New Book Chronicles How Nashville Shaped Taylor Swift’s ‘Debut Years’ [AUTHOR INTERVIEW]

Even diehard Swifties might learn something new about the singer's origin story from Taylor Swift: The Debut Years, a new deep-dive from The Washington Post pop culture reporter Emily Yahr.

But you don't need to be a Taylor Swift fan to enjoy the book: The Debut Years paints a vivid picture of the inner workings of Nashville, the songwriting industry and the precipitous path an artist (particularly a young female artist) might walk to superstardom.

Readers will find example after example of why the Nashville country music industry often calls itself a family that operates under "small town rules": Personal connection, in this business, is everything, and that unbroken circle can uplift or isolate a new artist.

Read More: Remember When Taylor Swift Launched Her First Headlining Tour?

The book also examines Big Machine's unlikely — and, at some points, seemingly impossible! — rise with a narrative that (for industry nerds at least) is nothing short of gripping.

St. Martin's Press

Most importantly, Taylor Swift: The Debut Years unwinds a global phenomenon back to its roots. Through Yahr's many in-depth interviews — and through the interviews she didn't land, along with her best explanations as to how and why — readers see how Swift emerged from youthful workhorse to unstoppable superstar through one of the greatest Nashville success stories ever told.

"When one of the world's most powerful celebrities gets their start in country music, and then becomes the first and only woman to sell more than one hundred million RIAA-certified album units and headlines the highest-grossing tour in history, it deserves a closer look," Yahr writes. "And Taylor's origin story is key to understanding how she became the superstar she is today."

Below, Taste of Country spoke to Yahr about writing her book, and what she learned about Taylor Swift — and the music industry — in the process.

Did you originally sit down wanting to write a book that was more about Taylor Swift or more about the country music industry? 

I think it really ended up being pretty even. I love writing about country music — I've done it for years at the Post. I did, years ago, think about writing a book about the behind-the-scenes of Nashville. I was just so fascinated by how every segment of the industry works, from radio to publishing to labels to management. All of that just operates in its own way in Nashville, and I love writing about it.

Evan Agostini/Getty Images

I started writing about Taylor right as she transitioned to the pop world, and anytime I was able to write about her as a country singer, it was always my favorite thing, because it combined these two topics that I really loved writing about.

The idea for the book, I think, really started during the Eras tour, and just seeing how much excitement there was anytime she would sing a song from her debut album. And how there were so many questions about "Why doesn't she have a specific debut set in her tour?" That just caught my attention, that so many people still really care about that early music. And then her fan base magnified so much during that tour, as it became this global phenomenon. There seemed to be a lot of newer people in that fan base that knew the basics of her start in Nashville, but didn't really know the full story.

Was there anything in researching this book that you were completely shocked to learn?

I didn't realize how close Big Machine was to not even launching. I had kind of known that Scott Borchetta was this really powerful radio executive who wanted to branch out on his own and start a label, and that it was very scrappy at the beginning. Taylor always tells that story about how she and her mom were stuffing the CDs to send to radio. But I didn't realize the whole story about how that label started, and how if they didn't meet a certain deadline for investors for the money they needed, that label wouldn't have even happened.

A lot of Swifties might think first of the fall-out between Taylor Swift and Scott Borchetta in 2019 when they think of Big Machine. Do you think that part of her story needed a reframe?

I don't know about a reframe, but maybe a reminder of how it all started. It is sad to see what happened, I think. At the beginning — I mean, they've both talked about it — it really was this, like, magical partnership that worked perfectly as an executive who was willing to take risks and think outside the box, and this artist who was just like nothing Nashville had ever seen before, who was charging ahead and had her strong vision.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

So it was interesting to revisit that time and see how it all started: How at the beginning it was this perfect match of executive and artist that took off so much faster than I think either of them realized it would.

This book fills out some pieces of Taylor Swift lore into the full story that even longtime fans might not know — like how Kenny Chesney wrote her a big check because she couldn't open his tour since it was sponsored by an alcohol brand and she was under the legal drinking age.

Yeah, I think that was such a great story. I think it had been talked about a little bit, but no one ever noticed — or, there were parts of the story that had been told, but in her TIME Person of the Year interview in 2023, the lede of the article was her remembering when she couldn't go on his tour because it was sponsored by an alcohol company.

Rick Diamond, Getty Images

They gave her this huge check that really gave her a big boost. So I'd read that, and then going back [and researching this book], I was putting the pieces together.

It was interesting to read about established country stars' initial reaction to Taylor, like Garth Brooks.

Yeah, I loved the Garth story from after [Country Radio Seminar], how they just went and talked in the studio for a while. That was also something I kept hearing: How similar they were in terms of that thing where you can't always articulate it, but [you know] that's a star. And how they make you feel like you're the only person in the room. People had very similar language when they talked about Garth and Taylor.

Gustavo Caballero, Getty Images

You were unable to interview Taylor Swift herself for this book. If you could have picked one section or topic to have her weigh in on, what would it have been?

I think the one thing she has not talked about or explained about the Eras Tour is why she didn't have a dedicated set to her debut album. We've learned so much about [the tour and the set list choices] during the documentary, and the interviews she's given, but that is the one thing she hasn't addressed. And that is the one thing I feel like the fandom really wants to know. So right now, if I got the chance to ask her one question, I feel like I'd just have to ask her that, on behalf of everybody.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Taylor Swift: The Debut Years is out now via St. Martin's Press.