PIGEON FORGE, TN — Before she was a blonde bombshell in rhinestones, before she conquered country music and bedazzled the world with hits like “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” Dolly Parton was just a barefoot girl nestled in a smoky mountain cabin, surrounded by music, stories… and tears.

In a soul-stirring interview with Southern Living’s Rick Bragg, the Queen of Country took fans back to where it all began: a humble home in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, where emotions ran high, the radio was sacred, and her mother’s voice could break your heart.

“My mama knew all the old songs, brought over from the Old World. She would cry, and we would love it,” Dolly said, smiling through the memory.

Wait—they loved it when their mama cried? It sounds wild out of context, but Dolly paints the picture perfectly. In that small, wood-framed house shared with eleven siblings, her mother Avie Lee filled the air with the emotional melodies of generations past. Songs soaked in sorrow, tragedy, and heartbreak weren’t just entertainment — they were a way of life. And for little Dolly, they were magic.

“We’d say, ‘Mama, tell us again about that girl who loved that boy,’” she said. “Mama could jerk a tear out of you.”

THE BALLADS THAT BUILT DOLLY

Dolly’s early soundtrack wasn’t sugar and sunshine — it was blood, loss, and longing, with a touch of Appalachian mystique. The family favorites? Murder ballads.

Yes, murder ballads — centuries-old songs with names like “The Knoxville Girl,” “Down in the Willow Garden,” and “Little Rosewood Casket.” These are the chilling, poetic tales of betrayal, broken hearts, and bodies buried in the woods. And they’re as foundational to mountain music as moonshine and mandolins.

“They’re definitive to Appalachian tradition,” says cultural site Expalachians. “They aren’t just songs. They’re storytelling with stakes.”

For Dolly, those high-stakes ballads were an education. They taught her rhythm, pathos, suspense — and how to pull a listener in so deep, they forget to breathe.

“If it happened, I wrote a song about it,” Dolly once said of her later career. It’s no wonder. Her songwriting didn’t just come from talent — it came from legacy.

THE RADIO THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

But it wasn’t just old-world tunes echoing through their mountain home. Dolly also remembers sitting wide-eyed with her brothers and sisters as they gathered around the family’s radio — not watching a screen, but watching sound.

“We’d sit and ‘watch’ the radio like it was television,” she said. “We hung on every word.”

And Avie Lee made sure it was an event. She’d spin the dial and fill the house with Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, the Carter Family, and local bluegrass stars. The melodies and voices came crackling through the speakers like ghostly visitors. It was magic — and for Dolly, it was a portal to destiny.

“She didn’t just grow up with music,” Bragg writes. “She was raised by it.”

A MOTHER’S SONG

At the heart of it all was Avie Lee Parton, the quiet storm behind Dolly’s symphonic soul. A mother of 12 with no formal training but a voice “as pure as the mountain dew,” Avie Lee wasn’t just singing songs — she was channeling spirits.

“Mama sang the saddest songs, and we’d just sit and cry,” Dolly recalled. “And we loved it. Because those songs made us feel something.”

And feeling something — anything — is what made Dolly who she is.

From her mama’s voice came the courage to feel deeply, write fearlessly, and sing shamelessly. That raw authenticity would go on to define her 50+ year career, winning hearts across the globe — but it all started in that house, on that porch, in those tearful harmonies.

THE MUSIC STILL LIVES

Fast forward decades, and Dolly’s still carrying that tradition. Her new album, “Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith & Fables,” is a musical family reunion that includes five generations of Partons and Owens. It’s a love letter to Avie Lee, to old-time music, and to the mountain stories that shaped her.

One track? A murder ballad revival, restored from vintage recordings of Dolly’s late uncle. Another? A reimagined duet with her youngest family members on “Puppy Love,” the song she recorded when she was just 13.

She even closes the album with “When It’s Family,” a track about embracing every kind of person in your tribe — from preachers to strays, from drag queens to addicts.

“I don’t judge,” Dolly said. “I just love people where they are.”

DOLLY’S LEGACY: ROOTS AND WINGS

What’s most remarkable about Dolly Parton isn’t her record sales, her fashion, or even her philanthropy. It’s that she never forgot where she came from — and she never lets you forget either.

She grew up poor. She grew up with 11 siblings. She grew up listening to songs about death. But she also grew up loved, supported, and shaped by a woman who understood the power of a song to change a life.

“My mama didn’t have much,” Dolly said. “But she gave me music. And that gave me everything.”

COMING SOON: THE DOCUSERIES

Can’t get enough Dolly? Buckle up — because there’s more. A docuseries is in the works, tracing her family’s journey from the Old World to the hollers of Tennessee. Featuring relatives still singing the “sad songs” across the Atlantic, it promises to be a tear-jerking, toe-tapping emotional rollercoaster.

“It’s really moving,” Dolly teased. “We’ve got so many more stories to tell.”

FROM TEARS TO TRIUMPH

So the next time you hear Dolly Parton’s honey-coated voice float from the speakers, remember this: behind the glitz and glam is a girl who cried with her mama, watched the radio like it was a dream, and learned that the saddest songs often bring the greatest joy.

Because for Dolly Parton, sadness wasn’t something to run from — it was something to sing through.

And thank God she did.