Dolly Parton: Pure & Simple

I figure truly brilliant artists have to do “only” two things well.

Having a good idea is necessary, of course, but it might also be the lesser of the two things. The genius is usually in the expression of the idea. Whether an artist is a painter, a writer, a musician, or whatever, it’s transferring the profundity from the soul into the open that’s the real trick. When an artist can do that with sufficient fidelity—can make you feel what is certainly a genuine piece of what she felt in her soul in your soul—then I’m convinced there must be divinity in the art. There is no other reasonable explanation for the power.

And that is what Lea and I saw and heard tonight when we spent two hours and twenty minutes in the same room with Dolly Parton.

Dolly is touring in support of her album Pure & Simple, which also describes the nature of her performance. There is a little flourish here and there, but it’s mostly just her, her guitar (or banjo, or piano, or saxophone, or steel guitar), and a few longtime band members and collaborators. (She even points the drum machine out to you so you don’t think she’s trying to get away with something.)

If you expected to hear something in the set, it was probably there. We got “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Applejack,” and “9 to 5.” But we also got “I’ll Fly Away” (yes, the hymn!) and two choruses of “American Pie.” Oh, and she opened with Blackfoot’s “Train, Train.” And we got a few songs from the Linda Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris Trio project. We also got generous dollops of Dolly Parton, standup comic and Dolly Parton, raconteur. She commands a stage and audience as few can. It’s pretty disarming, and quite cool, to sit in close proximity to several thousand others and realize that everyone is being absolutely silent because Dolly is telling a story.

Honestly, I spent a good portion of the concert emotionally pegged. (You really can’t take me anywhere. Sheesh.) I cried through most of the first three songs, I think mostly just from being overwhelmed that it really was Dolly Parton. I found tears again when she spoke openly and unapologetically of her faith and how she thanked God daily for her blessings. And I finally lost it altogether when she started into “Here You Come Again.” I really didn’t expect to hear it. It was a huge hit for her, but it was a pop crossover, and the sort of thing you might think she’d omit (or give short shrift in a medley). Instead, she sang it all the way through. I think it clobbered me because it reminded me of my mom, who got the LP for me for my seventh birthday, and the joy and simplicity of my life then.

I’ve adored Dolly Parton all my life, and I’m thrilled Lea and I finally got to see her. As talented as I knew she was going in, my expectations were still substantially exceeded. This concert was an immediate all-time live music favorite, and one of the coolest things to happen to me in 2016.

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