which is a common occurrence on most tour schedules as they are finalized.

Man Sues Dollywood For $20 Mill.
A Mississippi electrician and his wife this week filed a $20 million suit against Dollywood claiming a ride at the park five years ago caused him severe brain damage, according to a story Monday from Court TV here. The story notes that the man alleges to have suffered a head injury on Blazing Fury. His attorney argues the suit will serve as a flashpoint for unregulated amusement rides, but a park spokesperson denies the accusations and tells the network that the park's rides are continually tested and exceed all industry standards. (Ed. Note: The story does not mention that the Fury is one of the tamest adult rides at the park or that Dollywood has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts in Tennessee asking the state to regulate amusement rides there.)

'A Horse Is A Horse, Of Course'
The addition of the stick horse center, Dolly's Barnyard Critters, at the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., made Hazel Smith's CMT.com column here Monday, with Smith joking "imagine if they made a Dolly horse . . . with a chest cold!"

Cookin' Up Some Dolly
Duch Ermold, a vegan pastry chef, is profiled this week in New York Metro, and when asked about a Boy George shirt he wears in the accompanying photo shoot, he says he's not really a fan, but he loves Dolly. "I'm on a Dolly Parton kick," he told the paper. "I worship Dolly. She's my idol." See the story here.

Aug. 15:
Birmingham Pre-Sale To Be Offered
An Aug. 19 pre-sale will be available for fans attending Dolly's Sept. 18 Birmingham concert, officials with the venue confirm. Those who sign up for the BJCC All-Star Access Club here will be eligible for the pre-sale the day before seats are released to the public on Aug. 20 via Ticketmaster. Also, a story on the concert (which will be used to premiere the venue's new curtain system to shrink it from 19,000 seats to about 5,000) appeared Saturday in The Birmingham News here.

'Don't Drop Out' On New Boxed Set
One of Dolly's most overlooked Monument singles will get its first U.S. release on CD Sept. 27 as part of a girl group boxed set, Rhino Records has announced. The track listing for the four-disc project One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost & Found shows the set will include Dolly's "Don't Drop Out," which in 1966 was her fourth Monument Records single. Although uncharted, the very "Leader Of The Pack"-type song was the label's final attempt to market her as a pop singer before allowing her to record country music (and is perhaps my personal favorite of her recordings for the label). It had previously been released in Europe on CD in the 1997 compilation Where The Girls Are, but this marks the song's first release on the medium stateside. The set will feature 120 songs by 107 different artists, including alongside the Dolly track tunes by The Supremes, The Ronettes and The Shangri-las as well as a few entries by Cher, Brenda Lee, Dusty Springfield and Lesley Gore, among others. The boxed set, to retail for about $65, will be designed to appear as a hatbox, feature liner notes designed as a girl's diary and include each CD in a retro-styled make-up compact.

European Chart Updates
Dolly and Roy Rivers's duet of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" drops nine places to No. 11 in this week's European CMA country singles chart, it was announced Saturday. The song had previously spent five weeks at No. 1. It also loses five digits to No. 12 for country singles airplay in Italy. Get the CD here!

Preview Paisley Disc
CMT.com has made available the complete streaming audio for Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, which is to be released Tuesday, giving you the opportunity to hear both tracks which feature Dolly in their entirety before you buy it. Take a listen here. Thanks, Luke!

Recalling Dolly And Tammy
The Villages Daily Sun in The Villages, Fla., on Sunday featured a story on Tammy Wynette's former governess, which includes some recollections of the late singer's close friendship with Dolly. Read more here.

Rhonda Thanks Dolly, Fans
Rhonda Vincent on Saturday updated fans about her recovery from surgery via her Web site's message board here, thanking them for their support and noting at the end of the message, "I was moved to tears on a Monday morning when Dolly Parton walked into our living room." As was previously reported, Dolly made an unannounced visit to her ill friend (and her family) in Missouri last week. A longtime pal and occasional harmony singer for Dolly, Vincent's current CD includes a cover of Dolly's "Jolene," and she joined Dolly and Judy Collins in the studio to cut "Both Sides Now" for Dolly's upcoming album, Those Were The Days.

Advocating For Literacy
Talladega-area newspaper The Daily Home over the weekend published an editorial encouraging all cities in Alabama to adopt Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program after seeing the successes in its local cities. Read more here.

Aug. 13:
'Vintage Tour' Ticket Updates
While nothing official has been posted about it yet, a reader in the Birmingham area tells me radio stations there have announced a 10 a.m. Aug. 20 sale date for tickets to Dolly's Sept. 18 show there. Thanks, Jerail! And don't forget tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster at 11 a.m. Eastern Saturday for Dolly's Sept. 15 concert in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and at 1 p.m. Pacific time Saturday for the Sept. 30 show in Los Angeles.

Paisley Gets Noticed
Coverage of Brad Paisley's new CD, Time Well Wasted, has picked up in advance of its drop date on Tuesday of next week. The Aug. 29 Country Weekly out now features him in a cover story talking about the album's song with Dolly harmonies, "When I Get Where I'm Going," and how he was inspired to record it by his aunt's death due to breast cancer. He recalls telling his wife about the lyrics and being moved to tears and once again weeping in the studio as Dolly added her vocals to the track. The interview ends with him being asked about his thoughts of heaven, to which he replies that the choir of angels should sound like Alison Krauss and Dolly, and if they don't, he'll have to tell them we've got it better on earth. See a preview of the story here.

Aug. 12:
17 Additional Tour Dates, 1 Auction Announced
Several new dates for Dolly's fall "Vintage Tour," which kicks off next Tuesday in Atlantic City, surfaced this week, although two conflict with one another. House of Blues on Thursday announced a Sept. 15 all-ages show at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Tickets, $55-$125, will go on sale at 11 a.m. Eastern Saturday, and while there is no pre-sale scheduled, HOB members will have special ticket access at that time.
Sugar Hill Records on Thursday posted the following list of dates on its Web site:

'Body' Gone From Country Chart
Although it got enough airplay to make it onto the charts for one week, Dolly's recording of "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)" with the Bellamy Brothers from their CD Angels & Outlaws, Vol. 1 falls off the country singles chart in the Aug. 20 tallies released by Billboard on Thursday. The song had spent one week at No. 60 on the 60-position chart, Dolly's first return there in nearly three years and the Bellamys' first in more than a decade. In other chart developments, following their performance of "Viva Las Vegas" with Dolly on the CMA Music Festival special, the self-titled debut CD The Grascals, which contains the duet, re-enters the bluegrass albums chart at No. 15, its 15th week on that list. Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, with "Islands In The Stream," falls back off the 75-position country albums chart, down from No. 74 for a 41st week, and The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways, featuring Dolly on one track, falls six spots to No. 32 country, 21 places to No. 179 pop and 14 notches to No. 38 Canadian country in its third week and falls off the 200-position comprehensive albums chart, down from No. 179 the previous week. Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, with her version of "Jolene," slips one to No. 6 in its 21st week on the bluegrass albums chart, while Ralph Stanley's Shine On, named after the title track written by Dolly, also inches down one to No. 13 in its ninth week on the same chart. In its sixth week of release, Sandra Bullock's film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, with its Dolly cameo, falls out of the 10-position rental chart, down from No. 9, and out of the 40-position DVD sales chart, down from No. 27. Faith Hill's Fireflies debuts at No. 1 country and pop on the strength of 329,000 units moved in its first week, while Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today drops one to No. 2 country and gains five to No. 11 pop in its 45th week. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" moves up three to No. 9 on the pop singles sales chart in its 17th week.

New Pics Posted
Sugar Hill Records also on Thursday released several publicity shots for Dolly's upcoming CD, Those Were The Days. View them here!

Can't Live Without 'Jolene'
The Winston-Salem Journal this week profiled Lee Ann Womack and asked her to name the five albums she keeps with her at all times. Her top answer was Dolly's Jolene, about which she said: "Dolly has one of the prettiest voices and is one of the classiest ladies in country music. She's beautiful, and a great writer, to boot. This album is one of my all-time favorites." The others on her list were The Essential George Jones, Vern Gosdin's If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong, Do It Right, Tammy Wynette's Biggest Hits and Steve Earle's Guitar Town. Read the full column here.

Another Glowing Review Of 'Wasted'
The LA Daily News this week gave Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, hitting stores Tuesday, three and a half out of four stars, calling it "highly enjoyable" and singling out guest appearances by Dolly and Alan Jackson as two reasons why it will be making hits. Read more here.

Dolly And George On GAC
Great American Country's new episode of Country Music Across America which premiered Thursday night was scheduled to include a segment on Dolly and George Jones filming their video for "The Blues Man." Catch repeats throughout the next several days. (See TV listings in left-hand column.)

Aug. 11:
Dolly Attracts Top Pickers For New CD
Dolly's upcoming CD, Those Were The Days, to hit store shelves Oct. 11, is shaping up to be quite a project! Steve Buckingham, longtime Dolly producer and senior vice president at Sugar Hill parent company Welk Music Group, confirms to Dollymania that the album attracted some of bluegrass's best-loved musicians to lend their pickin' to the project, including throughout the CD Sam Bush and Chris Thile on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Viktor Krauss on bass and Tony Rice and Bryan Sutton on guitar, the same musicians responsible for the awesome instrumentation on many tracks from her recent bluegrass and folk recordings at Sugar Hill. Buckingham on Wednesday also confirmed the track listing and guest list for the album plus a few other details, such as that in addition to harmony vocals on "Turn, Turn, Turn," former Byrds member Roger McGuinn also provides electric 12-string guitar for the song, the track on which legendary producer David Foster offers his piano playing is Dolly's cover of the John Lennon classic "Imagine," and Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) plays acoustic guitar but does not sing on her cover of his "Where Do The Children Play." See some more details on the site's page dedicated to the project here, and order your copy of the album here. Thanks, Steve!

Another Concert Sale Date Revealed
House of Blues Wednesday night announced that tickets for Dolly's Oct. 28 all-ages show at The Chicago Theatre in Chicago will go on sale Aug. 27 and range from $46.50 to $86.50 each (likely via Ticketmaster). Although no HOB pre-sale has been scheduled yet, members of the venue's Insider program should receive an e-mail earlier that week to inform them of the process of obtaining their pre-sale tickets. Also, while the sale date has yet to be announced for her all-ages concert on Dec. 9 in New Orleans, House of Blues announced ticket prices for the Saenger Theatre (also likely via Ticketmaster) will range from $50 to $100 each. Seats for the Sept. 30 performance at Los Angeles' Gibson Amphitheatre went on pre-sale Wednesday morning for HOB Members.

Another County With Library Woes
Dickson County, Tenn., is having trouble getting Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program off the ground, according to a story in The Tennessean's Dickson Herald on Thursday. About 3,000 children in the county would be eligible for the program's free book per month from birth to age 5 once it becomes active, but only one sponsor has signed on in the past few months to help with the local costs of about $13 per child annually. Read more here.

Aug. 10:
L.A. Fans Get Pre-Sale Wednesday
Although previously listed as not having a pre-sale, House of Blues announced late Tuesday that HOB Members will be allowed pre-sale access for Dolly's Sept. 30 concert at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday. Tickets, $35-$75 for the all-ages show, are scheduled to go on sale to the general public via Ticketmaster at 1 p.m. Pacific Saturday.

10 Lucky Folks To Meet Dolly
And speaking of Ticketmaster, the ticket retailer on Tuesday clarified to Dollymania that the auction currently being offered on the site to benefit the Dollywood Foundation is actually for five sets of two admissions to her New York concert and meet-and-greet, rather than the one set originally announced. Although they conceded some technical difficulties since the auction began Tuesday, they explained that the five highest bidders will each receive two tickets for the concert and two passes for the meet-and-greet before the concert. Click here for more information. Thanks!

Order 'Days' Today!
Amazon.com on Tuesday added a page to order Dolly's Oct. 11 covers album, Those Were The Days (see cover art at left). Fan site Dolly On-Line on Monday had posted what it reported to be the final track listing for the project, although Sugar Hill Records has yet to officially release the list so it could not be independently confirmed as of this update on Tuesday. The only new tracks which the site reported were "The Cruel War" (with Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski and Mindy Smith), "Both Sides Now" (with Judy Collins and Rhonda Vincent) and "Where Do The Children Play" (with Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens). All previously-announced songs were still listed as on the project ("Twelfth of Never," "Blowin' In The Wind," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "Turn, Turn, Turn," "If I Were A Carpenter," "Crimson And Clover," "Me And Bobby McGee," "Those Were The Days" and "Imagine"). Reserve your copy here!

Dolly Visits Sick Friend
Dolly made a surprise visit to Greentop, Mo., on Monday to check in on longtime pal Rhonda Vincent, reportedly recovering at home from surgery, according to a posting and photographs added to the discussion boards on Vincent's official Web site here on Tuesday. Thanks, Christian!

Days Of Praise Coming To Dollywood
Dolly's theme park is gearing up for two "Days Of Praise" events with some of the best in country gospel. The concerts will take place at Dollywood on Aug. 27 with Joyce Martin and Anointed and Sept. 21 with The Lewis Family, Mark Trammel Trio and Dixie Melody Boys, all in DP's Celebrity Theatre. Special packages are available including admission to the park, all-you-can-eat buffet and a meet-and-greet with the performers ($50 each, or $22 for the concert and meal only for season pass holders). Click here for more information.

Aug. 9:
Meet-And-Greet Auction Planned
Ticketmaster announced Monday that Dolly will be auctioning off one set of two passes to her very exclusive meet-and-greet prior to her Radio City Music Hall show in New York next Thursday. The auction will begin here at 1 p.m. Eastern Tuesday and conclude at 7 p.m. Eastern the following Tuesday, Aug. 16. The winner will receive two orchestra-level seats for the concert and two admissions to the meet-and-greet. All proceeds from the auction in excess of the $150 face value of the two tickets will be donated to Dolly's non-profit Dollywood Foundation.

Another Fla. Date Announced, LA Returns
Florida fans rejoice, as another date in the state was announced for Dolly's "Vintage Tour" Monday. Dolly will play the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center in Tallahassee on Sept. 16. Tickets, $32.50-$57.50 each, will go on sale via Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. Eastern Friday. In other concert news, House of Blues on Monday also returned to its listings Dolly's previously-announced Sept. 30 engagement at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Tickets for that show, $35-$75 each, are still scheduled to go on sale via Ticketmaster at 1 p.m. Pacific time Saturday. While the LA date has had no pre-sale announced for it, House of Blues members will have the opportunity to buy special seating when tickets go on sale to the public. Both shows are for all ages.

'I'm A Drag Queen, Too!'
That's one of the hilarious lines thrown out by Dolly in a new interview with New York female impersonator Amnesia Sparkles for the new issue of Next magazine which hit newsstands in New York City Friday (it's only out for a week, so if you're in that area, get yours soon!). I'm told the story covers Dolly's upcoming CD Those Were The Days, her concert next week at Radio City Music Hall, and the planned Broadway production of the musical version of 9 To 5, for which it was announced several months ago that Dolly was writing several new songs in anticipation of a 2007 opening. Although the magazine has not posted an online version of the story, Amnesia put a wonderful set of excerpts from the interview on her Web site here where the two dish the dirt about drag, "Jolene," Dollywood, and more. There's even a little "9 To 5" dance mix posted for your enjoyment with some clips from the interview. Thanks, Amnesia!

Aug. 8:
Paisley Preview Posted
Brad Paisley posted a seven-minute preview of his upcoming album, Time Well Wasted, on his Web site Saturday which includes 30-second excerpt from "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Dolly and a hilarious clip from the "Cornography" comedy segment with Dolly and Paisley's pals as the Kung Pao Buckaroos. Take a listen here, and reserve your copy of the CD, out Aug. 16, here! Thanks, Al!

Rivers Duet No Longer No. 1
"Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by Dolly and Roy Rivers slips one digit to No. 2 in this week's European CMA country singles chart, it was announced Saturday. The song had rebounded last week to earn a fifth week at the top of the charts. In individual nations, the duet falls six spots to No. 7 in Italy and falls back out of the top 20 country single airplay chart in Germany, down from No. 17. Get the CD here!

Dolly And George On CMT
For those who may have missed Dolly and George Jones' appearance on CMT Insider over the weekend offering a peak at their new video for "The Blues Man" (from Jones' upcoming CD Hits I Missed . . . And One I Didn't out Sept. 13), it was the first segment on the program, and the funny profile -- including a couple of the requisite boob jokes -- will repeat at 11 p.m. Eastern Sunday (if you're reading this update early enough) and 11:30 a.m. Monday.

New Site Layout Premieres
You'll notice tonight that Dollymania has a new look. Other than the new masthead at the top of the page and a different color scheme, the biggest changes are the new navigation menu and revised page size. All of your favorite pages from the old navigation menu are still there, but many have moved into categories. For instance, the Letters To The Webmaster page and Collectors' Connection are both under "Interactive," the "Vintage Tour" page and Those Were The Days page are under "Projects," and the list of every Dolly song ever released and her singleography with complete chart history are under "Data." The pages are also slightly smaller. It was brought to my attention by some readers a few months back that they sometimes enjoyed printing out some of the pages from the site. However, when the layout was last redesigned, the pages were too wide to be printed (hence the addition of "printable" pages for the news and Letters To The Webmaster sections). The new layout allows for pages to be printed without too much difficulty. To print a page, simply set your browser's page margins to 0.25 inches on the left and right sides. In Internet Explorer, this is done by clicking on "File" at the upper left side of the browser window and choosing "Page Setup." Under "margins," type in 0.25 for left and 0.25 for right (which are the smallest side margins allowed under Internet Explorer's defaults.) The page should print on a regular-sized 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper without cutting off any information on the left or right sides of the page. As most pages are a bit long, it is recommended that you choose a print range. For instance, if you're interested in a story near the top of the page, you may wish to tell your printer to print only pages 1-2 (otherwise, it may be 12 pages or longer). If the story didn't print because it was a little further down, you could re-print but set it to print page 3 instead. I hope you all like the new setup, and I always look forward to hearing your comments. Just e-mail me here!

Aug. 6:
Orlando Info. Returns
Although her Sept. 30 Los Angeles show has yet to be added back to its list (although I suspect it will be soon), House of Blues on Friday returned Dolly's Nov. 26 Orlando concert to its schedules in both the main public concert search section and the HOB members' pages. According to the site, HOB members will still be able to purchase pre-sale tickets of $50-$110 starting at 10 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Aug. 24, before they go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, the same dates as previously announced for the all-ages show. However, The Orlando Sentinel on Friday listed the performance in its upcoming events section, saying tickets will be $50 in advance and $55 the day of the show (assuming it doesn't sell out) with no mention of the higher-priced seats. Read that note here. The ticket page for this date also returned to Ticketmaster Friday night.

D'Wood Pin Trading Event Planned
Dollywood has announced a special pin traders' event at 8 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, at the park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Pin trading began with the opening of the 2004 season and has really taken off over the past year and a half. Admission to the event is $10 per person and includes a light breakfast, a new exclusive pin (limited to the first 200 registrants) and information about next year's pin program. Read more here or register here.

Aug. 5:
Bellamy Single Makes The Chart
Country duo The Bellamy Brothers are back on the country singles chart after nearly a dozen-year absence thanks to a collaboration with Dolly. Their trio recording of "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)," from the all-star Bellamy tribute CD Angels & Outlaws, Vol. 1, debuts at No. 60 on the 60-position Aug. 13 country singles chart, Billboard announced Thursday. The song marks Dolly's 109th credited airplay chart single and her first credited return to the country tally since "Hello God" spent one week at the same No. 60 spot in November 2002 (although she performed uncredited harmonies on Shania Twain and Alison Krauss' cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," which spent two weeks at No. 57 in 2003 -- and she has made appearances since then on the adult contemporary chart with the No. 2 hit "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Rod Stewart and a top 10 country singles sales chart entry with The Grascals on "Viva Las Vegas," which only recently fell out of that chart after 29 weeks). The recording is the Bellamys' 47th chart single but their first return to the charts since the track "Not" made it to No. 71 back in January 1994. Their original version of the tune was their first No. 1, topping the country charts in 1979. In other chart news, Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, featuring "Islands In The Stream," re-enters the country albums chart at No. 74 for a 41st week and The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways, which includes Dolly on one track, slips three spots to No. 26 country, 25 notches to No. 158 pop, 33 places to No. 179 comprehensive and five digits to No. 24 Canadian country in its second week. Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, featuring a live cover of "Jolene," gains one spot to No. 5 in its 20th week on the bluegrass albums chart, while Ralph Stanley's Shine On, with the Dolly-penned title cut, also rises one place to No. 12 in its eighth week on the same chart. The Sandra Bullock comedy Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, featuring a Dolly cameo, drops four to No. 9 for video rentals in its fifth week while the full screen version loses six spots to No. 27 for DVD sales and the widescreen version falls out of the 40-position DVD sales chart, down from No. 32. Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today rebounds to the No. 1 country spot with a one-point gain in its 44th week, also remaining steady at No. 16 pop, while Toby Keith's Honkytonk University loses one to No. 2 country albums in its 11th week and falls six to No. 21 pop. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" drops three to No. 12 on the pop singles sales chart in its 16th week.

Dolly, McLean Get Prelim. CCMA Nom
Dolly and Kim McLean are among the 10 couples named preliminary nominees for Vocal Duo Of The Year this week in the 11th Annual Inspirational/Christian Country Music Awards (formerly known as the CCMAs). The final five nominees in each category should be announced in about a month, and awards will be handed out live on GAC Nov. 10 from Nashville. The two collaborated on the duet "Angels And Eagles" from McLean's CD Happy Face, and the song quickly entered the Christian country singles top 10 chart. While Dolly has never won a CCMA, her video for "Welcome Home" from For God And Country was a preliminary nominee for Video Of The Year last year but didn't make the final cut, and she was a final nominee in 2003 for four awards: Mainstream Artist of the Year as a solo performer and Song of the Year, Vocal Duo Of The Year and Video Of The Year for "Stand By The River" with Dottie Rambo. This year, McLean, legend Rambo, and sister Stella are all also preliminary nominees for Female Vocalist Of The Year.

Tour Update
No additional dates have been announced yet for Dolly's "Vintage Tour" (more are expected in the near future, though), but The Calgary Sun mentioned here Thursday that rumor has it she may play the Western Canadian city in mid-September. In other tour news:

U.K. Theatre To Host Tribute
British fans will be able to get a Dolly-honoring treat in January with a performance of Dolly Parton Story, a tribute show starring Mandy Winters, at The Civic Hall in Bedworth, England, just outside of Birmingham, officials at the venue confirm. The show, tickets for which will run £15 each, will be held Jan. 28, just a little over a week after Dolly's 60th birthday.

Aug. 4:
Dolly Duets Get Play
The August issue of Power Source magazine is out, and there's some Dolly movement on its charts. "Angels And Eagles," her duet with Kim McLean from McLean's current CD, Happy Face, falls out of the top 100 Christian country chart, down from No. 44 in July. The song had a few months back gotten into that chart's top 10. "It Looked Good On Paper," her duet with Randy Kohrs from his CD I'm Torn, gains four spots on the bluegrass singles chart to come in at No. 25, while "Viva Las Vegas" with The Grascals leaps 21 places to No. 19 on the independent country singles chart. The issue also has a one-page profile on Dolly's sister Stella becoming the spokesperson for the Tennessee Museum of Aviation.

Paisley Collaboration 'Heaven-Sent'
Knight Ridder Newspapers released this week what is the first review I've seen of Brad Paisley's Aug. 16 CD, Time Well Wasted. The reviewer gives the overall project an "A" and calls "When I Get Where I'm Going," the track which features Dolly's harmonies, "heaven-sent" and the audio comedy piece "Cornography," which features Dolly and several of Paisley's friends, a "silly finale." Read the full review here.

More Dollywood II Rumors
The Ashland City Times, a publication of The Tennessean reported Wednesday that folks in Cheatham County just northwest of Nashville are abuzz over rumors that Dolly is planning a Dollywood expansion there. However, the story notes, park officials say they have no current projects there or anywhere outside of its Pigeon Forge facility. Read the humorous column here.

More From 'Daisy Duke' To Dolly
Still on the promotional trail for her new "thrillbilly" film The Dukes of Hazzard, ditsy blonde Jessica Simpson continues to exude her love for Dolly. In a story syndicated this week by Scripps Howard News Service, she says that her idol, Dolly, inspired her to move from singing to acting, adding: "To have a career like that would be a dream come true for me. To do something like 9 to 5 or Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, that would be a dream role for me." Read the full story here.

Aug. 3:
Filming Of Video Gets Coverage
Dolly and George Jones filmed the video at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville Monday for their duet single, "The Blues Man," which is to appear on Jones' Sept. 13 release Hits I Missed . . . And One I Didn't, and it was well-covered. A profile of the taping will appear on CMT Insider this weekend (premiering at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday and repeating throughout the weekend), and Nashville TV station WSMV posted its story from the filming on its Web site here -- look under "Featured Videos" toward the middle of the page and scroll down to "George Jones & Dolly Parton sing a duet" (although in the story reporter Jimmy Carter mistakenly says it's the first time the two have ever worked together; while it is their first true duet, they did record a "Where Grass Won't Grow" as a quartet on Jones' 1994 CD The Bradley Barn Sessions, which featured Dolly and Jones on lead and Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood on harmony). Also, The Tennessean led off its daily celebrities column by Brad Schmidt with news and a photo from the event, adding that Dolly told The Possum after the taping that he owed her some Possum sausage and white lightning as her fee for participating in the project. Read his recap here.

Topeka's Library Woes
Topeka, Kan., is finding that communities that want Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program have to step up and put their pocketbooks in play, and the community is also learning of the perils of using one-time funding for such efforts, according to a story in Tuesday's Topeka Capital-Journal. Currently, about 5,000 children in Shawnee County there are enrolled in the program, which provides one free, age-appropriate, hardcover book per month to every child from birth to age 5 whose parents sign up in a participating community, of which there are more than 500 in the U.S. across 40 states, resulting in more than 2 million books being distributed each year. While the Dollywood Foundation pays the costs for all administrative functions, which are centralized in its East Tennessee headquarters, local sponsors are responsible for raising the actual purchase and shipping costs for the books in their communities, roughly $27 per child annually. The program in Topeka came about two years ago when the United Way received a federal grant for the project amounting to more than $175,000, funds which run out next month. So, now, local officials are getting ready to ask local businesses to help with the tab so children don't stop receiving the books which prepare them for kindergarten. Read more here.

CMA Show Features Dolly
For those who may have missed it, Dolly and The Grascals were great on ABC's CMA Music Festival: Country Music's Biggest Party Tuesday night. They saved their performance of "Viva Las Vegas" from the band's debut album, The Grascals, for the last half-hour of the two-hour program.

Aug. 2:
Reality Show Seeks U.K. Families
RDF Media, producer of the British series Holiday Showdown which airs on ITV in the U.K. and BBC America in the U.S., has asked Dollymania to help them find applicants in the U.K. for the program to visit Dollywood. The show takes two families with polar opposite tastes and sends them on a vacation together: first to one spot picked by the first family for a week, where they live under that family's rules, and then to one spot picked by the second one for a second week, where they live under that family's rules. The two families then meet for a frank discussion of what they thought of each trip. A producer for the show says they are looking for three to six people in an "enthusiastic" family who are passionate about Dolly and love to visit theme parks and ride thrill rides. "The most important factor is that the family is really enthusiastic about their style of holiday and is keen to share that passion with others," explained associate producer Louise Smith. British families who have visited the park are welcomed, as are those who have never been but dream of going. The show pays all expenses for the two weeks. Interested parties may contact Smith at louise.smith@rdfmedia.com or call 020-7013-4347.

Tenn. Gets 62nd Library County
Benton County became the 62nd in Tennessee to start Dolly's nationwide Imagination Library literacy program with a kick-off Monday, The Jackson Sun reports here. By year's end, the state plans to have all 95 Tennessee counties in the program, which provides one free, age-appropriate, hardcover book per month to every child from birth to age 5 whose parents sign up in a participating community. It is currently active in more than 500 communities across 40 states, sending out more than 2 million books per year.

Ticket Update
Tickets went on sale Monday morning at Ticketmaster for Dolly's Aug. 25 show in Portland, Maine, as part of this fall's "The Vintage Tour." As of Monday evening, plenty of seats remained available on the main floor. Don't forget that House of Blues members may get tickets for the Oct. 1 Las Vegas concert in pre-sales on Tuesday (click here for information on signing up for a free membership). The time for the pre-sale start has changed to 5 p.m. Pacific. Tickets for that date go on sale to the general public on Saturday.

Don't Forget!
Remember to tune in at 9 p.m. Eastern Tuesday night on ABC for CMA Music Festival: Country Music's Biggest Party, which features Dolly and The Grascals singing "Viva Las Vegas!"

Aug. 1:
Orlando Ticket Sales Date Revealed
News of another pre-sale for seats in "The Vintage Tour" came over the weekend. House of Blues announced that HOB members will be able to buy tickets for Dolly's Nov. 26 Orlando concert starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Aug. 24. Tickets, $50-$110, will go on sale to the public at Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. Eastern Aug. 27. This one is currently slated to be an all-ages show, although there will be no smoking and no cameras allowed. Also, don't forget that tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern Monday at Ticketmaster for the Aug. 25 show in Portland, Maine, and HOB members will be allowed pre-sale tickets for Dolly's Oct. 1 engagement in Las Vegas starting at 10 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday.

'Candid' Dolly On DVD
A special thanks to Solomon for alerting me that two classic Dolly appearances on the television program Candid Camera will become available on Tuesday. Rhino Home Video is releasing a 10-disc set of the series' favorite moments titled Candid Camera: Five Decades Of Smiles. Dolly made two appearances in the mid-1970s on the show. In the first, she and her Traveling Family Band protest high grocery prices by enticing fellow shoppers in a Kroger to sing "Roll, roll your grocery cart slowly down the isle. The items on the grocery shelves have simply gone sky high" to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." In the other, she claims to have twisted her ankle and asks passing men outside the Kroger to pick her up and carry her through the parking lot to her car, which she seems to have misplaced. The first appearance will be included on the "Best Of The '70s, Vol. 2" disc, while the second is on the "Greatest Moments" disc. You may purchase the entire 10-disc set here for $75 or visit the Candid Camera Web site here to buy each disc individually (with the "70s" one costing $20 and the "Greatest Moments" one costing $25). Thanks!

TV Reminder
Don't forget to set your TVs Tuesday night to ABC to catch CMA Music Festival: Country Music's Biggest Party. The special, filmed during the event formerly known as "Fan Fair" in Nashville this June, will include Dolly and The Grascals performing "Viva Las Vegas" from the festival's opening night concert.

HOF Pics Available
A special thanks to Ron over at the Country Music Hall of Fame for sending in some shots from the temporary Porter Wagoner exhibit and from Dolly's permanent exhibit at the Nashville museum, which very recently began allowing visitors to photograph the interior. "Porter Wagoner: The Rhinestone Troubadour," which follows the career of Dolly's longtime duet partner, opened earlier this month and continues through January. Take a look here. Thanks!

Dolly And George Ready For Video
Dolly and George Jones are scheduled to film their video for the song "The Blues Man" on Monday, reported Brad Schmidt of The Tennessean here on Sunday. The Hank Williams Jr.-penned song is expected to be shipped to radio as a single any day now and will appear on Jones' upcoming covers disc, Hits I Missed . . . And One I Didn't, to hit stores Sept. 13.

Manuel Exhibit Comes To Texas
The exhibit of the rhinestone-studded costumes by legendary designer Manuel which was on display earlier this year at the Frist Center in Nashville has moved to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas, where "Manuel: Star-Spangled Couture" will remain open through Nov. 6. In addition to one jacket designed to represent each state, the exhibit also includes the outfits worn by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt for the cover of their 1987 Trio album.

Library Efforts In S.C. Reviewed
South Carolina's Beaufort Gazette over the weekend profiled volunteers who are working to register newborns in their community for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program. Read more here.