In 2005, a tall fifteen-year-old girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and zero trace of stage fright sat down amongst a group of seasoned musicians in Nashville, Tennessee's legendary Bluebird Cafe. Located near the heart of Nashville's Music Row, Bluebird is truly one of a kind. In its music-in-the-round setting, singers and songwriters take turns playing their tunes and accompanying one another for a small crowd of just over 100 people. In this modest setting, record executives from numerous recording labels are regular attendees and country music icons like Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks were discovered.

The tall fifteen-year-old girl played her heartfelt songs with the same poise, skill, and honesty she had since she was a child. For such a young performer, the road traveled to this point had already been strenuous.

But this teenager showed no hint of fatigue. She demonstrated the talent and depth that has since inked her name into the history books and taken her to the top of the music industry.

In 2005, Taylor Swift was not merely presenting herself to recording executives in the hopes of getting signed to a record label. What Taylor was attempting to do at the Bluebird Cafe was sell people on an idea: a teenage girl could write and record her own songs and people across the country would want to buy them. To most country music executives, this idea seemed far-fetched. But to Taylor, writing was just as important as performing. Her desire was not to sing songs to large crowds. Her desire was to tell those crowds the story of her life as she lived it. As long as there has been country music, there have been country musicians, spilling their guts for a shot at recognition.

Some have sought fame and fortune—an appearance on WSM radio's Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio show in U.S. history, could make a musician a household name overnight. Others merely desired to make a living, playing the music that they loved. Whatever their ambition, if a musician wanted to make a career in country music, there was one place they needed to be: Nashville, Tennessee.

Dubbed "Music City" in the early 20^th century, Nashville has come to be known as "the songwriting capital of the world."

During the Great Depression, radio was one of the few sources of entertainment for people with no extra money for things like movies or restaurants. The Grand Ole Opry, broadcast out of Nashville, became an absolute sensation. Loyal listeners from 30 different states tuned their dials to WSM every Saturday night for a mix of country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, comedic performances, and skits.

Making his first appearance on Grand Ole Opry in 1946 was a guitar-picking genius named Chet Atkins.

A virtuosic musician and creator of what the media labeled the "Nashville Sound," Chet Atkins wrote, recorded, and produced music in the area now known as "Music Row" for decades. Without his innovations, Elvis Presley and rock and roll might have wiped out country music altogether. Instead, Chet Atkins developed a sound that broadened country music's appeal, and helped preserve Nashville's standing in the music world.

During her Bluebird Cafe performance, Taylor caught the attention of a record executive, and in October of 2006, Big Machine Records released her debut album, Taylor Swift. The New York Times called it "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country," but it was Taylor's tireless self-promotion that made it a hit.

She used the online social networking site Myspace to grow her fan base, appeared on the television version of "Grand Ole Opry," as well as "Good Morning America" and "TRL," and baked cookies for radio station programmers who played her music. Her hard work paid off. Taylor Swift has now sold nearly six million copies.

Taylor's subsequent albums Fearless and Speak Now have combined to sell over 14 million copies worldwide. She has expanded the appeal of country music and inspired countless teenage girls across the world to value their voices.

Taylor doesn't write for the masses; she writes for herself. But in her songs about struggling to fit into this world are the stories of millions of young girls who have experienced the same ups and downs. She brought country music into the 21^st century using the same model that worked for country musicians for over a hundred years: write honestly about your life.