Parton sings songwriters' praises in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - "I'll never retire!" exclaimed an effervescent Dolly Parton, sporting a new upswept hairdo, as she presided at a Music Row event on Thursday recognizing country music's most neglected talent -- the songwriter.

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"When my time comes, I hope I fall dead in the middle of the stage and I hope it's to a song I wrote," the 61-year-old Parton said, whose new hairstyle has her platinum hair piled high.

The occasion at Curb Records' studios marked the announcement of a partnership between the independent label and Belmont University to house the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inside the Curb building. The planned facility will also cater to students aspiring to music careers.

Parton, who has always called herself a songwriter first, termed it "old home week" in looking over the crowded historic Curb Records building. The building was once the hub of pioneer songwriters, musicians and performers during the years when performers really did wear overalls and boots, performed in barns and hoped for a spot on the Grand Ole Opry.

Parton now records on her own label, Dolly Records, and will soon have a new album out.

Nearby along Music Row sits RCA Studio B where Parton, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings recorded hits.

Label chairman Mike Curb, the one-time lieutenant governor of California and a songwriter and performer himself, founded the Mike Curb Family Foundation and is the driving force behind Belmont University's college of entertainment and music business.