We had a chance to catch up with the amazing Dolly Parton last week to talk about her 43rd studio album Pure & Simple which was released August 19th. One of the comments that Dolly made during the chat was how this album really was really stripped down and as the title states Pure & Simple. If you haven’t heard the album yet we can tell you that this is vintage Dolly Parton. We wanted to know if that was her intention and she came back with “Yes, it was. When I decided I wanted to do a tour called Pure & Simple we really stripped it down musically and then I thought we need a CD. And it needs to be called Pure & Simple. And I really wanted to make sure the songs weren’t over produced and overly done.” Well they hit the nail right on the head with that. With songs such as Say Forever You’ll Be Mine & I’m Sixteen Dolly was right back to almost where she started. Clean sound that really has the music support her voice.
Dolly Parton – Pure & Simple Album Cover
Something else that came up during the conversation was a song by the name Tomorrow Is Forever which Mrs. Parton had recorded on a couple previous occasions but felt that she needed to include it on Pure & Simple and we were curious why. Dolly’s response was “Well, There are two really good reasons. First of all, I wrote it years and years ago right after Carl & I first got married. Tomorrow Is Forever and Say Forever You’ll Be Mine are two songs I had wrote early in my marriage. I had recorded them earlier in my career with Porter but when I decided I was writing a “Love” album I remembered those two being two of my favourite love songs that I have ever written. And since I had written them about him (Carl) and it was our 50th Anniversary I thought it would be good to throw those into this new batch of love songs. ”
Dolly is also hitting the road this fall and has a few stops planned in Canada. We asked Dolly what the fans can expect from this tour and she was happy to tell us. “Well, first of all I love doing the shows and the audience kinda of participates and they give me a lot of energy. I’ll tell you the hardest part of doing a show is working it up and deciding what you are going to play. I still love it and I pace myself pretty well. I try and chose the songs based on the dynamics of the show. You know, you don’t want to do 2 or 3 slow songs in a row so I try and do it where I can keep the energy level at a good pace. And I love to tell stories and people seem interested in that so I try and place those things throughout the show. I kinda base my talking around how the audience is that night. I can tell if they are into the stories and I tell more stories but if they are into the music I try and do less talk an more music.”
Corey Kelly / @CoreyKelly76
Don’t miss Dolly Parton on tour this fall at one of these fantastic venues.
Sept. 09 Molson Canadian Amphitheatre – Toronto, ON, Canada
Sept. 10 Essar Centre – Sault Sainte Marie, ON, Canada
Sept. 12 MTS Centre – Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Sept. 13 Mosaic Place – Moose Jaw, SK, Canada
Sept. 16 Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB, Canada
Sept. 17 Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB, Canada
Sept. 19 Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC, Canada
And be sure to check out Dolly’s latest lyric video for Pure & Simple HERE.
And don’t be shy be sure to follow Dolly on all of her social media platforms
Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
