I am sitting on a couch in a hotel suite in midtown Manhattan. I have two tape recorders on the coffee table ready to document my interview with one of my idols. I hear someone whistling from behind French doors.
It’s not just any person whose whistle I hear. It’s Dolly Parton and she is whistling “9 to 5.” There she is – Dolly Parton. She’s wearing a pink cashmere sweater and a pink tweed miniskirt.
Her heels are high as her hair. I stand up and extend my hand. But Parton apparently isn’t a handshake kind of gal.
As we separate, I let out a small breath. Parton looks at me and smiles, letting me know that I have nothing to be nervous about. I smile back and we settle into the couch, sitting side-by-side and chatting for the next hour or so.
I was there to interview Parton for US Weekly for the launch of her 37th studio album and the second of her three bluegrass albums, “Little Sparrow.” It would be the first of many interviews I had with Parton over the next couple of decades. My love of Parton started when I was in my 20s. Country music wasn’t part of my childhood.
I grew up in Queens, New York, in the ’70s and ’80s. Country music wasn’t even a thought. But in 1996, Parton released a cover of Cat Stevens’s “Peace Train.” After dancing to remixes of the song at gay clubs, I began listening to all of Parton’s music.
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