Taylor Alison Swift was born on
December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennyslyvania. Her father, Scott Swift, is a financial adviser.He was raised in Pennsylvania and is
the descendant of three generations of president.Her mother, Andrea, is a
homemaker who previously worked as a marketing executive. Andrea spent the first ten years of her
life in Sinagpore, before settling in Texas;
her father was an oil rig engineer who worked at Southeast Asia.Swift was named after singer James Taylor; her mother believed a
gender-neutral name would help her to be a successful business carrer. She has a younger brother, Austin, who school at Vanderbilt University. She spent the early years of her life and was educated at the fee paying Wyndcroft School. When Swift was nine years old, the
family moved to Wyomissing,pennyslyvani,where she attended West Reading
Elementary Center and Wyomissing senior high school.She spent her summers at her parent's
vacation home in Stone Harbor,New Jersey and has described it as the place
"where most of my childhood memories were formed".
Swift's first hobby was English Horse Riding. Her mother put her in a
saddle when she was nine months old and Swift later competed in Horse shows. At the age of nine, Swift turned her
attention to musical theatre and performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy
productions of Grease,Annie, Bye Bye Birdie
and The Sound of Music. She travelled regularly to Broadway,New York
for vocal and acting lessons. However, "after a few years of auditioning
in New York and not getting anything", Swift became interested in country music. She spent her weekends performing at
local festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, karaoke contests, garden clubs, Boy Scout
meetings and hospital. At the age of eleven, after many attempts .Swift won a local talent competition
by singing a rendition of LeAnn rimes's and "Big Deal", and was given the opportunity to
appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown theather. This interest in country music
isolated Swift from her middle school peers.
After watching a Behind The Music episode about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure that "there was
this magical land called Nashville
where dreams come true and that's where I needed to go.She travelled with her mother to
Nashville for spring break to leave a demo of and Divie Chics karaoke covers with record labels
along Music Row.She began performing the "The Star Spangles Banner at sporting events because it was an
opportunity to "get in front of 20,000 people without even having a record deal". At the age of twelve, Swift was shown
by a computer repairman how to play three chords on a guitar, inspiring her to
write her first song, "Lucky YOU". She had previously won a national
poetry contest with a poem entitled "Monster in My Closet" but now
began to focus on songwriting. In 2003, Swift and her parents started
working with New York-based music manager Dan Dymtrow. With Dymtrow's help, Swift modelled
for Abercrombie and
as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song
included in a Maybelline Cosmetics
compilation CD and took meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, the eight-grader was given
an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville.
When Swift was fourteen, her father
transferred to the Nashville office of Merrill Lynch and the family relocated
to a lake-shore house is Henderssonville , Tennesee. Swift later described this as "an
incredible sacrifice" for her family to make. Her parents "presented it as a
move to a nice community" rather than as her chance to become a star, and her mother has said, "We've
always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our
dreams come true." In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School for her freshman and sophomore years. Later, to accommodate her touring
schedule, Swift transferred to the Aaron Academy, a private Christian school
which offered homeschooling services. A straight-A student, Swift earned her
high school diploma in 2008.
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