I was listening to Shania Twain and flying to Nashville, the perfect combo. As I listened to these songs I had sung a thousand times and it dawned on me how genius Shania truly was. I'm never going to listen to Honey I'm Home the same because all I could picture was all the angry men who heard that song in the 90s and were flabbergasted by a woman asking for a drink and dinner to be prepared by the man at the end of the day. It never dawned on me how clever the lyrics actually were I was just always enamored by the catchy beat that has had me hooked for decades.
I've been a country girl since I was 6. My family moved to a tiny town in rural Utah when I was 6 and I saw the first pony that made me REALLY want to be a cowgirl. She was a cute pony amongst the horses, a palomino paint that always looked fuzzier than her pasture mates. We passed their grazing grounds every time we exited and entered my home town. My mom and I had that in common, horse girls through and through.
Around 4th grade The Chicks, known then as The Dixie Chicks, dropped the album Fly. I connected to this album far deeper than a 10 year old should. Something about their badass personalities just spoke to young Emily. I also had my own horse, Belle. While not a palomino paint nor a pony she was was my true heart horse. I was basking in the country lifestyle. I had my own horse and a growing collection of country CDs. However, my country music collection looked very different than most. It was all women. Natalie, Martie, Emily, Shania... to name a few. I knew the lyrics of Goodbye Earl by heart, I sang Any Man of Mine without understanding the depth of the lyrics Shania sang but I think the message was understood even at that young age. I was just a blossoming cowgirl but I was quickly realizing cowboys are not always who they say they are. They lack the same chivalry that all men did, they drank, they cheated, they gambled and they are better off hanging out with Earl at the lake, IYKYK. I thank Shania and The Chicks for leading me the right direction, away from cowboys. I was far happier spending time with my horse Belle anyways. As I aged I grew away from horses and country music. Belle because an expensive lawn ornament as my dad would say as she was retired and no longer rideable. I started listening to R&B/Pop with the cool kids and driving my car around town in the summers instead of horseback riding. Fast forward to 2020, I had called Salt Lake City my home for 13 years and was ready for the country life again. We packed up our Utah home into one moving van, an RV, and a car and moved out west to Central Oregon. Taylor Swift's Folklore was only a few months old and was all I was listening to at the time. I hadn't listen to Taylor much prior to 2020. She was a wonderful artist and I loved how she was shaking up country like Shania did but I just never caught on. Once she dropped Evermore that was it for me, I fell down the rabbit hole and like it down here.
In July of 2022 I left a job with no backup plan for the first time in since I started working at the age of 14. I was working in an incredibly abusive and dangerous work environment and just couldn't tolerate it any longer. During my unemployed days I was consuming a lot of books and documentaries and decided to watch all of Taylor's documentaries back to back over a couple of days. I learned about how a passionate and dedicated young woman turned her life into her dream and it was really inspiring. I had been playing around on Nick's iPad in the evenings drawing. I had two drawings I really loved that I had done and wanted them to become physical art. I proceeded to find a company who would weave art into tapestries. I submitted both pieces and within weeks my Desert Day and Desert Night blankets arrived at my doorstep.
I chose blankets because we had so much printed art around our house from amazing artists I didn't want to use precious wall space, multi-use blanket art seemed like a fitting way to display my art in my smaller home. After sharing what I had created with friends, family, and Instagram it was obvious that people wanted more. Desert Day was quickly claimed by a friend and Desert Night by my sister. Others requested more designs and that's how my business Sage & June was born.
Now I sit on a plane on the way home from visiting Nashville. The trip had been planned for months to see Murder by Death at The Caverns in Pelham Tennessee so we tacked on a day trip to music city USA. When I heard the news of Dolly's departure I knew I needed to dedicate part of the trip to the queen herself. I don't remember listening to Dolly as a young girl but I discovered in the past decade and love everything about her. So gentle yet so strong. She made her way through the masculine country world without batting her pretty long eyelashes. She exuded perfection.
In recent years she has felt so important in the healing of our country. She loved everyone and spread love endlessly wherever she could. She loved her spouse dearly and at least we know now they are peacefully together again. Dolly inspired generations of girls and women to shine brightly and unapologetically. The day of her death showed how incredibly instrumental she was for women in country and music everywhere. I hate to think what life would have been like if Dolly had never left her home town of Tennessee. Would Shania be Shania? Would Natalie, Emily, and Martie be The Chicks? Without all the prior women there would be no Taylor.
I'm still gushing after visiting The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Dolly Parton had an ongoing exhibit we were lucky enough to walk through. Taylor Swift had an area celebrating her success as a musician and education center. Once we saw the main attractions I searched for any signs of women memorabilia. When I saw a bright pink suit I knew I found what I was looking for. The Let's Go Girls section was everything. Shania front and center, The Chicks to her left. Kacey Musgraves, Taylor in her Fearless Era, and Kelsea Ballerini in a case across from them. All the queens. That one small section dedicated to women of country was hard to walk away from. As we exited the museum we saw a gathering of people and a pile of flowers and other goods. It was Dolly's star on the music city Walk of Fame. I was prepared for this moment. I brought my pink glitter gel pen and a note card. As we approached the makeshift alter I knew exactly what to write.
"We miss you dearly Dolly. Thanks for inspiring young girls & women to sparkle 💖"
After placing the card at the base of the pile we left the 110 degree weather and headed for higher grounds outside of the city. While we only spent 8 hours on Nashville I'll never forget being able to pay tribute to Dolly. She inspired so many women who inspired me I know my life would be totally different had she never graced this earth the way she had.