Dolly Parton’s First Posthumous Release Is a Bluegrass Classic

Dolly Parton never stopped making music until her death two weeks ago at age 80, which means there’s still a lot of new work to celebrate, even after she’s died. Today marked Parton’s first posthumous release, a cover of the bluegrass classic “Bound to Ride,” which is part of the upcoming tribute album Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of the Stanley Brothers. Though most of the songs on the album were recorded live in studio, producers made an exception for Parton. Cautious of a 2022 COVID surge, she recorded the track from her personal studio, using a backing track by the First Ladies of Bluegrass. “Coming down from Tennessee, riding on the line / Standing by my little darling, couldn’t keep from crying,” Parton sings on the jaunty track. Though the melody is upbeat, it’s hard not to feel emotional hearing a now-gone Parton singing about her beloved home state.

The upcoming album is produced by Compass Records and is timed to the Stanley Brothers being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. After the team at Compass and the First Ladies worked up the track, they sent it to Parton, who added personal touches. “I call it the full Dolly,” Compass co-founder Garry West told Rolling Stone. “We didn’t know what we would get back, and she really did over-deliver. We were shocked. We couldn’t have gotten anything better.” The rest of the album, which also features Willie Nelson, Steve Martin, and Rhiannon Giddens, will be out October 16.