Parton makes time for rural Canada
TORONTO — Country superstar Dolly Parton is looking forward to venturing out to Moose Jaw, Sask., and rural Ontario as part of her first major North American tour in 25 years.
The singer says her Pure & Simple tour is a less flashy, stripped-back affair with only a few band members on stage.
“We’re playing some real small things,” she told reporters Monday at a news conference in Toronto.
“I figured I’m just going to tame it down, save a little money. I always joke I need the money ’cause it costs a lot to look so cheap — and there’s some truth in that, more than you know.”
Parton says in recent years she’s focused on touring Australia and Europe, which meant that she only occasionally had time for North American dates.
“It’s been 25 years since I’ve really done a tour through Canada,” she says.
“I just thought that people weren’t all that interested anymore because the young country kind of took over.”
Parton will venture to Moose Jaw on Sept. 13, where she’ll play Mosaic Place, a hockey and curling arena with a capacity of 4,500 people.
“A lot of rural people won’t go to the big city,” Parton says.
“They’re scared of that, they don’t want to get out in that traffic, or they can’t afford to do it. So it’s good that we can go to them.”
Other Canadian stops on the tour include a casino in Windsor, Ont., (Aug. 4), the larger Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto (Sept. 9), and the Foley Fair Grounds in Seguin, Ont. (Sept. 10).
Parton will also run through other western cities with larger concerts in Calgary (Sept. 16), Edmonton (Sept. 17) and Vancouver (Sept. 19).
Parton will release the new album Pure & Simple in August and follow it up with The Complete Trio Collection, a three-disc set compiling tracks from the successful collaborations among Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.