DOLLY NEWS

By Duane Gordon
news@theheraldnewspapers.com

I hope everyone in Sevier County had a wonderful Thanksgiving reflecting on their personal blessings and looking forward to those yet to come. Native gal Dolly Parton was off the road for the holiday, ending a two-week break from her “Vintage Tour,” but she took to the stage again Friday night in Atlanta, where ticket sales had been brisk. That show followed a sold out night in Orlando Saturday, and a nearly sold out concert in Boca Raton, Fla., on Sunday and then on to a sold out show in the Tampa, Fla., area today.
It was announced last week that The Grascals, the bluegrass sensation that picked up two trophies at last month’s International Bluegrass Music Awards in Nashville and opened her “Hello I’m Dolly” Tour last year, have signed on to serve as her opening act for all but two of her remaining dozen dates on the tour, starting in Atlanta and concluding Dec. 16 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“When I Get Where I’m Going,” Dolly’s hit duet with Brad Paisley continued its rise up the charts last week, gaining two spots on the Billboard country singles tally and remaining steady on Radio & Records magazine’s country singles list to rank at No. 23 on both charts. In Billboard, the song inched up one to No. 111 pop. In Canada, the single fell out of the top 100 pop chart, down from one week at No. 93, and slipped one to No. 25 on the Canadian country chart.
Her current CD, the covers disc “Those Were The Days,” took a tumble on last week’s albums charts, dipping eight to No. 29 country, sliding seven spots to No. 9 independent label albums and plummeting 60 places to No. 153 pop in its fifth chart week. In Canada, it dropped 20 points to No. 38. The charts reflecting sales following her appearances on the CBS program “The Early Show” and this year’s CMA Awards hadn’t been released yet as of press time, but I would expect at least a slight gain as a result of that publicity.
And The Grascals saw their duet with Dolly, “Viva Las Vegas,” pick up five places to come in at No. 4 on the country singles sales chart last week. The song has been in that top 10 chart for a total of 36 weeks.
The folks from Dollywood headed down to Atlanta for the annual International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Convention, and they saw Dolly’s “I Will Always Love You” Bear, a multi-colored stuffed animal featuring shots of Dolly, flowers and music embedded on a tie-die-style rainbow of colors, take home the award for Souvenir of the Year. Congratulations!
And Dolly’s Imagination Library literacy program continues to brighten the lives of thousands of children across the nation each month, especially in Tennessee, where it was announced last week that Dickson County will become the 82nd in the state to join the program with its official kick-off there on Dec. 3.
For the latest Dolly news, including photos that should be up in a couple of days from her Atlanta concert, stop on by Dollymania: The Online Dolly Parton Newsmagazine at www.dollymania.net!