Her rapport on the Rascal Flatts tour helped her live appeal to snowball – before long she was receiving invitations from other acts asking her to join them on the road. The veteran country artist George Strait asked her to join the bill for a 20-date tour he had lined up. Known as ‘the King of Country’, Strait is an industry legend. A nod of approval from him meant a great deal to Taylor. She believes in aiming for authenticity when she performs live, however large the audience or vast the venue. She vowed there and then never to ‘go through the motions’ on stage, but instead always to perform from a place of passion. She feels there is no hiding place when performing live: ‘People can see it on your face and they can see what the song means to you,’ she said. She swore never to perform dispassionately. ‘I wrote these songs and they all mean something to me,’ she went on. ‘When you can look at two people in the front row who are singing the words to your songs, I love that. I love to be able to look at someone and make that contact and nod your head and say thanks for being here.’
The Rascal Flatts tour had been a ‘perfect match’ for her, said Taylor. However, with Strait there was the massive bonus of being able to perform ‘in front of a more “traditional country audience”.’ She wrote on her blog: ‘I’m pretty much a George Strait superfan, so this is going to be SO much fun.’ After each slot she would watch Strait’s performance from the wings. She was fascinated by the intensity of the audience’s respect for Strait, which was, she felt, ‘like religion’. She felt a moment almost akin to Holy Communion herself when, on the first night of the tour, at the Lafayette in Los Angeles, Strait name-checked her during his own set. ‘George Strait SAID MY NAME,’ she wrote on her blog later. ‘We were watching George’s show … and all of a sudden he said, “I’m very happy to have the talented Miss Taylor Swift out here with us.” YESSSS. It was pretty awesome, sort of a life-changing moment,’ she wrote.
The snowball continued to roll. Next to help it on its way was the country rocker Brad Paisley. ‘I was looking at a lot of artists to come out on tour with us,’ he told Blender magazine, ‘but as soon as I downloaded her album, I knew we had to have her. I was floored by the songwriting. I love the fact that she doesn’t pretend to be 30 years old in her songs. She has a very genuine voice.’ For Taylor, it was thrilling to get another chance to hit the road. Just as satisfying, though, was the fact that Paisley ‘got’ her approach. Several industry figures had suggested she drop the adolescent nature of her material and write songs in the voice of someone much older. Taylor was pleased that Paisley saw the benefits of her alternative approach. She saw the time on the road with him as a chance to ‘pick his brain and learn as much as I can from him’.
Also present on Paisley’s Bonfires & Amplifiers tour was Kellie Pickler. She and Taylor would become good friends on the road. Born in 1986, Pickler first came to fame as a contestant on the fifth series of the TV music talent contest American Idol. Although she finished in sixth place, she had caught the attention of viewers and industry giants alike. She released an album, called Small Town Girl, within months of the series ending. Taylor got on well with her from the first time they met. They felt like more than mere buddies – their relationship took on an almost familial stature. ‘She’s like a sister,’ Taylor has said of her friend. ‘People say we’re such opposites, but that’s what makes us such good friends. She’s incredibly blunt. I love that about her. If some guy has said or done something to me she doesn’t like, she’ll grab my cell phone and say, “I’m deleting his number.”’
They both enjoy practical jokes, too. They played one on Paisley during the tour. Along with fellow artist Jack Ingram, they donned costumes and joined Paisley on stage one evening, much to his surprise. As he sang his song ‘Ticks’, he suddenly saw Taylor and Pickler dressed as ticks, dancing around him on the stage. Then Ingram appeared dressed as an exterminator. He performed a pretend spraying motion, at which point the two ‘ticks’ acted a dramatic death. It was a silly, but fun, exercise. ‘I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe,’ wrote Taylor on her blog later. ‘Then I was lying there on the stage playing dead and I looked up at Brad, and he looked down at me and said, “Nice work.” Guess he was a little bit “bugged”,’ she punned.
Having hit the road with Paisley, she then opened the show for another industry great, the singer Kenny Chesney. As before, she was gushing with praise and excitement over the affair. ‘Opening up for Kenny Chesney is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,’ she said, ever happy to play up her experience. However, this one had a different feel to it when compared to Paisley’s. ‘His tour has this laid-back vibe to it, and everyone’s so cool to work with. And Kenny Chesney is so completely nice. Genuinely nice.’ She also noted, with admiration, his work ethic. ‘Kenny is up at the crack of dawn, walking around the venue, getting to know everyone, from the sound-check guys to the fans,’ she told the newspaper USA Today. He lived life in a way that rang true with Taylor’s principles, as well as those of her earnest parents.
It was at the end of each tour, as she stepped out of the bubble of being on the road and back into her usual life, that her tender years became plain. Indeed, her online writings give a pleasant insight into the contrast between her life on tour and her day-to-day existence at home. ‘I just got back from a five-show run on the road,’ she wrote. ‘Now I’m sitting in my kitchen … on the counter. Eating Cool Whip. And trying to think of things to do with my cat and making a playlist of sad songs.’ Like many a good country girl, Taylor was fine and comfortable at home, even though her time on the road had thrilled her. She was basking in her popularity and the ease with which things were working out for her. Her everyday fans delighted her and so did the many famous, respected industry figures who were backing her. With all that combined, she felt she had respect as well as fame. All true artists yearn for the former at least as much as they hope for the latter.
Her career and life in general were going well. Taylor felt on a roll, and 2007 just kept delivering gold for her – quite literally, on occasion. He debut album earned gold certification, marking the first 500,000 copies sold. This was a symbolic yardstick for another reason: it was the round figure that she had set out to sell. In April she won her first serious music award. The CMT Music Awards handed her one of their ‘Buckle’ awards (so-called because they are shaped like a buckle) for Breakthrough Video of the Year for the promotional film for ‘Tim McGraw’. However, it was in the following month, at the Academy of Country Music Awards, that she truly felt she had arrived. Even though she did not win an award on the night, she felt as if she had hit the jackpot. She sang ‘Tim McGraw’ to the audience, which contained none other than McGraw himself. Each big step upwards suddenly seemed to lead to another. When she played at the Gold Country Casino & Hotel in the same month, one reviewer wrote: ‘I just went to a show by a future superstar.’ These were just the sorts of words she longed to hear. Everywhere she looked, Taylor was seeing predictions of future glory. Yet even her present was more glorious than she had expected at this stage.
In June, she played at the Country Music Festival. It was a richly symbolic occasion for her on several levels. While she was there, she learned that her album had gone platinum. It had passed this milestone just eight months after its release – a phenomenal achievement. She measured her success against two former visits to the festival. ‘I went the first year as a volunteer (when I was 14) and helped out with getting artists to their radio interviews,’ she wrote on her blog. ‘The last year, I was there signing autographs (nobody knew who I was, it was funny) and telling anyone who would listen that I had a single coming out called ‘Tim McGraw’ and would they please request it [on the] radio … ha-ha. Then, one year later, there I was, receiving a platinum plaque for a million copies of my album sold. It’s been a good year.’ The following month the album reached number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart.
She found herself taking on the role of elder sibling to her younger fans. They felt t
hey could listen to her songs and her public statements and learn from them. This put significant pressure on her young shoulders: one wrong move from her could, potentially, have ramifications for many of her fans. Yet she wore that responsibility well. In the autumn she signed up for a public education initiative to raise awareness about online predators and the whole gamut of internet crimes against children. Joining up with the Governor of Tennessee and a police association, she spoke directly to schoolchildren to take care when getting to know people online, ‘because when you meet somebody online, you can never really know them’. Speaking with vivid frankness, she added: ‘If there are two or three of you here that maybe would get lonely after school, and somebody random [instant messages] you and says that they’re a 19-year-old college student at Yale and [do] modelling work on the side, they’re probably 45 years old and live in the basement of their parents’ house,’ Swift said. ‘And they’re probably an online predator. It’s a reality.’
As well as lending her time to good causes, she also handed over money. When Cedar Rapids in Iowa was hit by severe flooding, she promised to donate $100,000 to the Red Cross charity’s efforts to clear up and assist the community. ‘They’ve stood by me; they gave me a sold-out show,’ she explained to People magazine. ‘You’ve got to pay it forward in life – that’s all I did in Cedar Rapids.’
Meanwhile, in October 2007 she released a festive album for the forthcoming holiday season. It was a limited-edition album, featuring some original compositions and four cover versions of Christmas classics: ‘Santa Baby’, ‘Silent Night’, ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘White Christmas’. Although the cover versions lent a festive familiarity to the collection, Taylor insisted that it include original tracks, too. ‘There’s got to be something really original and different about it,’ she said, avoiding the temptation to lazily toss out a collection of cheesy songs. Taylor is a fan of Christmas, in both religious and traditional terms. ‘I love everything about this time of year, but mostly the way that people find ways to be with the ones they love,’ she wrote on her blog. One of her original songs on the album, ‘Christmases When You Were Mine’, is among the most powerful and heartbreaking tracks she has ever composed. It is a shame it is tucked away on an obscure release.
The same can be said of some of the tracks that only appeared on the bonus edition of Taylor Swift. For instance, ‘I’m Only Me When I’m With You’ is a festive romp of a barn dance. The verses are pregnant with the sense that something immensely beautiful is on its way, and the chorus partially satisfies that yearning. Still, there is a feeling that more is to come. That more does indeed come after the chorus; as the violins and drums come to the foreground, it is as if the song has taken the listener up to heaven, where their arrival is greeted with party-poppers, champagne corks and fireworks. Somewhere amid the chorus and its immediate aftermath, it is as if the listener has been injected with a feeling of invincibility.
At the 2007 Country Music Awards (CMAs) ceremony, Taylor won the much-coveted Horizon Award, which celebrates the best new artist. In landing the trophy, she joined a prestigious roll of honour. Past winners include Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood. Indeed, the 2007 ceremony, which was held at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena), turned into a big night for Underwood. For the second year in a row, she won two significant honours – for the best single and best female vocalist. At 24 years of age, the fair-haired country artist – who thanked ‘God’ during her speech – stood as a fascinating role model for Taylor.
Taylor sang her latest hit, ‘Our Song’, at the ceremony. She might have reflected on the symbolism of her centre-stage position at this huge event in the Nashville calendar. She was the first of the five Horizon Award nominees to sing on the night. She was wearing a short black dress with long gloves. If she showed a few nerves during the performance, they truly came to the surface when she returned to the stage to accept her Horizon Award. It was presented to her by the ubiquitous Underwood.
Taylor – who, following a costume change, certainly looked a winner in her golden dress – threw her hands to her face in shock when her name was announced. She turned to Andrea, who was sitting next to her, and mother and daughter embraced in celebration. She had to lift up her long dress as she ascended the stairs to the stage. She was breathless and trembling as she started her acceptance speech. ‘I can’t even believe that this is real,’ she said. She then took a religious turn before finishing on a schooldays note. ‘I want to thank God, and my family for moving to Nashville so I could do this. I want to thank Country Radio; I will never forget the chance you took on me. Brad Paisley, thank you for letting me tour with you.’ She also thanked Scott Borchetta and ‘everyone at Big Machine Records’. As the tears rose, she concluded with a thanks to ‘the fans – you have changed my life. This is definitely the highlight of my senior year!’
The ‘senior year’ line provoked much mirth in the audience. It had been a charming speech from Taylor. The following month she was charm personified again as she joined in with the announcing of the Grammy Award nominees. As she stood on the stage, revealing some of the names up for gongs at the fiftieth annual ceremony, she seemed surprised when she heard the Foo Fighters announce her name as a nominee in the category of Best New Artist.
She ran over to Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins and enfolded them in an enthusiastic hug. ‘Don’t worry, Taylor,’ said an amused Grohl, ‘you got it in the bag.’ She said later: ‘It’s been a really amazing year, and we had a lot of success at the CMAs this year, and I won the Horizon Award – and that was amazing.’ She was asked if she would be losing sleep in the weeks leading up to the Grammys ceremony, now she knew she was a nominee. She replied: ‘You know, as far as trouble sleeping – you can’t control award shows. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I can control what I say, I can control how I act, I can control what I do on a stage, but I can’t control awards shows, so I try not to get nervous about it.’
It had indeed been an amazing year. It ended with Taylor reaching a personal milestone. On 13 December she turned 18 years of age. Scott and Andrea threw a pink-themed party for their daughter. They felt so proud in so many ways as their firstborn turned 18. ‘This party is our birthday gift to her,’ her mother told People magazine. ‘She knows the real gifts in life are relationships.’ However, when asked what the best part of turning 18 was, Taylor replied: ‘I wanted a number-one record, and I got that. And I got something I didn’t even ask for: a Grammy nomination.’
On her Foo-Fighter folding hug, she was straightforward. ‘I’m starstruck,’ she told People. Commenting on her touchy-feely response, she added: ‘I’ve always been a hugger. I honestly did not think I was going to get nominated, so when they said my name I just felt like hugging somebody. I’m glad that everyone started hugging. If we all hugged more, the world would be a better place.’
After what felt like long periods of waiting for something to happen, she was now gliding along at a good pace. ‘Sometimes you feel like you have to pinch yourself. It’s like, “Am I really here?”’ she said. Everything felt great in the land of Taylor. However, Borchetta was concerned. Neither he nor Taylor had expected her career to take off to quite the extent it had with her debut album. He worried that she would peak too soon and then lose some of her motivation.
He particularly wondered how Taylor – so enlivened when she is set a challenge or has a perception to overturn – might energise herself when she turned from underdog to champion. ‘My fear is that she’ll conquer the world by the time she’s 19,’ he confided to the Washington Post. ‘She’ll get to the mountaintop and say: “This is it?” Because she’s just knocking down all these goals that we didn’t even have for the first album.’ He added: ‘My job at this point is really to protect her and not burn her out.’
Too many child stars had burned out early and disappeared from the public eye as fast as they had appeared. The priority for everyone in Taylor’s corner was to
prevent that from happening to her. As for Taylor, she admitted that she was anxious. ‘I can’t believe I get to have the life I have, so I’ve got a complete fear of messing up, of making a misstep where it all comes crumbling down. It’s a high-wire act in my brain all the time.’ She was, she added to the Daily Mail, ‘a really big worrier’.
The attention she was focusing on her own feelings was matched by that paid to her by Borchetta and her parents. She had plenty of good people around her, watching over her wellbeing. They were all only too aware of the contradictions in her life: on the one hand, she was a celebrated music starlet, with a critically acclaimed and commercially viable album on the shelves. But she was also still a schoolgirl.
Taylor wore the paradox well, as she had an old head on her young shoulders. That maturity would serve her well in the next chapter of her career. She was about to discover just what an adult world she had entered.
Like many young celebrities, Taylor attracted much speculation on her personal life as her fame soared. Before she became publicly linked with high-profile men, there was curiosity over why she did not have a partner. In April 2008, she was featured as the cover star of Blender magazine. The cover line introduced her as the ‘boyfriend trashing, radio ruling, girl next door’. In the accompanying video, she was probed over why she did not have a partner. She claimed that she had not kissed a guy in nearly two years. ‘I just don’t have the time,’ she said. She was asked who her dream prom date would be, and replied that it would be an infamous, and openly gay, celebrity blogger. ‘Perez Hilton! Your prom date is supposed to be fun and hilarious, and I think I’d have more fun with Perez than with anyone else.’ It was a shrewd deflection of the question.
In keeping with the squeaky-clean, wholesome image that was being sculpted for her, she added that as well as being man free, she also eschewed the party circuit. ‘There could be drinking there or whatever,’ she said, as if the very prospect was enough to make any Blender reader shudder along with her. ‘Your career could go up in smoke just like that. It’s not worth the risk.’ Instead, she said, she preferred simple dining at the family-friendly US restaurant chain Applebee’s. This was the ultimate imagery of clean-cut America. While she would retain her good-girl image when it came to partying, she would in time be associated with an eventful, rather than non-existent, love life.
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