Taylor Swift is talking a lot these days about wanting to put more emphasis on her country roots.
Nearly 20 years after Swift released her debut single, "Tim McGraw," the global superstar returned to those narrative-driven country beginnings during a Recording Academy conversation on Aug. 18 at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
"I love my country roots more and more the further along this path I get," Swift said to the room of industry professionals and songwriting voters. "And I want to honor them more and more. And I feel more tied and more loyal to them."
The singer traced those branches back to Music City, as she has done several times this year.
In an April video for The New York Times, which named Swift among the 30 greatest living songwriters,
she described country and folk storytelling as the first songwriting style she fell in love with. She recalled studying songs by The Chicks and Kenny Chesney that moved characters through different stages of life, allowing the same chorus to take on new meaning each time.
"That was the first thing that made me think, 'It's got to be country music,'" she said.
She also credited Nashville with teaching her the architecture she continues to use, even after expanding into pop, folk and other genres.
"I came up as a songwriter in Nashville, where structure is a huge part of how you effectively tell a story," she said.
At her Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in New York City in June, Swift again referenced Nashville. Her family moved from Pennsylvania to Hendersonville so she could pursue songwriting. She recalled arriving at Music Row sessions after school with a backpack full of hooks, choruses and partially finished songs.
Earlier this month, she was named one of five songwriters to make Nashville's Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"From the time I started writing songs as a child, I fixated on Nashville as the perfect place to be," Swift said in a statement to the foundation. "I wanted to learn with and from the best and get to immerse myself in a community of storytellers, and thankfully Nashville turned out to be exactly what I'd dreamed of. A town that validated and prioritized hard work, determination and imagination."
'I Knew It, I Knew You'
The singer-songwriter released "I Knew It, I Knew You" in June, a guitar-and-harmonica-tinged song written with Jack Antonoff for Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5."
Swift described writing it as "a musical departure and coming home at the same time."
So why is Swift putting so much attention on her country roots now?
Just before the movie track's release, Swift invited a select group of country radio programmers and on-air personalities to her family's Forest Hills residence for a private listening session. "I Knew It, I Knew You" later advanced to the CMA Awards' write-in round to the second ballot for single of the year.
On Aug. 24, the song continued to be prominently advertised in Country Aircheck Today ahead of its Aug. 28 country radio impact date. She also chose it to open her three-song mashup at the Recording Academy event in Los Angeles, alongside "August" and "All Too Well."
The timing coincides with the 20th anniversary of her self-titled country debut, which remains one of two albums from her original catalog without a released Taylor's Version. Swift also has not announced her 13th studio album.
Whether the country activity is leading toward "Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version)," a country-influenced 13th era, or something else entirely, Swift is now making her country roots more visible than they have been in years.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift talks 'country roots', plans for 'more' at Grammy Museum
