Personnel: Taylor Swift (vocals, guitars, background vocals); Bruce Bouton (dobro); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Tim Marks (electric bass); Eric Darken (percussion).
Like no Nashville-based female singer since Mary Chapin Carpenter, Taylor Swift brings a charming folkie singer-songwriter quality to her self-titled debut album. Writing or co-writing all 11 songs, including the giddy debut single "Tim McGraw," Swift favors crisp acoustic guitars over weepy pedal steels, and the overall vibe of the album evokes vintage Carly Simon as much as it does the real Mrs. Tim McGraw, Faith Hill. That Swift is this insightful both musically and lyrically at only 16 bodes well for both her own career and the future of Nashville. minimize