Singer-songwriter Tori Martin summons the spirit of a country queen in her performance for The Boot’s Guest Room Sessions. “What would Dolly do?” she asks in this song; press play above to watch.
Faced with heartache and hardship in both her career and her personal life, Martin finds herself thinking about the one and only Dolly Parton. The East Tennessee native’s rags-to-riches story and status as a music icon of an elite echelon is certainly aspirational for many, including this Texas native.
“What would Dolly do / If she where in my shoes? / Would she turn my big dreams into dreams comin’ true?” Martin sings in the chorus. “Her magic is something I could use / Oh, tell me what would Dolly do?”
Martin is joined for her Guest Room Sessions performance by Kirsti Manna and Bill Warner, who owns WarnerWorks in Old Hickory, Tenn., where they filmed this clip. Manna is a songwriter and co-wrote many of the songs on Martin’s next album, and Warner is Martin’s producer.
“What Would Dolly Do?” appears on Martin’s new album, Lucky, which dropped in September. The 24-year-old Azle, Texas, native, who moved to Nashville in 2017, has been singing since she was a teenager. Martin recorded her first EP at the age of 16, and she’s charted three times on the Texas Country charts; she also competed during Season 14 of American Idol.