Dolly Parton releases new single
Tuesday, August 28, 2007 – Dolly Parton debuts her new single "Better Get To Livin'" today exclusively for download on the iTunes Store and on country radio.
"Better Get To Livin'" will officially be sent to country radio Sept. 28. The track, written and produced by Parton with Kent Wells, is the first single from her forthcoming new CD "Backwoods Barbie," due in stores in the first quarter next year. This is the first release on her recently formed Dolly Records, an independent label which will focus on releases from her catalog.
"My tunes on iTunes, come give me a play," said Parton. "Digital Dolly...yep, that's me."
"Kent is the one who said that I should write a song about my attitude as so many people are always asking what my secret to success and happiness is," says Dolly.
Parton sings, "You better get to livin', givin'/A little more thought about bein' a little more willin'/To make a better way/Don't sweat the small stuff, keep your chin up/Just hang tough and if it gets too rough/Fall on your knees and pray/And do that every day"
"I think life has always been a pressure cooker, and people react to whatever pressures they're under at the time according to their tolerance level and their mental attitude," she said. "Certainly with so much attention today on being skinny and beautiful, rich and famous, equal pay for equal work, getting ahead, raising kids, holding down a job, getting older, etc. I think this song says some things to let people know they're not the only ones in that fix. And this song offers some advice for a way out."
For "Backwoods Barbie," Parton's first mainstream country album in over 17 years, Parton wrote nine of the songs and produced the CD with band leader and guitarist Kent Wells. "The song 'Backwoods Barbie' pretty much says it all," she said. "I grew up poor and ragged, always dreamed of being beautiful like Barbie and the models in the Fredericks catalog. It's true that the way I look is just a country girl's idea of glamour, but it comes from an honest place. Backwoods Barbie just seemed like such a perfect title for a country album for me."
It's also one of the songs from the forthcoming Broadway musical "9 to 5 The Musical" expected to hit New York in the Spring of 2009, which Parton also wrote all the words and music for.
As for creating her own indie label to focus exclusively on her music, Parton said, "I put it on my own label because many of the majors really didn't want me because of my age, thinking I was over. But I feel different about that. I figured the major labels are pretty much a thing of the past anyway, kind of like they thought I was. The way music is being played today, why not make all the money, if there's any money to be made. I'd rather have all of something than some of nothing. So I hired Danny Nozell to help manage me and all the things concerning me with all the new ideas. And with his knowledge of the new age and the team that he's put together, I just didn't see how I could miss."
"I might, of course; but he has assembled a great team and has a great marketing plan. And I'm having a great old time in this new day and age, so why not give it a whirl? I'll never stop. I'll never end until they lay me down, and then I'll go kicking and screaming and trying to sing and write a song."
Parton also launched her first authorized music website in her 45-year career: www.DollyPartonMusic.net. The full site launches at the end of September and is currently accepting email sign ups for ongoing announcements.
Parton plans a world-wide tour and television appearances in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada.
More news for Dolly Parton
CD reviews for Dolly Parton
Better Day
If Dolly Parton were to host a summer replacement daytime TV show, her new record album could very well be the soundtrack. It is so totally Dolly - an hour's worth of can-do, I'm-country-gol'-dang-it-but-don't-forget-I'm-Hollywood, yet never abandoning the singer-songwriter that's been her overriding trademark.
It gets a little silly, which you expect from Dolly. In fact, the song she co-wrote with Mac Davis, Country Is as Country Does - gets a lot silly. »»» |
Dolly: Dolly Live From London
Dolly Parton took her acoustic guitar, her dazzling array of stage costumes, her still-vibrant-at-60-something voice and her down-home charm to greet her fans across the pond in 2008. She also took a video camera and recording equipment. The CD (and accompanying DVD) was recorded during Parton's sold out performances at the 02 arena in London.
As one of the most recognizable faces of country music around the world, it is beautiful to hear how well Parton's universally appealing songs of »»» |
Dolly
Over the course of 99 tracks on 4 discs, RCA/Legacy Recordings has given music fans a concise and nearly complete snapshot of Dolly Parton's considerable impact on country music with the release of the new box set - a task not accomplished by any other collection.
The set covers all the career-defining hits you would expect like Jolene, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You and Here You Come Again, but what makes this collection truly special is the unreleased material it »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: McGraw has plenty of fight left –
Despite the fact that Tim McGraw is five years sober, fit as a triathlete and touring behind a number one album, he is still in an unenviable position. As he approaches 50, McGraw has to stay a step ahead of the current crop of young country hunks with TV shows, cross format radio airplay and wider appeal. But as he proved at First Niagara's... »»»
Concert Review: Steve Earle doesn't rest (on laurels) –
If you didn't realize Steve Earle had a new disc out, "The Low Highway," it would have been no problem realizing that quite and quickly.
That was because Earle started the two-hour show with three straight tracks from "The Low Highway," and he would not be done for the night. The title track of was a midtempo effort... »»»
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