Discover Dolly Parton's Tennessee, from thrill rides to live music

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"I get people calling up, asking to speak to me because they know I’m Dolly Parton’s niece,” says Danielle Parton, as she hands me a shot of electric-blue moonshine from behind a glitzy gold bar. “My family didn’t come from money. Dolly built everything she made from scratch and that really inspired me.”

Danielle is the owner of Shine Girl, a distillery in Sevierville – aka Aunt Dolly’s hometown – in the heart of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. As I sip the shot – a silky, sweet liqueur infused with fragrant lavender – Danielle modestly mentions that she’s not only a successful businesswoman, but also a commercial pilot and former military commander who won several medals for her service in the Air National Guard, the reserves of the US Air Force.

Vodka at the Shine Girl distillery. Image credit: Shine Girl

Despite all these endeavours, she still somehow manages to look decidedly glam – her blonde bouffant hair offering a familiar resemblance to her aunt. She has us in stitches as we taste our way through her various moonshines, including a red velvet cake-flavoured creation, with an echo of Dolly’s warm, down-to-earth charm shining through.

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