KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thursday marks the final night of taping at the Bijou Theatre for Dolly Parton's new docuseries, named "Smoky Mountain DNA." It comes after two nights of sold-out performances.
Dolly Parton announced the docuseries alongside a new album, named "Dolly Parton and Family: Smoky Mountain DNA — Family, Faith and Fables." She said the album is meant to take listeners on a journey through her family's musical history and heritage, from the U.K. to East Tennessee.
The docuseries will pay homage to her family's roots and the stories that define them. Knoxville has been the setting for a few of those stories, a place where Dolly performed during the early years of her career.
"She represents East Tennessee well, and I'm glad that Knoxville played an important role in her career. She probably never spent the night, and went home and back to school. She had this important part of her career start, right here on Gay Street," said Jack Neely, a historian of Knoxville and East Tennessee.
Dolly repeatedly credited her uncle, Bill Owens, for encouraging her to perform. He died in 2021 after she rose to prominence as a country music star and East Tennessee icon.
"He used to take me around to sing at the county fairs, sing at the Cas Walker show," Dolly said during an interview in 2011.
Across downtown Knoxville, there are now several tributes to her. A mural near Market Square helps bring her unique kind of southern flare to the area. A sign from Visit Knoxville located near the original studio of WIVK, a radio station, details her performances and the impact that Cas Walker had on her career while he was a promoter at the radio station.
Since those 1950s performances, she has made award-winning albums and founded nonprofits like the Imagination Library, which sends children's books to families across the world to improve literacy rates. She also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt Medical University for the creation Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.