Blue Smoke

Dolly Parton is still a serious musical force on 2014’s *Blue Smoke*, her 42nd studio album. Her covers of Bob Dylan (“Don’t Think Twice”), the traditional “Banks of the Ohio” and Bon Jovi’s (!) “Lay Your Hands On Me” prove she’s both steeped in tradition as well as open to new challenges. The duets with Kenny Rogers on “You Can’t Make Old Friends” and Willie Nelson on “From Here To the Moon and Back” fill the nostalgic quotient of the album with true tearjerkers from each of their previous albums. “Home” is brash country pop, while the title track and “Unlikely Angel” hew to sounds of bluegrass and country without attempting anything too contemporary. “Miss You-Miss Me” is an affecting acoustic ballad that’s remarkable for just how strong and nuanced Parton’s voice is after all these years. Filling out the album with “If Had Wings,” “Lover du Jour” and “Try” tips the album nicely into country.

Dolly Parton hasn’t really had a single as great as “I Will Always Love You” or “9 To 5” in a while, but some of her recent material, like 2008’s Backwoods Barbie and 2001’s Little Sparrow, has actually been solid. You can’t blame her for the fall off, considering her new LP, Blue Smoke, is her 42nd career full…

Before Dolly Parton was country music’s Mae West, she was a crystal-voiced songwriter who captured Appalachia’s tiniest…

The Blue Smoke comes rolling across the Smoky Mountains, the area of Tennessee that Dolly Parton calls home.

Blue Smoke, Dolly Parton's 42nd studio album, does not try to make any grand lyrical or musical statements.

Blue Smoke contains plenty of evidence that Parton can still write songs full of imagination, humor, and history.