In 1966, "Hello, Dolly!'"s national tour ended and Oslin moved to New York City to pursue acting. She remained in the city for 20 years where she got several small stage role parts. Oslin appeared as part of the ensemble in the Broadway shows "Promises, Promises" and "West Side Story." She also found work singing commercial jingles. She was often cast in hygiene-product commercials. In an interview with the "Chicago Tribune," Oslin recalled being cast in a Hemorrhoid commercial: "Hemorrhoids! Lord! I had a hemorrhoid commercial that had people I knew from the 3d grade calling me up saying, `Is that you?`" Oslin also developed an interest in songwriting after being given a piano. She taught herself chord patterns and wrote music that went along with it. Her interest in country music also developed after New York started their first country radio station. She found the music to be more sophisticated than what it previously had been and began writing country songs after that. While performing as part of a synthesizer troupe, Oslin was inspired to write her first country song from writing she saw on a bathroom wall. Written on the wall were the words, "I ain't gonna love nobody but Cornell Crawford." Oslin wrote the song with friend Joe Miller and she would later record it in 1990.