\n<\/p>\n
Dolly Parton<\/a>‘s first posthumous release is taking her right back to where so much of her music began: the mountains.<\/p>\n Dolly is featured on \u201cBound to Ride,\u201d a traditional song the Stanley Brothers<\/strong> helped popularize with their 1964 recording. The song appears on Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers<\/em>, due Oct. 16, and arrives just two weeks after Dolly’s death at 80.<\/p>\n It’s a particularly fitting final musical appearance<\/a> for Dolly, whose connection to the sounds and traditions of the Appalachian mountains remained a defining part of her music and identity throughout her career.<\/p>\n Nearly every track on Where the Soul Never Dies<\/em> was recorded live in the studio, but Dolly’s vocal for \u201cBound to Ride\u201d was recorded separately during a COVID-19 surge around 2022, according to Rolling Stone<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n The First Ladies of Bluegrass<\/strong> \u2014 Alison Brown<\/strong>, Becky Buller<\/strong>, Sierra Hull<\/strong>, Missy Raines<\/strong> and Molly Tuttle<\/strong> \u2014 recorded the backing track before Dolly added her vocal at her own studio.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton\u2019s \u2018When I Get Where I\u2019m Going\u2019 Hits Different After Her Death<\/a><\/p>\n The group also rearranged the traditional song, adding a new eight-bar bridge based on an obscure verse. Buller recorded a scratch vocal in Dolly’s key to help the musicians shape the arrangement.<\/p>\n The result was everything they hoped for and then some, according to producer Garry West.<\/p>\n I call it the full Dolly. We didn\u2019t know what we would get back, and she really did over-deliver. We were shocked. We couldn\u2019t have gotten anything better.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Dolly even calls out each of the First Ladies by name during the performance<\/a>, a moment that deeply moved the musicians.<\/p>\n The Stanley Brothers \u2014 Carter<\/strong> and Ralph<\/strong> \u2014 were pioneers of the bluegrass sound, blending the string-band music of Bill Monroe<\/strong> with the mountain ballads and church singing they learned in southwestern Virginia.<\/p>\n Read More:<\/em>\u00a0<\/b>Dolly Parton Turned Childhood Pain Into Music to Heal Others<\/a><\/p>\n It’s a musical tradition that feels especially at home with Dolly.<\/p>\n She grew up in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, surrounded by the Appalachian sounds that would eventually become woven into her own music.<\/p>\n Even after becoming one of the biggest stars in country music, Dolly never lost that connection to her roots.<\/p>\n Other artists featured on Where the Soul Never Dies include:<\/p>\n \u201cBound to Ride\u201d has a special significance as Dolly’s first release since her death. Her voice is still carrying the sound of the mountains that shaped her \u2014 and that’s a pretty beautiful way for her music to keep going.<\/p>\n Dolly Parton has an extensive catalog of music from her decades in the genre. And while there are several big hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” it’s the songs about her faith that she might have loved the most.<\/p>\n Parton was open about her love for Jesus, and she often sang about it, weaving in beautiful imagery of what Heaven would be like one day. <\/p>\n She kept her faith on her sleeve until the day she passed, finally getting to where she was going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Jess Rose<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDolly Parton’s ‘Bound to Ride’<\/h3>\n
\n
The Stanley Brothers’ Influence Runs Deep<\/h3>\n
\n
9 Times Dolly Parton Sang About Heaven and Her Faith<\/h2>\n