Composers of the Dolly Parton Programs

Here at Freshly Brewed Country we were lucky to have the opportunity to talk to the composers Mark Leggett and Velton Ray Bunch, of Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors.

Mark Leggett’s most recent work can be seen in NBC’s television movie Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors; Circle of Love where he and co-composer Velton Ray Bunch take us deep into rural Tennessee to share with us the story of a Christmas miracle. The special premiered on November 30th to kick off the holiday season.

Check out our interview with the talented composers of the Dolly Parton programs below. Make sure to watch both Dolly's Christmas of Many Colors and Coat of Many Colors.

FBC: How did you become a film composer?

Mark: Several years ago a very good musician friend in LA began writing tv scripts and screenplays. He asked me to score a few projects he had landed and I've pretty much never stopped.

Velton: Film composing really was more of an evolution for me. I was heavily involved in the record business, mostly as an arranger and producer, for many different artists. I loved string arranging, arranging for horn sections and the whole process of building a song from scratch. From this, I began working in a similar capacity as music directors for some of the more prominent music variety shows on TV. This naturally led into writing original scoring type music.

FBC: When you score a film, what’s one of the important things you consider?

Mark: The film maker's desire, what they want to express. Finding out what they want can either be obvious or a bit of trial and error. When you it right, the final results can be rewarding.

FBC: What is your favorite musical style to work with?

Mark: Don't really have a favorite. I enjoy working within a wide range of musical styles. Being a guitarist by trade, it's nice to create a score utilizing guitar or other stringed instruments, as we get to on the Dolly Parton movies.

FBC: Could you talk a little about your musical background from the beginning?

Mark: I began on guitar at age 12. My family relocated quite a bit as we were an military family. Seemed every new place we moved I was fortunate enough to meet musicians that better than myself. I was always learning new styles, and writing songs. In my early twenties lived in Kansas City MO where there was an amazing music scene...great music town! I learned music theory and musicianship there from a wide range of talented players.

Velton: My earliest music influences were honed in church. Raised in a small southern town, my family's entire social life centered around Pentacostal & Southern Baptist music. I was mostly self-taught in piano and played for the services from the earliest time I can remember. As I entered high school, I was exposed to classical music by a couple of brilliant teachers--both wonderful musicians-who opened up a whole new world for me. I heard the Verdi Requiem (Dies Irae) and was transformed by the sheer power of the music. I then went on to obtain a degree in Music Composition and Theory in college, which only piqued my interest further.

FBC: What has been your most memorable experience working on the Dolly Parton programs?

Mark: Oh, both projects were quite memorable in every positive way. I'd say recording the orchestra in the final stages is most memorable. After weeks of preparation, it's exciting to record the final result.

Velton: The experience of seeing the first movie take shape from just a mere idea in Dolly's head to a full blown project that was loved by millions was really exciting. Our team and Dolly started talking about the music (especially Coat of Many Colors) long before there was a script, a director, actors or anything. This was a very unusual process that is certainly not the norm. It certainly made us feel, and Dolly confirmed, that the music was of premier concern.

FBC: What has been the most challenging aspect of working on the Dolly Parton programs?

Mark: The schedule can be challenging, but it's good to write under a tight deadline.

Velton: The most challenging aspect, from a musical standpoint, was how to integrate Dolly's songs within the score. We were constantly trying to find ways to make transitions, bridges where dialogue intervened, into seamless pieces. The idea was to make the songs an integral part of the score and not just something dropped into a movie for the sake of having a song play.

FBC: What was the inspiration behind the score of Dolly Parton’s Coat Of Many Colors?

Mark: Dolly's life story and her songs inform the tone of our original music. It's all up on the screen, and it's easy to get inspired.

FBC: How did you and your team strategize about how to tell these stories?

Mark: We had many discussions with our exec producer Sam Haskell. He is very attuned to the emotions we needed to highlight with the music. A big part of the strategy is to write a score that weaves around Dolly's songs in the film. It all needs to flow naturally. At times we are scoring music with orchestra underneath Dolly's solo vocals, at other times just coming in or out of her songs. It can get a bit tricky at times.

Velton: Very early on in preliminary discussions with Dolly, we emphasized the need to keep the music honest and maintain the integrity of her musical roots, especially considering that the movies are set in her early childhood and in the Smokey Mountains. Meaning, we looked to incorporate indigenous instruments-dulcimars, banjos, steel, fiddles, mandolin into our orchestral palette--not just as colors but as a real part of the score.

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