It's September 2003, and a then-blonde Polly Parsons is cuddled up in a chair in a Nashville photo studio. She's visiting the city to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of her father's death with a musical extravaganza during the Americana Music Convention. In tow are her god-mother, the famed ex-groupie and author Pamela Des Barres, and her best friend and business partner Shila Morrow.

Polly Parsons was 7 years old when Gram died, and she recalls that, "The day that I found out he died, I was sitting in the living room playing, and I watched his death be announced over the news. I was very close to my dad, and I knew that my dad was a fabulous, wonderful, loving, beautiful human being. And I think from that day forward, because there was never a burial, and there was never any closure for me, I kind of lived in a dream world, you know, regarding that issue.

There was no burial, of course, because in one of the stranger events in rock & roll history, "The Road Mangler" Phil Kauffman stole his body, and burned it in the desert. To this day, the Parsons' family for the most part is upset and angry with him for his actions. Polly though, is not so sure. "I choose to view it in the light that Dad had a wish; that he came to this planet and he did what he needed to do in a very short time, and when he decided it was time to take off- his best friend carried out his final wish and cremated his body in the desert. You know, I hope to go out in such a manner that the people closest to me will know what my true wishes are, and will carry them out no matter what. She concludes, "Yeah, it was pretty notorious. It's a pretty magical story though, if you really look at it."

"I had a rough time, as a young woman, trying to fight the demons that he fought," she continues. "Once I got that figured out back in '95, it took me quite a few years to emotionally get the strength to conquer, to just kind of wrap my head around understanding that as the daughter of such a fine man, I had a job to do. And nobody else would be able to do it like I would. And so I needed to step up."

And step up she has! As co-executor of Gram's estate (with Gretchen, Gram 's wife at the time of his death), Polly has produced several small Gram Parsons Tribute events during the past several years, the latest being held last November in a Gothic Church in London. Staying true to her father's vision of diversity in music, Polly's company Sin City is organizing its first major concert event Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons. For these two concerts, July 9, 2004 at the Santa Barbara Bowl and July 10th, 2004 at the LA Universal Amphitheatre, she is recruiting both close friends and ardent fans of her father and his music as well as contemporary artists inspired by his work and vision. "Okay, what did I want to tell you?" she says excitedly. "I'm working with Don Waz. I'm so excited! Don Waz is going to be the musical director of the Los Angeles tribute concert."