The Highwomen made their live debut, a 14-song set, Friday at theNewport Folk Festivalin Rhode Island The group then returned as part of Saturday's star-studded closing set, dubbed "The Collaboration," which was curated by Brandi Carlile-- but they didn't do it alone.
The new supergroup of Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby (with Shires' husband, Jason Isbell, playing guitar), took the stage to back surprise guest Dolly Parton at the end of the day. After The Highwomen sang an a cappella verse of Parton's “Eagle When She Flies,” Dolly was summoned to the stage, where she joined the quartet on the same song. They followed it with "Just Because I'm a Woman," a Parton - Carlile duet on "I Will Always Love You," "Jolene" and an all-hands rendition of "9 to 5."
The cast for that song included Maggie Rogers, Sheryl Crow, Jade Bird, Rachael Price and Bridget Kearney of Lake Street Dive,Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, Yola, Linda Perry and Lucy Dacus. Afterwards, Bird tweeted, "I just sang on stage with Dolly Parton and now I’m going to die."