You Asked the Questions: Dolly Parton Interview with Visit My Smokies [Video Included!]
After we found out we had the chance to interview Dolly Parton, we asked our Facebook fans to “Ask Dolly ANYTHING about the Smoky Mountains” so we could find the best questions for the interview!
We received hundreds of responses to the #AskDollyVMS hashtag across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and these were the top 6 questions. Take a look at what Dolly had to say:
Top 6 Dolly Parton Interview Questions
1. With your music and public appearances, I’m sure you are a very busy lady. Is there one place that you come back to visit in the Smokies to unwind and get away from it all?
Well, I have a special place in the Smokies. It’s my old Tennessee mountain home that I bought years ago. It’s just snuggled up there in the foothills of the Smokies and that’s where I like to go. Of course, I just like driving around to see all of the wonderful things in the Smokies.
2. What is your favorite season in the Smoky Mountains?
My favorite season in the Smoky Mountains is definitely the autumn. We have the biggest assortment of trees in all of North America and every color in the world with the plants and the trees and the bushes. It just looks like the mountains are aglow. I always look so forward and I always try not to have to work in October, so at least I can come spend a week in the Smokies.
3. As someone who has never visited the Smoky Mountains, what would be the first thing you would do upon arrival?
The first thing you should do is stop at the Information Center at Dollywood – immediately go right to Dollywood and of course, you’ve got Splash Country and the park – it’s like a vacation destination. And then we have, of course, Dixie Stampede on the Parkway and the Lumberjack Adventure Dinner Theater. Of course, I want you to see my stuff first, but I have to honestly say there’s such great things to see and do all over the whole area, so go do that, too!
4. Was there a special spot in the Smoky Mountains that you would visit when you wanted to write a new song?
Well, there are some wonderful, wonderful places in the Smokies and I’ve written many, many songs in the Smokies. Sometimes I just go back to the old home place and spend a couple of weeks. If I have my druthers, I would rather take off a couple of weeks just to say I’m writing songs. So often I do come back to the mountains, but I get out in the car, ride around, I’ll see some beautiful spot down by a creek or down by the river or somewhere just snuggled up in the mountains and I’ll think, “Ooh, that’ll be a good place to write a song!” So I’ve just been all over these hills, writing songs through my life.
5. Dolly, what memory about life in the Smokies do you hold closest to your heart?
The memories held closest to my heart are the years and moments I’ve spent with my family. My mama, my dad, all my brothers and sisters – I’m so happy I got to start doing some movies about those days when we were young.
Of course, mama and daddy are gone now – they live in memory, though. Every time I think about momma or daddy, I go write a song about them.
So, of course, just growing up back there in the hills with them is my special part of the world and life.
6. Hey Dolly! Rumor that I’ve heard is that you sometimes go “undercover” to Dollywood to people watch and just enjoy the day. Is this true?
Well, it’s not true that I go undercover. Sometimes I do just walk around the park, usually with our staff if we’re doing different things and I do love to see what’s going on. Like, for instance, when we do some filming at the park or when did the “Coat of Many Colors,” we did the beginning and the end there, so any time that I can come to the park, I love to just see what’s going on.
But, my husband is the one that likes to come into the park, buys a ticket at the ticket booth – he does not want the free passes, he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s coming. I don’t even know he’s coming. People up here don’t even know he’s coming. Sometimes people will recognize him, but he doesn’t want to be bothered. He critiques it, comes back and tells me all the great things about it or “you should do this, you should do that or change this, add that.” So, he’s due a visit and…we’ll fix it!
What else would you ask Dolly?
You question may not have made it to this Dolly Parton interview, but if you could ask Dolly anything, what would it be? Tell us in the comments below!
