Don’t forget MTMS is holding a Taylor-themed Swiftie Camp this summer the week of June 24th. It’s going to be amazing. Sign up here:
Born in December 1989, Taylor Swift is an incredibly accomplished musician. She’s known for prolific writing or co-writing her music, and she plays guitar, piano, banjo, and ukulele. Of course she also sings.
She learned music from a computer repairman, Ronnie Cremer, when he went to fix her broken computer. She was 12, and he played guitar left-handed. So while she is right-handed, she still plays left-handed.
Taylor began professional songwriting when submitting covers of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers. She did better with her original music and got an artist development deal at 13.
When she was 14, Taylor’s family sold their Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Nashville to let her follow her musical dreams. Her influences may have been The Chicks, Shania Twain, and Faith Hill, which led her to the wide and varied songs she writes today.
Taylor Swift is particularly well known for writing and performing songs about her personal life, feelings and relationships. She has been the target of media attention – both good and bad – as a result of her openness and vulnerability in her lyrics, and she writes songs about the media attention, too.