Bill Whelan

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For the Hoover Institution, I'm Bill Whelan.

We'll be back soon with a new episode.

Until then, take care.

And then Richard wasn't supposed to be there at all.

He was working for Bill Whelan, the composer.

And Bill asked him to come over and help out with the opening of the Broadway show.

And so Richard was around.

He was one of the original river dance baron players.

I think he might have told Bill Whelan he was an untalented hack, and that was the end of his life with river dance.

But immense fun.

So I love performing.

Just to start with, how did you fall into Dolly Parton's musical orbit, and what was it like collaborating with her?

Well, I don't know how she heard about us, but, uh, I think Bill Whelan of Riverdance fame, uh, had a connection there.

And it was Steve Buckingham, her producer, that co-produced the albums with her, uh, came to see us one day, um, and said, "Would you like to record with Dolly Parton?" And we thought it was a joke-

[laughs]

It was true.

We're very thankful to the likes of Bill Whelan and to the late Shay Healy.

Both of them recommended.

She wanted to go back to her roots on that album and go back to Tennessee and to the old songs that she used to sing with her family.

So she was, I suppose, rubber dance was just the most amazing thing happening and Bill Whelan was asked who would he recommend to sing along with her and he recommended myself and the band and we were flown out to rehearse for a week and, well, we were rehearsing prior to that with all the songs we were listening to and then spent a week with her musicians, all the famous Nashville session musicians.

And it was just a dream come true.

Yeah.