Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and lives with her parents, Scott and Andrea, and her brother, Austin, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift's influences include her grandmother and LeAnn Rimes. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Taylor's tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age.

 

 She also credits the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain for demonstrating how much impact can be made by "stretching boundaries". At the age of ten, Swift began to perform around her home town, Wyomissing, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs, and also started writing songs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo tapes at a studio.

 

At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville in hopes of obtaining a record deal by handing out a demo tape she had made of her singing along to karaoke songs. She handed this tape to receptionists at every label on Music Row. After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, when her rendition of the national anthem moved the crowd. Swift signed to a record label when she was 13 years old, but walked away because it "wasn't where she wanted to be."