Dolly Parton releases new single

"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.