Happy Birthday, Dolly Parton!

My friend Nancy Cardwell recently wrote a book about the words and music of Dolly Parton. I asked if she would share some stories and information, and the timing was good as Dolly's birthday is today. Nancy has served as the Special Projects Director for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) since 1994. She also plays the bass, writes songs, and works as a freelance magazine writer. Thank you, Nancy, for being a guest blogger!
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On January 19 on of the most uniquely talented artists of our time will turn 66: Miss Dolly Rebecca Parton. After a career that so far spans more than four decades and more than an estimated 3,000 original songs, Parton has found success nearly in nearly every direction she has set her hazel eyes upon: country music, pop music, movies, television, bluegrass, and Celtic-edged folk music—which she calls "blue mountain music" in reference to her Smoky Mountain home in east Tennessee. She's a brilliant songwriter, music publisher and producer with 26 gold and platinum records and 113 charting singles (including 25 #1 songs) to her credit.  She founded an international charity, Imagination Library, which helps children to read by giving them a book every month through the age of five. She owns a theme park empire in conjunction with the Herschend family in Branson, Missouri—most notably Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and also the Dixie Stampede chain, which presents live music and spectacular horsemanship with fried chicken on the side to thousands of tourists every year. In recent years she's written the music for a touring Broadway show based on the 9 to 5 movie she starred in back in 1980, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Tennessee, she wrote and published the children’s books I Am A Rainbow and Coat of Many Colors; and she has a new movie with Queen Latifah launching this month: Joyful Noise.

Of all the things Dolly has done (and all she continues to do), the thing she’s most proud of is her songwriting. In fact, she’s said the best way to really get to know her is through the words in her songs.

A couple of years ago Praeger, a publishing company now owned by ABC-CLIO, contacted me about writing a book about Dolly Parton’s songs. It’s a part of a series of books about a number of artists from different genres who write most of their own material, and Dolly was the first featured writer from the country music world. For a year and a half I dashed over to the Country Music Hall ofFame and Museum here in Nashville during my lunch hours to listen to old Dolly albums, along with several recorded with her well-known duet partner in the ‘60s, Porter Wagoner. Dolly wasn’t available to talk to me herself (she was in New York City working on the music for that Broadway play, then at Dollywood, then opening a new retail shop in Nashville, then in Atlanta filming with Queen Latifah, then touring in Australia…. The woman sleeps very little and wakes up with 20 or so new ideas every morning, I think!) But I  was able to schedule interviews with several folks who have worked with her. BuckTrent, who hosts a country show in Branson, Missouri now, was a member of Porter Wagoner’s Wagonmasters when Dolly was in the band; Les Leverett was the staff photographer at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 30 years and he took the photos for several of Dolly’s album covers; Fred Foster at Monument Records was the first person in Nashville to sign Dolly to a record label; John Starling (yes, that John Starling—former lead singer of The Seldom Scene), was the music director for the Trio albums Dolly recorded with Emmylou and LindaRonstadt; Steve Buckingham was a producer and close friend; and Terry Smith and Jamie Johnson, from bluegrass supergroup The Grascals, played as the opening act and in Parton’s band when they were first getting started. 

There are precious few individuals on this planet who have seemingly been touched by greatness and divine purpose—whether they be political leaders, philosophers, writers or artists. In the world of country music writers and singers, there is no one who has had a more profound influence than Dolly Parton. The work she did with Porter Wagoner while she was still in her 20s defined duet singing for the genre. But there's more to Dolly Parton than country music. Her charismatic personality, determined will, and bottomless well of creative genius has influenced and charmed the world. Lyrically, there is no other writer of any genre who does a better job of portraying the human condition through deceptively simple, yet compelling lyrics and melodies.

The characters and stories in her songs--which range from romance to tragedy, from deeply spiritual to inspired exaltations of the natural world---are unparalleled. Particularly from her perspective as a woman, we see every shade of emotion experienced in every imaginable predicament a girl can find herself in. Men who want to understand women better (as well as the human heart), would do well to study the lyrics of Dolly Parton. It's all there.

The entire third chapter of the book, which was published the end of July 2011 and titled The Words and Music of Dolly Parton—Getting to Know Country’s IronButterfly, is about the characters in Dolly’s songs. Have you ever read a book or seen a movie in which the characters seemed so real that you were still wondering what they were up to a week or two later? The characters in Dolly’s songs are like that. To illustrate that point, I made up a series of super-short story vignettes, expanding on some of her characters and what they might say if they were telling the stories in their songs themselves. My editor liked the creativity behind my first chapter 3, but he thought it was just a little too different from the rest of the book. (Or rather, he thought the literary critics might think it was a little too different.)  I, of course, was bummed because I had all this fun making up the stories. If you get a chance to read the book, be sure to  take a look at “chapter 3a”—thefirst version, that got left on the cutting room floor. Then come to my Facebook page and tell me which version you like best.

If you’d like to order a book, they’re available from Amazon.com, Barnes &Noble, Booksamillion and me (at nancyk.cardwell@gmail.com if you’d like an autographed copy.)  I’ll be honest—they’re a bit pricey, thanks to my publisher. But the classic black & white photos from Les Leverett, Don Loftin and Becky Johnson are definitely worth the price of the book. ABC-CLIO markets mainly to libraries; so you can also go to your local public or school library and demand that they purchase a copy!

I played in an all-girl bluegrass band in the early ‘90s at Dollywood, and in recent years I have met Dolly Parton twice.  Both times I was struck by her beauty and just how small she is—particularly for someone with such a larger-than-life persona. (I’m almost six feet tall, and a bit of an Amazon, in comparison!) I was backstage at a concert in Virginia the first time I met Ms. Parton, on assignment for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine to write an article about The Grascals. Around 20 or 30 people were gathered backstage in a large circle at the “Meet & Greet,” and Dolly came around to visit with each of us personally. She posed for pictures, sang little bits of favorite songs, called people’s mothers on their cell phones and asked us questions—all the time appearing to be truly interested in who we were and what we had to say. She signed an autograph for my daughter, listened when I told her about how my little sister Susan and I used to sing “Coat of Many Colors” when we were kids growing up in our family bluegrass band in the Ozarks, and I had my picture made with her and The Grascals. The guys told her I was writing an article about them, and she said “it had better be a good one or she would kick my butt.”  (I’m not sure she could reach it….) She did fax me a nice quote to use with the story later, and so far she hasn’t shown up at my office on Music Row to kick me in the caboose—a good thing!

The second time I met Dolly was in the studio with John McEuen (of the Nitty GrittyDirt Band), Vince Gill and Steve Martin—who was recording his first banjo album. This blog is getting a bit longer than Andrea asked for, so I’ll save that story for another time. 

Don’t forget to raise a  toast to Miss Dolly Parton this Thursday on her birthday, and go catch that movie if you can. Even if you’re not a fan of her music (not everyone is), it’s impossible not to be inspired by her aura of goodwill and hope and creative energy. The difference between Dolly and the average person aside from her talent, is her ability to dream big, work hard to make those dreams come true, and never stop for a minute to doubt they will come true. She has that much faith—in herself and the Lord. (But again, that’s another story and another chapter of the book!)  And, of course, she’s accomplished all of these things wearing four-inch heels. (I prefer cowboy boots, thank you very much.)

Thanks for reading!

-Nancy Cardwell

IBMA Special Projects Director
2 Music Circle South, Ste. 100
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-3222
nancyc@ibma.org, nancyk.cardwell@gmail.com, www.ibma.org

Google Voice vs Skype

Last spring I attended a conference session on using Skype as a tool for tutoring online/distance classes. This fall I attended a conference session that discussed using Google tools, specifically GoogleVoice, as an additional contact point with students. This semester, I am going to experiment with a combination of the two.

Skype is great for video calls (or audio only if you’re camera shy), but to use other features like SMS offline and calls to landlines or mobile phones, there is a fee. Another thing I like about Skype is that you are able to share your computer screen. This works great for tutoring or troubleshooting in computer applications courses, because you can show someone how to complete steps as if you were in the same room. There is a mobile app for Skype, but it does not accommodate video and is much more limited than the Web app.

Google Voice, on the other hand, gives you the ability to set up a specific phone number and use it for calls and texts without the need to give out your own personal number. You could also set up a number (custom, if you prefer) so that no matter where you move or which phone/cell provider you use, you always have the same number. Google Voice gives you the ability to screen calls, organize contacts into groups, send texts to email (they are automatically transcribed), and return texts from your email. There are other features that are perks, but I’m not sure I would use them. Features like being able to transfer a call from one phone to another (i.e. from land line to cell phone on your way out), add up to four people to a conference call, set up custom rings and greetings for groups, do not disturb, and merge phone with browser. Somethings that I WILL use, though, are the ability to send and receive texts with students and send texts to multiple recipients at the same time. Another advantage of using Google Voice for texts is that they are free – they do not count against any limits with your particular cell phone plan. Believe it or not, not everyone has an unlimited text plan. I don’t have a teenager on my plan, so 200 texts per month is more than enough. Free fits my budget really well.

I searched for comparisons and for Google Voice vs Skype. Though Skype scored high, Google Voice came out on top because of the additional features, flexibility, and free – the most important “f” word. To meet my objectives, at least as I see them now, I see Google Voice as a primary contact point with Skype as a supplement as needed. This is my first experiment with either, so I’m sure that I’ll find that the use of either or both will be tweaked as I go.

The point of this is to try to improve communication with students, online students in particular. This continues to be a challenge. A couple of years ago, I set up closed Facebook groups for my Microcomputer Applications classes for an additional contact point with both me and the class as a whole. That experiment has been a success. The students are on Facebook more often than they are in the college’s LMS. They also tend to answer each other’s questions more quickly than I can because of this. I’ve had many students voice their appreciation for incorporating Facebook discussions in the course, and I have even had students who have taken additional classes with me request a Facebook group for the class. It might seem like, if that’s working, just stick with it. The problem is that I know I am still missing some students, and one thing they do more often than check Facebook is text. 

Here are a couple of other links to articles for Google Voice for education and clever tricks.

Cold? Flu? Tips to Avoid Getting Sick

The height of flu season is quickly approaching, though I think it hit a few of us a little early. My holidays were pretty well hijacked by a respiratory virus and/or flu. Unfortunately, there were several students on campus during final exams week who had various viruses, bronchitis, and even pneumonia. If you look at some of the reasons we get sick, it is no wonder that the stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep during final exams is an open door for colds, flu, and most any virus.

There are tips for how best to cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze. I received this video about a year ago and thought it was a good laugh and drives the point home.

Did you know that there may be up to 200 cold viruses? No wonder we’re so susceptible. We normally get three to four colds each year, but kids get six. For those of us who work around or with kids, this is probably no surprise and answers why we catch them more. Even though my students are adults, many of them work with kids, have younger siblings, or have kids of their own. The potential for passing around viruses in a school environment is pretty high.

The number one way to prevent the flu or a cold is by washing your hands frequently. The virus is most often transmitted by touching an object that has been touched by someone who is infected. Using just water will even wash most rhinoviruses away. However, using soap forces you to rub your hands together and rinse longer, so soap is always a good idea.

If you haven’t gotten a flu shot yet, there is still time. The height of flu season is historically mid-January to mid-February, so get vaccinated now if you haven’t done so yet.

Another good practice is getting enough sleep, and getting productive sleep. When you get enough quality sleep, you are better equipped to fight off viruses. A 2009 Carnegie Mellon University study showed that people who got less than seven hours of sleep were three times more likely to catch the cold and flu virus. Outlook and attitude are also important. A positive outlook and reduced stress will also help boost the immune system.

Ever wondered if you have a cold or the flu? Wondered if you should go to school or work feeling the way you do? Here is a great quiz from WebMD to determine whether or not you should stay home. Most colleagues, classmates, and teachers will appreciate your not sharing your virus with everyone. Just make sure you don't wait until you've missed classes, assignments, and exams before letting someone know you're sick. Notice after the fact is always difficult to work with, so get in touch and stay in touch as soon as possible. An assignment submitted electronically is a good way to keep from spreading colds and flu!