Local Musician, Jesse Priest, Wins Dolly Parton’s #JoleneChallenge

As some of you may have seen on Netflix, or maybe you’ve already binged it, Dolly Parton has her own show called “Heartstrings” that aired November 22nd. At the beginning of November Dolly initiated a social media contest, the #JoleneChallenge, encouraging fans to share their covers of Jolene. Jesse Priest, a Holly Pond native, got his video in two days prior to the close of the challenge.

Priest graduated from Holly Pond high school in 2010. He has been playing and writing music for 16 years. He plays gigs all over the state and has played gigs in Nashville. He has also performed on My Cullman TV several times. Jolene is one of his staple songs he plays at every show. Priest also released a single, “Buzzin'”, in November of 2017.

Priest was thinking the challenge was just a campaign to get fans talking about the new Netflix series. So today when an out of state number popped up on his phone, he thought it was just a spam call. To his surprise it was a Netflix representative. She told him that he was one of a few from thousands that were hand picked by Dolly and the Netflix producers to be featured in a compilation video for the new series.

When asked how he felt about being chosen for the #JoleneChallenge, Priest summed up his feelings in one word, “Awesome, it feels awesome!” As Dolly herself chose Priest, we asked what if he gets to meet her. He responded, “That would be a dream come true because I love Dolly!”

Make sure to watch “Heartstrings” to catch Jesse Priest in the compilation video. Also check him out on Facebook.