09/03/2026
excerpted from an essay by a friend of a friend -- in remembrance of dolly, and in praise of music classes and music teachers and music students:
"Before Jolene, Dollywood, 9 to 5, the Imagination Library, and I Will Always Love You, Dolly Parton was something much simpler. At Sevier County High School, she was a music kid. She played drums in her high school marching band and sang in the choir. Maybe, in a life that ultimately became a beautiful Coat of Many Colors, school music was one of the early patches.
I would love to know more about that band kid. Was she ever late to rehearsal? Did she lose her music? Did she ever get in trouble for talking during class (like every other drummer)?
In other words, was she a typical student, or did she show early
signs of the superstar she would become?
Did her director ever look at her and think, "This kid is going somewhere"? Or was she simply another student in the room? That's the wonderful mystery of teaching:
We have absolutely no idea who is sitting in front of us."
KEEP GOING.
and keep supporting music in our schools and in our world. See less
excerpted from an essay by a friend of a friend -- in remembrance of dolly, and in praise of music classes and music teachers and music students:
"Before Jolene, Dollywood, 9 to 5, the Imagination Library, and I Will Always Love You, Dolly Parton was something much simpler. At Sevier County High School, she was a music kid. She played drums in her high school marching band and sang in the choir. Maybe, in a life that ultimately became a beautiful Coat of Many Colors, school music was one of the early patches.
I would love to know more about that band kid. Was she ever late to rehearsal? Did she lose her music? Did she ever get in trouble for talking during class (like every other drummer)?
In other words, was she a typical student, or did she show early
signs of the superstar she would become?
Did her director ever look at her and think, "This kid is going somewhere"? Or was she simply another student in the room? That's the wonderful mystery of teaching:
We have absolutely no idea who is sitting in front of us."
KEEP GOING.
and keep supporting music in our schools and in our world.
