Robin Thompson, of Haverhill, speaks of Dolly Parton memories on US trip with nephew David Hunt and David’s wife Patricia Heaton

‘If you hold your dreams together, keep your dreams, they might just come true.’

Those are the words of one Haverhill musician, who experienced the trip of a lifetime when his family flew him out to America – and even introduced him to Dolly Parton.

Robin Thompson, 80, has lived in the town for more than 50 years, and plays in the band Country Connection, which regularly performs at The Flying Shuttle.

When his wife, Gill, died in February 2022, his nephew David Hunt, the renowned film producer, and his wife Patricia Heaton, star of Everybody Loves Raymond and Frasier, flew out from Nashville to attend the funeral, and told Robin that they would bring him to the States soon for a holiday.

What followed was beyond his wildest dreams. David and Patricia threw surprises at him left right and centre, including on-stage seats at the Grand Ole Opry, VIP seats to an Eagles concert in Las Vegas, and a gift of a custom hand-made guitar from the biggest music shop in town.

“I still pinch myself asking if I’m going to wake up in a minute,” he said. “This whole holiday was amazing and they (David and Patricia) just did it out of love.”

A sit down with the ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker was a complete surprise to Robin, who said he heard her before he saw her.

David told him he needed to go to a studio to meet with a film producer, Danny Nozell, who unbeknownst to Robin is Dolly Parton’s manager.

After a work discussion there, the group were informed they needed to head to the studio, where Dolly was lying in wait.

Robin said: “We walked across the lot and through these doors, and I heard her voice but couldn’t see her. I just felt speechless.

“She walked out and said, ‘this must be the birthday boy’, gave me a big Dolly hug, got hold of my hand and sat me down, and she said ‘tell me about yourself’. She wanted to know about me – I just couldn’t speak, she was so lovely.”

They chatted for a while, spoke about music, and Dolly wanted to know more about Robin’s band.

And before she left she asked if, the next time she came to the UK, she could come and sing with them.

“This is Dolly Parton asking me, this is one of the biggest country stars in the world – again I couldn’t speak.”

Meeting Dolly was not the only time Robin was left choked up, however. As a big fan of country music, and particularly John Prine, he particularly enjoyed being taken to a tribute act for him.

Robin said the music everywhere he went in Nashville, be it the theatres, bars or concerts, was amazing.

One particular John Prine song Robin enjoys is ‘I Remember Everything’, which he plays by himself when Country Connection performs. He said it reminds him of Gill.

And thanks to Patricia, Robin was treated to quite the reception from an audience at the Grand Ole Opry.

As she was called to the stage to introduce the next artist to perform, Patricia took the chance to shout Robin out to the Opry crowd, and his band, telling them it was his 80th birthday.

He was invited to stand and received a rapturous applause.

As well as this spine-tingling shout out, Robin was given the chance to enter the venue via the Artist’s Entrance, and had a tour around the building by the manager.

He was shown all the dressing rooms, including where American icon Johnny Cash would get ready before his gig.

Another key memory of the trip for Robin came when he visited Nashville’s premier music shop, Gruhn Guitars.

The shop owners knew it was his birthday, and invited him to pick any guitar off the wall to play. He duly plucked off a £21,000 Gibson to give it a try, the sound from which he said was fantastic.

He also met with the owner, George Gruhn, who gave him his trilby hat to try on.

He said he nearly fell over when he was informed it was given to Mr Gruhn by George Jones.

And to top things off, before the group left David and Patricia asked if Robin had found a guitar he liked, to which he answered yes.

David said: “Well, you better take that with you.”

Now, when Robin performs with Country Connection, it is with the guitar he was gifted by his nephew.

“The memory of all that will live with me forever,” said Robin.