Although better-known for big-haired country hits, Dolly Parton makes a welcome return to her roots for The Grass Is Blue. Bluegrass is the place to be for country acts in the late nineties, as evidenced by The Mountain, Steve Earle's collaboration with The Del McCoury Band--and Parton wears her East Tennessee background proudly on her sleeve for this selection. As well as a couple of original compositions ("Will He Be Waiting For Me" and "The Grass Is Blue"), Dolly tackles the Louvin Brothers classic "Cash On The Barrelhead", the traditional "Silver Dagger", and Johnny Cash's immortal "I Still Miss Someone"--with the traditional bluegrass backing of mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo emphasising her strong singing voice to perfection throughout. Concluding with a moving acapella, gospel-style "I Am Ready", this album offers conclusive and enjoyable proof that there is a lot, lot more to Dolly Parton than just the larger-than-life figure who wrote Whitney Houston's biggest hit ("I Will Always Love You"). --Patrick Humphries