Dolly Parton’s highschool band pays tribute to the late icon

Talk about an extrovert.

Dolly Parton as soon as fooled a marching band into considering she was previous associates with their director — although the 2 had by no means met.

Nathan Hickman, the band director at Parton’s alma mater, Sevier County High School, informed The Post that he first met the nation legend in 2013, when his college students performed a Dollywood live performance in close by Pigeon Forge.

“My students asked if I knew her,” stated Hickman. “Of course, I said yes and that we had been friends for years… Truthfully, I had never met her.”

Apparently, Parton overheard the trade and knew instantly the best way to make the highschool band trainer right into a hometown hero. “When she walked out on stage, she said, ‘Hey Nathan! I’m so glad you are at Sevier County now!’ and greeted me with a hug,” Hickman recalled. “The students’ minds were blown!”

Hickman later realized that the trick was a signature a part of Parton’s stagecraft. “What they didn’t see was someone on the side of the stage giving Dolly the names of the people she was about to meet,” he stated. “It’s still one of my favorite memories.”

Parton’s onstage glamour was thrilling, however it was her dedication to youth music applications that shone brightest for Hickman and his band. “We marched in front of her often, and she always stopped by to say hi [and] thank you, and tell the students she was so proud of them for representing our community so well,” he stated.

“She was a tiny giant, and was genuine to herself at the same time.”

Besides funding Sevier County’s highschool marching band and music program — a reality acknowledged by the tiny butterflies affixed to the band’s purple uniforms in honor of their bedazzled benefactor — Parton was additionally an nameless donor to tons of of primarily Black college districts throughout the American South. She additionally funded skilled improvement applications, meals banks and literacy applications for underserved communities and kids worldwide.

To honor Parton’s legacy of giving — and her personal time spent as a highschool snare drummer — the Sevier County band has three Dolly Parton preparations in everlasting rotation: The 1980 working woman anthem “9 to 5,” the 1983 duet “Islands in the Stream” and the epic ballad “I Will Always Love You,” which Parton wrote and carried out in 1974 and Whitney Houston took platinum in 1992.

That association will get a teary second on Friday, Sept. 11, when the band will carry out it with their neighbors within the Jefferson County High School Band on the college’s halftime present. Band alumni are scheduled to affix the live performance.

“Dolly’s legacy is an example of generosity, and that legacy will live on through the students in the Sevier County High School Band,” stated Hickman. “Our band program is successful today because of [her].”

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville after a quick battle with most cancers. She was 80.