Taylor Swift, in full Taylor Alison Swift, (born December 13, 1989, West Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American pop and country music singer-songwriter whose tales of young heartache achieved widespread success in the early 21st century. Swift showed an interest in music at an early age, and she progressed quickly from roles in children’s theatre to her first appearance before a crowd of thousands. She was age 11 when she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a Philadelphia 76ers basketball game, and the following year she picked up the guitar and began to write songs. Taking her inspiration from country music artists such as Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks, Swift crafted original material that reflected her experiences of tween alienation. When she was 13, Swift’s parents sold their farm in Pennsylvania to move to Hendersonville, Tennessee, so that she could devote more of her time to courting country labels in nearby Nashville. A development deal with RCA Records allowed Swift to make the acquaintance of recording-industry veterans, and in 2004, at age 14, she signed with Sony/ATV as a songwriter. At venues in the Nashville area, she performed many of the songs she had written, and it was at one such performance that she was noticed by record executive Scott Borchetta. Borchetta signed Swift to his fledgling Big Machine label, and her first single, “Tim McGraw” (inspired by and prominently referencing a song by Swift’s favourite country artist), was released in the summer of 2006.