Richie Owens Reveals Dolly Parton's Hidden Roots on 'Smoky Mtn DNA'

Country music is buzzing about producer-multi-instrumentalist Richie Owens—the first cousin who has quietly shaped some of Dolly Parton’s most personal recordings for three decades. Owens, a veteran Nashville rocker, first teamed with the superstar on her rootsy comeback LP “Hungry Again” (1998) and the gospel collection “Precious Memories” (1999), earning a reputation for capturing Dolly’s mountain soul in modern soundscapes. Fast-forward to today and Owens is back in the spotlight as architect of “Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables,” the 30-track Parton family album that threads five generations of archival tapes, bluegrass jams, and even hip-hop into one panoramic story. Produced, mixed, and largely arranged by Owens, the project features Dolly alongside cousins, nieces, nephews and the late Reverend Jake Owens—Richie’s grandfather—whose field recordings bookend the set. Owens says the goal was to “stream” their ancestors for the digital age: great-grand-dad James Robert Owens’ clawhammer banjo now sits beside a trap beat crafted by rapper-nephew Sabyn Mayfield, while Dolly re-imagines her 1973 gospel classic “The Seeker” over a hip-hop groove. The family first dropped teasers on TikTok, but streaming numbers spiked after the full album landed last week, pushing the hashtag #SmokyMountainDNA past 20 million views within 48 hours. The rollout arrives on the heels of another Owens-helmed gem: “Tell Me That You Love Me,” a twang-pop duet credited to Dolly Parton & Family featuring Richie Owens, which quietly hit Spotify earlier this year and has already broken a million plays without radio support. Fans also spotted Richie onstage during Dolly’s surprise set at the 2026 CMA Fest, where he played mandolin and talked up the record from the Nissan Stadium catwalk. Industry observers note that the campaign dovetails with Dolly’s Hall of Fame overhaul of Dollywood’s Chasing Rainbows Museum, where a new exhibit curated by Owens will display century-old Owens-Parton instruments beside the Pro Tools sessions for “Smoky Mountain DNA.” Tourism officials in Sevier County expect a 15 percent uptick in summer attendance once it opens next month. Why does this matter? Beyond the streaming bump, the project cements Richie Owens as the keeper of Dolly Parton’s family sound—a role that could influence future biopic and documentary plans now in early development. For fans, it means unprecedented access to the musical bloodline that produced one of America’s most beloved storytellers. For Owens, it’s simply “in our DNA”—and now the whole world can hear it.