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Shortly after moving to
Wyomissing, Taylor began to
develop an interest in musical
theater and appeared in Berks
Youth Theater Academy
productions. “I played Sandy in
Grease
. I was an orphan in
Annie
and did
Bye-Bye Birdie
and
The
Sound Of Music
.” She regularly
made the 130-mile journey to
New York to take singing and
acting lessons, but auditions in
the Big Apple proved a dispiriting
experience. Soon another passion
took a grip on her. “I started to
realize that what I looked forward
to the most was the after-parties,
where they had a karaoke
machine set up and I could sing
country music.”
At age 10, Taylor was learning
to sing like Faith Hill, the Dixie
Chicks, and Shania Twain,
Nineties “crossover country”
acts that had ignited her love for
the genre. Taylor began to sing
wherever and whenever she
could – at Boy Scout meetings,
garden clubs, local festivals, or
hospitals. Her father took her
to the Pat Garrett Roadshow,
a talent contest in nearby
Strausstown, where his 11-year-
old daughter won a support slot
at an upcoming local Charlie
Daniels gig.
After watching a VH1 television
documentary on Faith Hill, Taylor
realized that Nashville was the
place to make her dreams reality
– and, with the Strausstown
success spurring her on, she
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