Live From Upstate: Dolly Parton: Behind the Seams
Featuring Dolly musical covers by the Lara Hope duo + Dolly video and audio clips + Holly George-Warren in conversation with Jay Blotcher.
Attention American public: Dolly Parton wrote a memoir as told through her love of fashion, and it has pictures. Pictures! Of Dolly Parton’s costume archive! Her childhood feedsack clothes that inspired Coat of Many Colors, to her Playboy Bunny outfit, this book weaves together fashion and music history in a way that should make it required reading for anyone interested in… anything, really.
We are celebrating Dolly Parton’s book with co-author Holly George-Warren in conversation, and music by Lara Hope.
Holly George-Warren is the author of 17 books, including Janis: Her Life and Music (2019), A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man (2014), Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry (2007), and Grateful Dead 365 (Abrams, 2008). She has cowritten several books including John Varvatos: Rock In Fashion (2013), She has contributed liner notes to numerous anthologies and box sets, on topics ranging from the Beats to Dolly Parton. As Editorial Director of Rolling Stone Press from 1993-2001, she created and edited more than forty books. George-Warren received her first Grammy nomination (for Best Historical Recording) in 2001 for coproducing the box set, R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A Century of Women in Music. She also coproduced The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection, and a Wanda Jackson tribute album, Hard Headed Woman. In addition, she has served as an archivist/curator for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and The GRAMMY Museum. She served as director of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Oral History Program for several years and is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee. George-Warren has also served as a producer or consulting producer on several documentary films, including the Sundance entry Muscle Shoals.
Lara Hope is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her band the Ark-Tones mixes together rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, and rhythm & blues. Hope says, ” It’s been described as ‘Pan-Americana’ which means we use many areas of early rock and roots music as a creative launchpad. Where it goes from there is anyone’s guess, because while we appreciate old music, we don’t want to write songs that have already been written.” The band has shared the stage with many larger acts including Dale Watson, Big Sandy, Wayne Hancock, and America, and has performed at a variety of festivals including Viva Las Vegas and The Nashville Boogie.
Jay Blotcher is an American activist, journalist, and editor. He was active in the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in its early years, serving as chair of the media committee, and was a founding member of Queer Nation. His work has appeared in both mainstream and LGBTQ publications, including The New York Times, the Advocate, and Out. Blotcher also edited Queer in America: Sex, the Media, and the Closets of Power by Michelangelo Signorile, Animal Factory by David Kirby, and Impresario of Castro Street: An Intimate Showbiz Memoir by Marc Huestis, among others. As of May 2023, Blotcher had edited 90 literary projects, including memoirs, fiction, nonfiction, history, plays and podcasts
