Sarah Parvis - Taylor Swift

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cover photo AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Taylor Swift copyright 2009 by Downtown Bookworks Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in Malaysia. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For information, write Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, an Andrews McMeel Universal company, 1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

E-ISBN: 978-0-7407-9847-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927042

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I n many ways, Taylor Swift is an average teenager. She loves to go shopping and eat cheesecake. She cant live without her cell phone and she can recite every line from Napoleon Dynamite. She loves the color pink and the drama of Greys Anatomy. Like other girls her age, she hangs out with friends and gabs about boys. But unlike your average teen, shes also a famous singer and songwriter. From an early age, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life and has worked incredibly hard to get there. Shes a rare mix of lovable teen goofball and savvy, sophisticated, career-oriented gal.

Taylor Alison Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, with her parents and her brother, Austin. By the time she was ten years old, she was routinely performing at local karaoke spots and every fair and festival held nearby. Her parents, Scott and Andrea, were supportive without being pushy, though they were a little uncomfortable with some of the places where Taylor wanted to perform.

They were kind of embarrassed by it, Taylor has said. This little girl singing in a smoky bar. But they knew how much it meant to me so they went along with it. One of those bars turned out to be very important to the rapid rise of Taylors career: Pat Garretts Roadhouse. Named after its owner (himself a country singer), the bar hosted a karaoke contest with a prize that really appealed to confident young Taylor. Winners of the bars karaoke nights were invited to perform at Garretts nearby amphitheater. Determined to get onto that stage, Taylor kept going back to the Roadhouse until she won. Finally, she achieved her dream. Her karaoke skills earned her stage time and she opened for country stars like the Charlie Daniels Band.

The more she appeared at local establishments, the more people had heard of her. As word spread, more invitations to sing came her way. She frequently serenaded crowds with the national anthem because she knew that performing The Star-Spangled Banner was an easy way to be in front of huge audiencesexactly where Taylor wanted to be. Once she even performed before a Philadelphia 76ers game (her favorite team). She was amazed to learn there was a big-time music star in the house: rapper and businessman Jay-Z was sitting courtside! Taylor sang her heart out and Jay-Z gave the eleven-year-old a high five after her final notes. She was ecstatic. I bragged about that for like a year straight, Taylor gushed.

Guess what?

Taylor was really nervous performing at the Pat Garrett amphitheater. She told CMT.com about some not-so-helpful advice shed gotten. Once, somebody told me to picture the audience In their underpants. Do not picture the audience In their underpants. That does not work. At all.

Taylor may have been only eleven years old when she wowed sports fans with her voice, but her days of entertaining big crowds were just beginning. Just seven years later, she prepared to sing the national anthem again for her hometown crowdonly this time, she was opening for Game 3 of the 2008 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.

If I had been better at sports, I would have just been a tom boy. But I wasn, so I got into singing.

A lot had I changed in I those seven years. Taylor had already released her self-titled album and become a multiplatinum recording star. A few things remained the same, though. She was excited and humbled to be singing before her hometown crowd, and she was also nervous. She admitted, I was halfway through the song and then my legs started shaking, and I was like, please dont mess up, please dont mess up. Whats the hardest part of the song for Taylor? The beginning, she says. Its a really surreal moment when 40,000 people in the baseball stadium are utterly silent. By the time I get to and the rockets red glare, its smooth sailing.

She was a hit at the Phillies game just as she was a winner at the 2008 American Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and CMT Music Awards. And if she keeps writing and singing from the heart, it looks like the rest of her career will be smooth sailing, too.

T im McGraw is a bona fide country star, a Grammy-winning chart-topper. He is also the namesake of Taylors debut single.

As a freshman in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Taylor was dating a senior named Brandon Borello. The year was a busy one, but in the back of her mind was the fact that Brandon would soon be going off to college. Taylor knew their relationship would come to an end, so she did what helps her most whenever she has complicated emotions to deal withshe wrote a song. She thought about all of the things that would make him think of her, and all of the moments she hoped he would remember when he was away at school. To her surprise, the first thing that came to mind was her love of Tim McGraws music.