“I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did. It was the art.”
— Dolly Parton
My inroad to Nashville is unlike most others in the business. Dolly Parton was the first superstar and American icon who I got to meet upon my arrival, and she somehow became part of my unexpected welcome wagon to Nashville. It was a complete God-send setup, now looking back on this…
It was February of 2018, when I moved to town to become the first hired employee of 2911 Media, the newly launched PR Firm operated by long time Dolly Parton day-to-day publicist, Jeremy Westby, whom I was hired by. Instantly, I was in charge of day-to-day PR and Publicity responsibilities for legendary artists like the Oak Ridge Boys, Don McLean, Charley Pride, Lee Greenwood, T. Graham Brown, among others. At that time in 2018, we were being incubated with office space by Danny Nozell at CTK Mgmt, Dolly’s management company. My understanding is that Jeremy was, at the time, being considered for Dolly’s ongoing PR representation after the closure of Webster PR. In that space, Dolly also rehearsed and conducted interviews from. Two doors down from my shared office space was Dolly’s personal dressing room.
I think it was my 3rd or 4th day when I was in the break room fixing coffee, that I heard a door shut behind me, followed by an unmistakeable voice who said, “How you doing, honey? Are you the one whose working for Jeremy now?”
At that moment all the hairs on my body stood up as I turned around and laid eyes on Country music’s Queen who was looking at me dead in the eye. I nervously replied “Yes ma’am, and I’m happy to be here. It’s such an honor to meet you.”
“Well, you pay attention to that Jeremy because he’s a smart one,” Dolly said as she winked at me while heading to her dressing room.
From that day forward I found my purpose in both my life and professional career here in Nashville. A motivation and determination that was already present in me just seemingly got amplified by Dolly Parton. I began getting used to hearing her laugh echoing up and down those halls on the days she was in that office. I was surrounded by various artifacts and wall hangings which symbolized her monstrous career and the undeniable mark she left on country music and humanity.
In 2019, while accompanying Crystal Gayle to the 2019 CMA Awards, I once again had the opportunity to be in Dolly’s orbit, as the CMA recognized and honored the trailblazing women in country music over the decades past with a DYNAMITE opening segment. Watching that opening segment evolve from the first dressing room rehearsal, to the first stage rehearsal, to the final the broadcast performance was a masterclass that only Dolly, Reba and Carrie could pull off, together.
Also during that show, Crystal Gayle helped arrange a meeting with country music’s other undisputed QUEEN, her sister Loretta Lynn, marking a night that I will literally never forget and a memory I cherish to this day.
It was truly a blessing that I will never forget to be in Dolly’s presence, even though it wasn’t nearly as much or as often as I would have preferred. Those few instances God blessed me with inspired me and made me realize that you can come from nothing, but still make something of yourself through hard work and perseverance and just being a good damn human being.
Dolly was such a special human, artist, songwriter, poet, humanitarian and American icon who will echo throughout history, and I was blessed to be in her presence. It felt like a blessing from God to be in her orbit, even if only for a small period of time, but it had a profound impact on me and my reason for being here in Nashville.
No, I never once asked to have my photo taken with QUEEN Dolly. I figured I either wasn’t worthy, or just took for granted her likely willingness to do so, had I worked up the gumption to actually ask.
Thank you, Dolly. Rest easy QUEEN.