Meeting An Icon: The Dolly Parton Experience 2007

Dolly Parton and Me!

I was exhausted when I woke up before the crack of dawn this morning. I had not slept at all other than maybe a total of three hours at most. I was too excited to meet Dolly Parton. I bolted up and quickly got ready for the day. As I headed out to my car in the pitch blackness of the night I heard the raccoons clattering away near the dumpster. I actually broke into a brisk run. I figured that if the raccoons were going to attack, with my luck, it would be the day I’m supposed to meet Dolly Parton. Fortunately for me, the raccoons did not decided to wage a battle this morning and I made it safely to my car.

Mary and I met up with Bruce and Scott early to get the studio set up and make sure everything was on schedule for Dolly’s arrival. We went downstairs to the back entrance to wait for her car. As I stood there thinking about what was about to take place I was struck by how odd it must be to be famous. Here is Dolly…a living cultural icon, and she has to arrive at the backdoor, enter the building through a loading dock, take the back hallways, use the crappy freight elevator, and go down a hallway filled with old junk. It’s so strange. You spend your life working to reach the heights of fame and fortune and you end up using the back door while everyone else comes in the front doors through the amazing lobby all the fountains and potted plants. Bizarre to say the least.

When Dolly’s car pulled up I really thought I might pass out. The anticipation was huge. Her manager got out of the car and Scott went into the building to get the elevator ready. As we waited Dolly stayed in the car. Bruce handed her manager a card and he then walked over the town car and the driver cracked his window and took the card and as he rolled up the window I saw him pass the card to a hand coming from the backseat. It was Dolly. She really was in there. It was so cool. It was like a scene out of a Hollywood movie. Then a few seconds later Dolly rolled down her window and poked her head out and said that she was waiting to be let out of the car and made a joke them having the child proof locks on so she was stuck.

After a few minutes we got the go ahead and Dolly popped out of the limo. I was struck by how tiny she really is. She is a very petite woman which makes it even more interesting since her personality is larger than life. After a quick round of introductions we headed in through the loading dock. As we walked through the building I was at the back of the pack. I was walking and thinking “Oh my God…I am walking down the hall with Dolly Parton”. After a few moments she turned back and said “Come on up here Jason and get outta the rear.” So I walked side by side with Dolly. Crazy but true.

Once upstairs we were locked out. We were stuck. Mary’s security badge wasn’t working and my badge was in my bag down in the studio. It was pretty dark so I was holding a door by the elevator open to let in a little bit of light while Mary kept trying to get her badge to work. I started to laugh because I thought it was pretty funny and would make an interesting story for my stand up comedy routine. As Mary got more stressed and her management grew concerned all of a sudden the lights came on and Dolly said “I flipped the switch, ya’all”. I just about died. No one thought of flipping on the light switch. Then Dolly says “Look, it shoulda always been on.” and points to the sign next to the switch saying “Do not turn off the lights.” HILARIOUS. After a few minutes someone from the studio came and let us in.

Once down at the studio we took some pictures and I asked Dolly about her duet with Culture Club on “You’re Kisses Are Charity”. It’s a great song and I love it, but it was never released here, only in Europe. Dolly seemed a little surprised that I knew about the song and told me that she loved it when it was sent to her and that she was excited to sing on it. She also said that she had planned on singing a solo version of the song for her new album, “Backwoods Barbie”, but it didn’t work out and she hoped to still do it at some point. She also said that she knew Boy George from way back because they both loved make up. I had her sign my cd of the duet and she looked at a picture of Boy George and said “Look it’s me!” Dolly really is hysterical. The woman has a one of kind sense of humor. She says whatever is on her mind and is really quick. Sharp as a pin. But, it’s not mean or malicious…it’s very sincere and well intentioned.

Her interview on the show was amazing. She talked about the new album, shared some personal stories about growing up, broke some news about the Broadway musical version of “9 to 5”, and finally spoke of her friendship with Porter Wagoner who passed away on Sunday.

After the interview she did a couple more pictures with some staff members and then I walked with them back down to the car. Dolly and I chit-chatted on the way down and once we got downstairs said our goodbyes and she was off.

It was an amazing morning! I got to spend about an hour with Dolly and was able to have real conversations instead of a quick. “Hi, I love you!” sort of thing. Dolly was more amazing than I had ever dreamed she would be. That woman is the real deal. She is kind, sincere, hilarious, and genuine. I am a fan for life. Viva La Dolly!

(Note: There will be another part of the story added soon. But, first I have to blog about a different incident for it to make sense. The two are connected in a crazy way. So stay tuned for the “director’s cut blog” coming soon.)