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when she was three, five, six,
seven years old. It’s Taylor doing
what she likes to do.” Taylor
herself has similar memories.
“My parents have videos of
me on the beach at, like, three,
going up to people and singing
Lion King
songs for them. I was
literally going from towel to towel,
saying, ‘Hi, I’m Taylor. I’m going
to sing “I Just Can’t Wait To Be
King” for you now.’”
On March 11, 1992, Taylor
was joined by a younger brother,
Austin, who has often appeared,
along with his friends, in Taylor’s
videos. Austin, who bears a
striking resemblance to his
sister, studied at the University
of Notre Dame in Indiana and
Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
“He goes to college and just
lives a completely different life
than me,” says Taylor. Austin
is also a talented freelance
photographer; his pictures of his
sister have appeared in
People
and
Rolling Stone
.
Taylor recollects her homespun
upbringing with fondness.
“Growing up in Pennsylvania was
awesome. I wouldn’t change
one thing about my childhood.
We had horses and a million
cats, and my brother had a
huge dirt pile that we played in.
Those are the memories I have
of growing up in Pennsylvania –
having a lot of room to run, wide
open spaces.”
Summers were spent at her
parents’ holiday home in Stone
Harbor, “a cute little town” on
the Jersey shore. “We lived on
this basin where all this magical
stuff would happen. One time
a dolphin swam into our basin.
We had this family of otters that
would live on our dock at night.
We’d turn the light on and you’d
see them, you know, hanging
out, just being otters. And then
ABOVE:
Taylor pictured with her mother, Andrea, at the Country Music Awards.
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