Dolly Parton Sings ‘Smoky Mountain DNA’ On Her Family’s Story

Dolly Parton is one of the most iconic American singers and songwriters and she recently revealed her musical backstory. The legendary musician’s musical story goes back somewhere most people would not expect, to the 1600s British Isles. That is where the ancestors of the singer-songwriter come from before eventually landing on the familiar mountain ranges of the hollers of East Tennessee. However, they did not come alone, they brought all their music with them. This is what Parton reveals and explains in her new record. The new album ‘Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith & Fables’ is coming out on Friday and credited to Dolly Parton and family. The record explores the great legacy of the Partons and the Owns, Dolly’s maternal family. In this record, the world would witness Dolly Parton performing alongside five generations of family members.

“My grandpa used to say when I got famous, she said, ‘Well, she came out crying in the key of D,’” Parton told The Associated Press in an interview. “I think we all did.” ‘Smoky Mountain DNA’ is an absolute labor of love, a record that taught Dolly more about her family’s history and roots. “We’re kind of like the Carter family. We go back generations,” Parton said. The Carters are widely considered the first family of country music, and according to Parton, her family is similar to that. “I would imagine this will be my favorite album,” Parton said. “This really involves, you know, my grandmas and my grandpas, my uncles and my aunts, and all the people going all the way back that had the biggest influence on my life. The ones that I remember from being little, and it even goes on farther back from there.”

Richie Owens., Parton’s cousin is the one who produced Smoky Mountain DNA. Richie is someone who Dolly considers “the family historian”. In the interview, he revealed that the family has long been activists. Although the idea of creating a record started around 2010 and 2011, delayed by a few unfortunate deaths. He further explains that Dolly Parton approached him right before the pandemic and asked him to work with her. Owens mentioned that Parton approached him and said, “We need to get together and start trying to get all this information (and) material together.” As he had already been working on a family story, specifically tied to his grandfather’s fiddle, the duo teamed up for a new record, what is now ‘Smoky Mountain DNA’.

The record had some songs where Owens used digital technology which he compares to the new Beatles song ‘Now and Then’ and its AI-assist. In the Beatles track John Lennon’s voice was extracted from an old demo and used “restoration work” on a new composition. “With the technology that’s been available, we were able to achieve wonderful, miraculous situations where we were able to go in and build new music tracks,” he says. “I got very, very emotional many times when I was singing, especially with the ones that have already passed and just remembering their voices, hearing them,” Parton additionally says. “It just kind of threw me into a deep emotional place, just like I had them back again. So, the whole thing was very heart-wrenching. But it was really amazing and very restoring. It had so many colors of emotions in it.”

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