The country legend talks about lip-synching in concert, writing a Broadway musical of "9 to 5" and advising her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus. JON BREAM

On what she did to help her back, which delayed her tour by more than a month: "I did a little therapy. I just pulled a muscle, and I'm fine now. I was just too sore to move about."

On lip-synching in concert: "We still do some [vocal] things on tape because you just can't do all production numbers and not have some stuff in back reserve. I do not do everything lip-synch. But, yes, almost everyone does that. That's why we have the high technology and things that we can do if we need to. If your voice goes out or you're too hoarse to sing certain notes, you can throw certain notes in rather than to cancel the whole show where the whole auditorium is full. I've never tried to hide it or pretend. I'll always do whatever it takes to give them the show that they paid for."

On her Broadway musical: " 'Backwoods Barbie' is one of the songs that's in my '9 to 5' Broadway musical. It's supposed to open on Broadway in spring 2009. I've written all the music for that whole play. 'Backwoods Barbie' made the perfect song for Dora Lee, the little character I played in the movie, the country girl who was misjudged and misunderstood."

On how her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, keeps her balance: "She's got her family. Her mother manages her. Her mother's right there, her daddy's right there on the set. So she can't really do too much without being monitored to some degree. They work very hard to not make her feel restricted."

On whether Miley consults Parton (who also plays Hannah's godmother on TV): "Yes, she does. I try to give her the best advice I know how. I'm not one to give advice or offer information 'cause I think everybody has their own path to take. But if she asks me direct questions, I try to tell her. You've gotta be true to yourself, first of all. You've got to have patience and tolerance with the fans 'cause sometimes when you're tired, you're not going to feel like signing every autograph, but you've got to remember how bad you wanted it before you got it and you've got to put yourself in their place as well."