Taylor Swift is comfortable in her skin
Nashville's teen country sensation relishes position as a role model
She's currently the hottest thing in country music, but Taylor Swift doesn't feel like she's the cool kid in class.
In this instance, the class is this year's all-genre crop of best new artist nominees at tonight's Grammy Awards. Swift, 18, is competing against Franklin-based teen rock group Paramore, as well as Amy Winehouse, Feist and Ledisi.
"The fact that I share the age thing with Paramore, and we're also both from Nashville, is a huge deal," Swift said. "Our music couldn't be any more different, but what they do is exciting to me, and they are the sweetest people.
"When I heard their name announced as one of the nominees, I was like, 'Oh, I don't have a shot,' because there's a cool factor that I don't feel like I have. I guess you never feel like you're cool, is what I'm trying to say."
Dubbed "Grammy's All-American alternative" by Entertainment Weekly, the poised, articulate Swift is the antithesis of many of today's troubled, rehab-hopping pop stars. Her lyrics and clothing are consistently age-appropriate — her standard wardrobe is a nonrevealing dress and cowboy boots. Her songs explore young themes of unrequited crushes and first loves.
"She just seems to be very grounded," says her friend country singer Kellie Pickler. "I think a lot of it is the people that you surround yourself with, and she has an amazing family. Her mother and her father, down to her brother, they really support and love and guide her."
Swift once promised a radio station staff that she wouldn't drink alcohol until she turns 21. She won't even drink water out of a glass at parties for fear that such an image could be misconstrued.
"I'm trying to be who I am and not succumb to acting cool or grown up," she said. "That's the thing I'm trying to stay away from. It's just so dependent upon what is in right now or what trends people are following. If my life comes to that, I will consider myself a failure."
No plans to get edgier
Swift's wholesome image has struck a chord with both adults, who enjoy the nostalgia sparked by her songs, and children, who have contributed largely to the 38 million music streams on her MySpace page.
Swift's self-titled album, which was released in October 2006, has sold more than 2 million copies and spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Country Albums chart, a position she occupied more than any other country artist last year.
Last year, Swift won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award and a CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year. She tied with Alan Jackson for the songwriter/artist of the year at the Nashville Songwriters Association International's annual awards.
To top it all, she is the youngest person ever to solely write and sing a No. 1 country song: "Our Song," which spent six weeks at No. 1. Her Top 10 pop hit "Teardrops on My Guitar" is being played on pop radio in Los Angeles this Grammy week.
Swift is making her second album and said she has no plans to take her music edgier.
"I'm totally cool with who I am," Swift said. "I really like it when a mom comes up to me and says, 'Thank you so much for being a great role model to my 6-year-old daughter.' That is the best compliment you could ever give me. I think when you get edgier, you lose that a little bit. It limits the amount of people who can listen to your music who are younger."
Swift — whom Us Weekly listed as one of Hollywood's 10 most powerful girls — believes the fact that she writes her own music had a lot to do with her best new artist nomination.
The former Hendersonville High student says her upbringing gave her the strength to resist the temptations of all this success at 18.
"Also I take into account the fact that there are 10-year-old girls all over the country that see my video," she said. "They'll see if I am on the cover of a magazine topless. I don't want to envision the look on some little girl's face if she saw something that shocked her that I did.
"It plays into everything I do and every decision that I make, and it's not a burden. It's just the way that I live my life because of the way my life has turned out. I've been given an amazing gift in terms of this career, and I realize that although we've had tremendous success in the first year and a half of it, it could go away tomorrow if I make the wrong choices."
Pickler said Swift is very confident, "as she should be, because she's been doing this a long time. I think she started writing when she was 10 or 11, so this isn't even really new to her. The longer you do it, the more comfortable you are onstage. She has a good head on her shoulders. She is a pro; she's better than me."
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