Taylor Swift Foreshadows Her Own Stardom

1 Oct 09

“An artistic overachiever.” That’s how Taylor Swift’s mom described her. Back when she was only 12.

I found a very old article from a small newspaper in New Jersey that touches on Swift’s drive and determination even at a very young age. She was getting ready to do the national anthem at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in New York City. And when the reporter caught up with her, she was coming off a summer of singing at Henny’s Driftwood Dining Room in Stone Harbor, N.J., and getting ready to open for the Charlie Daniels Band at a Pennsylvania show.

So how did Swift’s mom Andrea know her little girl was destined for greatness? “Taylor has been singing constantly since she could talk,” she said. “We would take her to a movie like The Little Mermaid and she would memorize the songs right away and sing them on the way home.”

Taylor herself knew she wanted to sing and act when she got her first taste of performing in the second-grade school play. “Right after that, I saw an ad for a children’s theater company and I auditioned,” she told the newspaper. “I got in the company, and in my second play, I got a lead role. I love singing more than acting, but I like to act because I think it helps with stage presence.”

And even back then, she rarely had any stage fright. “When I see all those people, it’s such a rush,” she said. At the time of the interview, she had also won a national poetry contest in 2001 and was in the process of writing a book about a pre-teen girl’s outlook on life.

This was all happening about the same time she was loving country music and starting to pressure her family to move to Nashville. Her little 12-year-old plan? “I want to get signed with a record company and take it from there,” she said. She did have an alternate career path mapped out, though. She told the paper if she couldn’t sing as a career, she’d go into interior design or write children’s books. Fast forward seven years, and it’s obvious there was no need for that Plan B.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Posted By: Fan Country / Shows / Popularity: 1% [?]

Related posts:

1. Taylor Swift!? AND Taylor Lautner!? OMG!!!

   Everyone’s already been talking, blogging, writing and podcasting about the...

2. Is Taylor Swift Anything Like Chris Gaines?

   When Taylor Swift explained the idea behind her next album,...

3. A Brush With Stardom at Colgate Country Showdown

   Last weekend, I had the honor of judging a local...

4. A Brush With Stardom at Colgate Country Showdown

   Last weekend, I had the honor of judging a local...

5. Taylor Swift Belongs With New York City

   It’s really hard, but I am going to try to...