Dolly Parton will appear (via video) with the SF Symphony in two weeks, as her new symphonic endeavor Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony comes to Davies Hall to celebrate Parton’s staggering 60 years of hitmaking.
The revival in interest in the legendary top-heavy country artist Dolly Parton was underway long before her electrifying 2023 Thanksgiving Day halftime show performance in a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader uniform. But that same year, Parton's 49th (!) studio album Rockstar became her highest-charting album ever, hitting No 3 on Billboard. And just this month, the Downtown First Thursdays party here in SF featured a Dolly Parton Look-Alike Contest. So Dolly clearly still has plenty of appeal in this town.
And now, Dolly Parton has an SF Symphony show lined up on Friday, August 1 called Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony. Dolly Parton herself will not be present at Davies Symphony Hall that night, though she’ll be beamed in via video. As Dolly herself explains below, “I’ll be hostin’ the concert onscreen too, telling stories from my life as a songwriter.”
“Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony is an innovative multimedia symphonic experience featuring Dolly on screen, leading audiences in a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life, and her stories,” the SF Symphony says in a release. “With a cast of phenomenal guest vocalists and musicians, and new orchestrations by David Hamilton, Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony features hit songs including ‘Jolene,’ ‘Coat Of Many Colors,’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ - woven together in a full evening of storytelling.”
Dolly elaborates further on her website. "The threads of my life are woven together through my songs," Parton says. "That's why this project, Threads: My Songs In Symphony, is so special to me. It's all about sharing my music and my musical journey with audiences in a new way. I'm really excited for fans to experience it for the first time with the Nashville Symphony!"
She refers to a performance with the Nashville Symphony that already happened in March of this year. And this is a touring show. The SF performance will have the full backing of the SF Symphony, and in the vocal roles of Dolly Parton, will feature one-time Brandi Carlile backup vocalist Hollie Hammel, Black Opry Revue veteran Julie Williams, and Katelyn Drye from the up-and-coming country act The Dryes.
Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony is Friday, August 1 at 7:30 pm at Davies Symphony Hall. Tickets here
Image: DollyParton.com
