Stella Parton's fame among fans of Appalachian folk music rivals that of her sister, country music legend Dolly. Stella, who sometimes drops her last name to avoid being perceived as cashing in on her sister's fame, has stayed close to her roots in her singing career, while expanding her talents into a wide range of other venues. She has performed on the New York stage, in television dramas and the movies, and is a strong advocate of programs to combat violence against women. She authors cookbooks and she is a buck dancer, or jig dancer, of some renown.

But mostly she is a collector and performer of the tunes of her Tennessee mountain home. She delivers them with a plaintive grace that will break your heart in the middle of a laugh. Singing is what she does, and the songs come out of her life and her heritage, she said. In a recent interview with The West Plains Daily Quill, she described growing up in a musical family with nine siblings.

"On my mother's side, my grandfather was a music teacher and a Pentecostal minister. My dad's family was all into bluegrass, so music was always a family thing. We always sang. When I finally got the harmony right I stopped getting an elbow in the ribs," she said with a laugh." The songs we sang were passed down along with the ways of doing them. That's the beauty of American music," she said. "It's music that comes out of our lives."

Festival Coordinator Kathleen Morrissey said she is proud to add Stella Parton to the list of famous performers chosen to headline the festival. "We bring these headliners in because they have national stature, but we don't just go out and find some famous person to do the festival," she said. "We look for someone who embodies the tradition of old-time music. Stella Parton is on the same level as Norman Blake and Doc Watson, because she makes her career from the music of the hills where she was raised, just as they do."

Parton said she is encouraged by the way people all over the world are beginning to notice old-time music as something different and distinct from what has come to be called country music. "There's a real resurgence of interest right now in the old tunes," Parton said. Her newest release, "Appalachian Blues,'' is a hit in Europe even though it has received limited exposure in the U.S.

For more about Stella, go to her website: www.stellaparton.com

WRITTEN BY MARIDETH SISCO
West Plains Daily Quill Staff Writer



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