"Kids of the '90s need to be educated more than any generation before," said Parton, who left Sevier County for Nashville the day after her own high school graduation. "Our goal is to be a positive force for both kids and parents to make a high school diploma a mutual goal. After all, the future is these kids and kids like them all over the country."
ON THE RECORD. Becky Hobbs wrote or co-wrote all the material on her first album, All Keyed Up, on MTM Records. Hobbs, a fireball pianist-singer, has recorded previously for Mercury and Capitol but has not had an album until now. . . . Dobro guitar pioneer Josh Graves, perhaps the most famous ex-member of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys, and his son, singer Bill Troy, have recorded an old-time country LP titled, Dad the Dobro Man. It's on CMH Records.
Hank Williams Jr. recently presented his manager, singer-songwriter Merle ("Wolverton Mountain," "Ring of Fire") Kilgore, with a gold stick pendant decorated with a three-carat diamond horseshoe. The occasion was Kilgore's 24th anniversary as Williams' primary road sidekick.
ON THE ROAD. While in the Bahamas recently, Larry Gatlin spoke to hundreds of teenagers at St. John's High School in Nassau on the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Gatlin's invitation to speak came from the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, Carol Hallett.
Gary Morris, who has just ended a six-month run in Les Miserables on Broadway, will headline the International Fan Club Organization show in Nashville on June 10. Others on the IFCO bill are David Lynn Jones, Patty Loveless, Tom Wopat, Canyon, the Forester Sisters, SKB, Joe Barnhill, Johnny Rodriguez, Foster & Lloyd, Lynn Anderson and Keith Whitley.
ET CETERA. Country artists scheduled to perform at Nashville's eclectic Summer Lights Festival, Thursday through Sunday, include Ricky Skaggs, Don Williams, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, K. T. Oslin, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Foster & Lloyd, New Grass Revival, SKB, Michael Johnson, The Whites, Southern Pacific, Suzy Bogguss, Skip Ewing and Lane Caudell.
