Leave it to Dolly Parton not to be limited by the conventionally accepted constraints of SXSW. In her first-ever appearance at the festival, she didn’t just play a show, she created her own universe — specifically, the “Dollyverse,” a cheerfully branded excursion into the digital Wild West of the metaverse.
Coming complete with complementary NFTs linking either to a commemorative poster or a copy of Parton’s new album, the Dollyverse was only one element of Parton’s multi-media SXSW blitz. She was also here with James Patterson, the crime novelist with whom she co-wrote the recently published Run, Rose, Run: A Novel. Her album of the same name is the book’s musical counterpart.
Parton promoted both during her Friday night appearance at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, sitting for a joint conversation with Patterson moderated by the actress Connie Britton. Parton gave a…
