taylor swift

Taylor Swift


(born December 13, 1989) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2006, Taylor made her debut on the U.S. Billboard country charts with the release of her debut single "Tim McGraw".

Her self-titled debut album was released in late 2006, and has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States. To date, it has produced four Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs, including the Number One single "Our Song"; all three of her singles have also reached Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was re-issued in late 2007 with a set of bonus tracks.

Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and lives with her parents (Scott and Andrea) and her brother (Austin)[1] in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift's influences include her grandmother, who was an opera singer,[2] and LeAnn Rimes.[3] Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, her tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age.[4] At the age of ten, Swift began to perform around her home town, Wyomissing, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs, and also started writing songs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo tapes at a studio. At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville in hopes of obtaining a record deal by handing out a demo tape she had made of her singing along to karaoke songs. She handed this tape to receptionists at every label on Music Row.[3] Swift returned to Pennsylvania; her break came at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, when her rendition of the national anthem moved the crowd. Swift signed to a record label when she was 13 years old, but walked away because it "wasn't where she wanted to be."[citation needed]

Swift began to regularly visit Nashville, where, at age 14, she wrote songs with local songwriters. Her family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb.[5] She performed at Nashville's premier songwriters' café, The Bluebird Café, catching the attention of Scott Borchetta. Borchetta signed her to his newly-formed record label, Big Machine Records.

Swift plays a Taylor Grand Auditorium acoustic guitar made of koa wood.