Swift Rise

Sea Ray Living
Published: Spring 2006

Meet Taylor Swift, the 16-year-old daughter of Sea Ray owners Scott and Andrea Swift, and a freshly signed country music artist on Big Machine Record. Sure she’s got the stage presence, songwriting and singing talents to blow you away, but we’re certain being a Sea Ray kid has to have contributed to her success.

Taylor and her brother, Austin, grew up spending weekends and summers at Stone Harbor on the New Jersey shore on the family’s 210 Sundeck. “It was our way of life,” Scott says. But Taylor was signed to a development deal by RCA when she was 12 and Nashville called. The family discovered Old Hickory Lake, and a house with a dock where they now keep their 420 Sundancer and 220 Sundeck bought from Erwin Marine.

“I’ve always loved boating with my family, and now living on Old Hickroy we can do it almost anytime we want,” Taylor says. “Signing with Big Machine just adds another level of excitement all together.”

Debut Singer/Songwriters Climbing The Artist Success Ladder

Music Row
Published: December 2006
by David M. Ross

Singer/songwriters have always been a country music mainstay and ’06 produced a bumper crop… Their music is diverse – it spans from country rock to roots to traditional to country pop. The short info-graphs are not intended to be critical reviews, rather they are fashioned to give readers an idea of each artist’s story and musical style. Purists may find Hunks & Hotties a disrespectful moniker, but a quick glimpse at the photos should prove the point that in today’s video-centric entertainment world, image is a factor not to be ignored…

Taylor Swift
Label: Big Machine
Producer: Nathan Chapman
Management: Taylor Swift Ent.
Release Date: 10/24/2006
Debut Week Sales: 39,062
Total Sales (12/6/06): 137,075

Debut Spotlight

CMA Close Up Magazine
Published: October/November 2006

Some people spend a lifetime looking for their true calling. Taylor Swift is not one of those people. By the time she was 10, this Wyomissing, Penn., native was “dragging” her parents to festivals, fairs, karaoke contests – just about anywhere there was a stage where she could get up and sing. A year later, she was in Nashville knocking on record company doors. Swift describes her sales pitch at the time as “Hello, I’m Taylor Swift, I’m 11 and I want a record deal.” She didn’t get signed at 11, but she did walk away with some important lessons.

“That trip made me realize I needed to be different than everyone else people saw on Music Row every day,” she said.

Swift returned home, got a 12-string guitar, taught herself how to play and jumped into writing songs. “I played about four hours a day until my parents made me stop to come and eat dinner,” Swift said. “I loved it that much.”

Country Weekly: Music – Who’s New

Country Weekly
Published: July 31, 2006

On the air: “Tim McGraw”

Album: As yet untitled, set for release late summer

Hometowns: Wyomissing, Pa.

Favorite Albums: Blue (1996), LeAnn Rimes; Set This Circus Down (2001), Tim McGraw; Kerosene (2005), Miranda Lambert

Tim’s tune
Taylor’s debut single is called “Tim McGraw”, but it’s not really about Tim – it’s about how we associate our favorite music with the emotions we’re feeling when we hear it.
Nonetheless, she gave a copy to Tim’s producer to pass along to the superstar himself. “Let’s hope he likes it, and doesn’t think I’m a stalker,” she chuckles.

In Tune With Tim

Country Weekly
Published: September 11, 2006

Tim McGraw plays cupid in Taylor Swift’s debut video
By Chris Neal

Taylor Swift’s first top 40 hit, “Tim McGraw”, isn’t really about the superstar of the title. “The song is about the hauting power of country music,” explains Taylor, 16, who co-wrote the tune. “It’s about two people who fall in love to a Tim McGraw song. Even after they break up, every time they hear that song it takes them right back to that place.”

Taylor and actor Clayton Collins play out that story line in the video, which was shot a few months ago at a cabin that belonged to Johnny Cash in Hendersonville, just outside Nashville. “It was absolutely amazing,” notes Taylor. “The building where we did makeup and hair was Johnny and June’s studio. It was just unbelievable, all the history that goes along with being on that property.”

Taylor Made Holiday

Country Weekly
Published: December 18, 2006

Teen star Taylor Swift celebrates her favorite Christmas traditions – and looks forward to adding a new one.
Story by Bob Paxman

Taylor Swift, the teen star who’s riding the charts with her hit “Tim McGraw” and just finished touring with Rascal Flatts, can’t wait to celebrate the holidays at the family home outside of Nashville. But she’s not looking for any special gifts.

When She Thinks “Tim McGraw,” Taylor Swift Savors Payoff

CMT
Published: December 1, 2006

Hardworking Teen to Open for George Strait Next Year
Written by Edward Morris

It takes about 30 seconds of conversing with Taylor Swift to realize that this excited teenager is also a savvy, no-nonsense careerist. Here is a lady who knows exactly what she wants and is bullet straight in going for it.

Swift, who will turn 17 on Dec. 13, is still riding high on her first single, “Tim McGraw.” It is easily the most sensuous and catchy coming-of-age song since “Strawberry Wine,” and her accompanying music video shows these adolescent emotions coming to a boil.

Teen hops on back of ‘Tim McGraw’

USA Today
Published: November 11, 2006
By Brian Mansfied

When you think Tim McGraw: In her breakout single, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift hopes a summer fling remembers her every time he hears the country superstar on the radio. Swift, who turns 17 Dec. 13, is also making that connection in the minds of country fans. Tim McGraw sits at No. 13 on the country singles chart, and Swift’s self-titled album has sold more than 60,000 copies in the month since its release. A bonus: The song probably has fused Swift and McGraw forever in the mind of the old boyfriend who inspired the song. “He bought the album and said he really loved it, which is sweet,” Swift says. “His current girlfriend isn’t too pleased with it, though.”
Everything adds up: Swift started writing Tim McGraw in her freshman math class. “I played it for my record company president,” Swift says. “He looked at me and was like, ‘Well, that’s your first single.’ I was like, ‘OK, I guess that’s how that works, then.’ ” Swift says she aced math that semester.

Taylor Swift Joins Rascal Flatts Tour

CMT
Published: October 18, 2006

Taylor Swift will open shows for Rascal Flatts’ Me and My Gang tour starting Thursday night (Oct. 19) in Omaha. She’ll stay with the tour through its conclusion on Nov. 3 in Albany, N.Y. Swift will release her self-titled debut on Oct. 24 on Big Machine Records; Her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” is approaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s country airplay chart. Swift will also appear on Good Morning America and The Megan Mullally Show on Oct. 24.

Eric Church Quits Rascal Flatts Tour, Taylor Swift New Opener

GAC TV
Published: October 19, 2006

Allaboutcountry.com reports that Capitol/Nashville recording artist Eric Church has quit the Rascal Flatts “Me & My Gang” tour before performing in Omaha on Thursday night.

Eric revealed this to Ritch Cassidy on the air on KXKT (“KAT103″)/Omaha. Eric explained exactly why he quit. He told Cassidy that it was an amiable situation, with “no bad blood” between him and Rascal Flatts.