Ten years ago, Rolling Stone began working on a special section on touring musicians. In my role as a contributing editor, I had the good fortune of being assigned a piece on Dolly Parton and her legendary, Dollyized bus.
I looked forward to speaking with her about it. Who wouldn’t? I’d logged hours on tour-bus drives for articles on Coldplay, the Black Crowes and other bands. But you just knew Parton’s would be far more lux and stylish. Enquiring minds really did want to know.
In light of her schedule and the magazine’s deadlines, we alas had to settle for an interview by email. I wasn’t fond of that method; I’m still not and avoid them whenever possible. But we had no choice, and I sent along a slew of questions to her by way of her handler.
I admittedly went a bit overboard with my 25 questions, which had been pared down from double that amount. But there was much to ask, even about her road life. I wanted to know how she’d come up with the medley mentioned below, and if the rhinestones on the dulcimer she played on “My Tennessee Mountain Home” got in the way of her playing it. I asked which mementoes from home (and how many wigs) she brought with her on the bus, her preparation ritual on the vehicle before each show and so on.
Parton didn’t reply to each and every question (I can’t say I blame her), but she answered enough of them for a story. The piece that appeared in print was rejiggered and cut down considerably from what I submitted. So here, for the first time, is the complete, unedited version. Even if I didn’t get to speak with Parton, I think her responses conveyed her spunk, spirit and effervescence. A great loss to American music. RIP, Dolly.
Dolly Parton hasn’t embarked on an extensive U.S. tour in about 20 years, so her summer shows pack in the classics (“Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Coat of Many Colors”), unplugged faves (“My Tennessee Mountain Home”), her pop crossover moments (“9 to 5,” “Islands in the Stream”) and even a medley of “American Pie,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “If I Had a Hammer.” Despite the layoff, the ageless queen of country, now 70, hasn’t forgotten her travel tips. “I don’t feel like I have ever been off tour,” she says. “I’ve basically been living out of suitcases for over 50 years. To me that is normal.” Parton’s tips for living large on the road:
BYOB (bring your own biscuits).
A month before leaving home, Parton whips up what she calls her “must-have meals,” freezes them and sticks them in her tour-bus fridge. “That way I can have good old country cooking every single night on the road,” she says. Favorites: chicken and dumplings along with biscuits and something called “chocolate gravy.”
Hit the road, literally.
Parton prefers buses over airplanes, especially since her vehicle sports two bedrooms and two baths. “The best part is you don’t have to fly, and all my stuff is on the bus all the time,” she says. “I don’t ever have to unpack. My bus is always stocked with all of my favorite things.” The downside: parking in an underground garage at a venue. “It’s kind of like being trapped in a cave and I don’t like that. I need to see the sun and the sky.”
Feel free to dub your tour “Pure and Simple,” but never leave the bus that way.
Parton’s bus includes an entire area for her wigs and a full vanity table, which allows her to transform into her stage persona even before she leaves the vehicle: “If you think for a second that I walk out of this bus without looking like ‘Dolly Parton,’ you’ve lost your mind.”
Use your time offstage productively.
On the bus, Parton often wakes up in the middle of the night and gets busy. “I try to do my paperwork, send out messages to different business partners and ventures that I’m working on,” she says. “I write a lot of songs, and work on ideas for movies, TVs and plays. Just because I’m on tour doesn’t mean all the rest of the work stops.”
Always stay in character, even when you’re sleeping.
Parton says her on-the-road duds are the same as what she wears at home: “Supertight and super sparkly. Lord, my pajamas even have rhinestones on them.”
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