John Shearer/Getty Images for 13 ManagementTaylor Swift may be gearing up for a stadium tour, but on Saturday night, she made an unannounced appearance at a tiny venue in the city where she got her start: Nashville
As The Tennessean reports, a crowd of about 40 people were shocked when songwriter Craig Wiseman, the top-billed performer at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Cafe on Saturday night, brought Taylor out to join him. Wiseman, who’s written hits for Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Blake Shelton, has known Taylor since she was a teenager.
According to the Tennessean, Taylor told the crowd, “I wanted to say a big thank you to the Bluebird Cafe. I think any songwriter in town would echo my sentiments and say that this is kind of the only place where this exists — this particular place where you get to come and hear the writer’s take on the songs they’ve put out into the world.”
Taylor also noted that when she performed at the Bluebird in the past, she’d never had the experience of playing a song that she’s written for another artist that became a hit. In the past year or so, she’s now had that experience, when Little Big Town took her composition “Better Man” to #1. Taylor played that song, “Shake It Off” and “Love Story”
She and Wiseman also reminisced about doing shots of Fireball whiskey at an after-party years ago. Wiseman then broke out a mini bottle of Fireball, and both of them did shots.
Taylor’s performance was filmed for a documentary marking the 35th anniversary of the Bluebird Cafe. The venue means a great deal to Taylor: Scott Borchetta, the head of her record label, first saw her play the room when she was an 8th grader and offered her a publishing deal.
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