Owepar Records is proud to announce today’s release of Dreams Do Come True, the reissue of the 2003 album from singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, Bill Owens — as part of the Smoky Mountain DNA Legacy Series. Owens was the uncle and first manager of Dolly Parton, who serves as Executive Producer, and the uncle of the multi-talented Richie Owens, producer of the reissue. The songs featured on Dreams Do Come True were originally recorded in Nashville during the early 1990s.

Dreams Do Come True features Owens’ originals, including the classic country-styled opener “Too Much Forgetting,” and his renditions of thoughtfully curated covers such as Merle Travis’ “Cannonball Rag.” One standout is the duet he sings with Dolly, “Put It Off Until Tomorrow,” which Owens co-wrote with his niece in 1965. The song became their first chart success when country singer Bill Phillips scored a top ten hit with his version, winning Bill and Dolly the BMI Award for Country Song of the Year in 1966.

Owens got his first break as a guitarist and performer in the Knoxville, Tennessee music scene of the 1950s, and on Cas Walker’s radio shows, broadcast over station WIVK. In 1956, when his 10-year-old niece, Dolly Parton, expressed an interest in performing, Owens became her manager and they were soon performing at live events and appearing on the radio together.

In 1964, both Bill and Dolly moved to Nashville, where they found success as songwriters and performers. As Dolly’s career began to take off, Owens continued his career as a songwriter and producer. In the mid-1970s, Owens returned to East Tennessee and opened Bill Owens’ Smoky Mountain Music Barn, one of the first musical theaters in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, before the area eventually evolved into a popular vacation destination and the future home of Dollywood.

Bill Owens passed away in 2021 at the age of 85, but his multi-faceted impact continues to reverberate through the hills of East Tennessee and new generations of the Owens and Parton family. The reissue of Dreams Do Come True posthumously honors the legacy of this true original.

The Smoky Mountain DNA Legacy Series releases are available through the Smoky Mountain DNA Shop.