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With Hungry Again, her breathtaking new Decca CD, four time Grammy award winner and eight-time Country Music Association award recipient Dolly Parton has returned to her musical roots and created a powerful, yet touching, record that combines country, folk and gospel. From the acoustic beauty of "Paradise Road," "Blue Valley Songbird" and "I'll Never Say Goodbye," to the wry humor of "Honky Tonk Songs" to the gospel inflections of "When Jesus Comes Calling For Me" and "Shine On," Hungry Again's 12 original songs reflect Dolly's deeply personal journey to reconnect with her Smoky Mountain heritage yet put her special stamp on this very traditional music.

Hungry Again marks the first time in many years that Dolly has written every song on an album. "I've always been a writer," she says. "And everything I write is based on something in my life. I've had so many life experiences that I can draw from and this is certainly the most personal album T have ever done. It's almost like I'm starting over. My songs are the door to every dream I've ever had and every success I've ever achieved," Dolly says. "My real self is still in my music." With that in mind, Dolly took a different approach to Hungry Again. She returned to her Tennessee mountain home and prayed and fasted before beginning to write the songs that would eventually form Hungry Again. As she went between her mountain retreat and her lake cottage in Nashville over a three-month period, Dolly wrote 37 songs. "I fasted both to get to a humble place and for the self-discipline," Dolly comments. "Through that experience, I got closer to myself and to God. It was painful and lonely but inspiring as well."

The first song Dolly wrote when she arrived at her mountain retreat was "Hungry Again." "It's a love song but it also reflects how 1 feel," Dolly says. "I'm not one to rest on my laurels. I'm hungry for music. So 'Hungry Again' became the springboard for the album." While the melodies reflect traditional styles, the lyrics are the unique poetry of Dolly Parton. A few of Dolly's favorite songs on the album are "Paradise Road," "The Camel's Heart" and "The Salt In My Tears." "Paradise Road" is about a poor child's vivid imagination. "That's a song that I began before I left for the mountains but I finished it after I arrived," she reflects. "That's the first song I wrote about home and it was the basis of a musical at Dollywood called 'Paradise Road'" Both "Blue Valley Songbird," which tells of a struggling performer who escapes from an abusive father, and "When Jesus Comes Calling for Me," about an old man reflecting on his life, have special meaning to Dolly. "I've always liked story songs like those," Dolly says. In fact, "Blue Valley Songbird" will be the basis for a television movie.

While the album contains many serious themes, the first single, "Honky Tonk Songs," is a rocking tune that asks the musical question, "Why don't more women sing honky tonk songs?" "I started thinking that you have all these good old boys singing honky tonk songs about their broken hearts, but women are never allowed to do that," Dolly says. "Women need a way to mend their broken hearts. 1 think women singing honky tonk songs is an idea that's way past it's time. So when I thought about it I became very inspired and I wrote the song."

When she had finished writing, she enlisted her first cousin, Richie Owens to co-produce the album with her. Hungry Again was recorded in Owens' basement with his band, Shinola. "Richie's father, Louis Owens, ran my publishing company so Richie really grew up with my songs," Dolly says. "I thought he would be the perfect one to work with on this album. He has a wonderful ear for music."

In keeping with the familiail feel of the record, "Shine On," the moving final track, was recorded at an old church in the Smoky Mountains where Dolly's grandfather, Reverend Jake Owens, was the pastor. "I wrote 'Shine On' to have an intentionally gospel feel, like 'Amazing Grace'," Dolly says. "So I wanted to keep the same feel in the recording. We used the congregation in the church back home and then we added other voices in Nashville."

The writing and recording process of Hungry Again have been one of the most valuable periods of Dolly's life. "This whole experience has been worth a fortune to me," Dolly says. "It's been very restoring and worthwhile. I got in touch with pieces of myself that I didn't even know I had." With Hungry Again, Dolly Parton has taken those pieces and crafted one of the most inspiring albums of the year.

For more information visit the Decca website

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