InsideVandy.com staff writer Matt Reynolds conducted a phone interview with country music star (and local Nashville resident) on Feb. 21. Swift's debut self-titled album was released by Big Machine Records on Oct. 24, 2006; read Reynold's review here.
MR: To someone who has never heard of you, how would you describe your music?
TS: Well my music is honest. I'm a singer/songwriter and I've written every song on my album. I like to write about relationships-love or getting out of it and stuff like that.
MR: How did you initially deal with the fame that came with your debut album?
TS: It was pretty cool to see that the album came out and people actually bought it. I had so much support from radio. It was so cool to see how many people were latching onto what I was doing and really believed in me. For people to spend their hard earned money and support me - that's really something that I appreciate.
MR: You constantly read other publications hyping about your age. At some point, does it become distracting that people constantly take your age into consideration whenever listening to your music?
TS: I feel like it's been hyped the minimum amount that it could have possibly been hyped. When my label released my single to radio, they didn't say on any piece of press that I was 16. Of course people are going to talk about it because it is what it is. I am 17 years old, but part of me doesn't want to be a rebel too much and be like ‘stop saying I'm 17', because I am. I don't have a problem talking about my age because it's never been used as something to get me ahead-ever.
MR: What event would you describe as your big break in the industry?
TS: I don't consider my big break to have ever happened as a singer. My first break came as a songwriter when I was 14 years old and I to a publishing deal with Sony Publishing. From that point on I was a paid songwriter. I would go in every day and write songs with some of the best songwriters in town. I met so many people through that and learned so many things so I really consider that to be my big break.
MR: Is there anything about the music industry that is different than you thought coming into it?
TS: If you had told me two years ago that I would be home one day a week if that, and that I would live in a bus and in airports, and be in a different state every single day - I don't know if I would have thought I could have handled it back then. Now that it's really happening in my life and I'm playing shows every night of the week, I realize that I can do it and it's not hard. This was a very gradual process for me, I had time to practice and prepare for all of this. Being on the road is my favorite part of what I do.
MR: After with is over, what are your plans?
TS: We've already grouped the songs for the next album, and I begin to record in the next couple months. I wrote some of the new songs during the course of the publishing deal, so a lot of the songs are stuff that I've already written.
MR: How do you want people to remember you when your career is over?
TS: When people look back on my career, I'd love for them to look at what I've done and say wow, she wrote songs for herself but she also wrote that hit for someone else, and then someone else." I'd love for people to look back and say that I never took anything for granted and I appreciated everything that was ever given to me because everything can be taken away if I make one wrong move. I want people to look back and realize that I was really respectful of the music industry and my career - and that I sold millions and millions of albums. [she laughs]
This article was written by Matthew Reynolds, writer and CD reviewer for the and freelance writer for . See his personal blog for more music reviews.
