Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts Bring Out the Teen Fans
By Kellie B Gormly
Thousands of young faces will form a significant part of the audience sea at Rascal Flatts’ and Taylor Swift’s Saturday night Post-Gazette Pavilion concert, one of the Pittsburgh area’s biggest of the year.
Possibly more than any other country acts, Swift, a Pennsylvanian who will turn 19 in December, and Rascal Flatts have gigantic fan followings of swooning teenagers and early 20-something adults, along with more mature fans. Part of the artists’ appeal to boys and girls, and young men and women, surely are their crush-triggering looks, country music industry experts say.
Then, for Swift specifically, it’s the fact that the native of Reading, Berks County, is a peer of her younger fans. This is reflected in many of the lyrics of her self-penned songs about the thrills and angst of adolescence.
“She speaks the language,” says Ken Tucker, Nashville correspondent for Billboard magazine. “She knows what teenagers are thinking, and what they’re going through.”
Swift has become a teen idol to younger fans, says deejay Jeremy Mulder of Froggy 98.3.
“I think Taylor Swift is your classic case of a young girl that boys obviously think is hot — and the women want to be like her,” says Mulder, who does the afternoon “Danger Show” on Froggy 98.3.
“Teenage boys would love to have her as their girlfriend, and teenage girls would love to be Taylor Swift,” he says.
Swift — who won this year’s top new female vocalist honor from the Academy of Country Music — became an almost overnight sensation two years ago with the release of her self-titled debut album, which includes the hits “Tim McGraw,”"Teardrops on My Guitar,”"Our Song” and “Picture to Burn.” That album sold more than 3 million copies, and includes the current No. 1 song on country radio: “Should’ve Said No.”
Swift has enjoyed international exposure the past few weeks as one of the featured artists during NBC’s Olympics coverage as part of the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack. She performs the song “Change,” which will appear on her sophomore CD, due out this fall. This has contributed to her growing status as a household name, says Michael McCall, an editor for the publications put out by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
“She’s reached that point, I think, very quickly, where you grow beyond the genre where you are,” McCall says.
With her singing, songwriting and guitar-playing talents, along with her good looks, Swift is “the total package,” Mulder says.
“Country music is so lucky to have her,” he says.
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts’ members — Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney — all are in their 30s, so they are older than the demographic that seems to form the band’s biggest fan base. It’s their hipness and looks, along with their romantic love songs, that tend to make them heartthrobs for girls and young women, say deejay Jeremy Mulder and writer Ken Tucker. Then, there’s the energy and emotion of the music, especially when live, that appeal to anyone, says Tucker, Nashville correspondent for Billboard magazine.
“Whatever it is, they have a very pop sound,” he says. “It’s a very energetic show.”
Rascal Flatts’ consistency has carried the band to its huge successes of the past eight years, Tucker says. Starting with the self-titled debut album that came out in 2000, each of the band’s five studio albums — including the current one, “Still Feels Good” – - has earned at least double-platinum status.
“You know what you’re getting when you’re going to listen to a Rascal Flatts record,” Tucker says.
Michael McCall, an editor Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum publication, says Rascal Flatts seems to get better each year, and each album builds on the previous one. Part of the band’s appeal to young people, also, might be the singers’ especially high, tenor voices, which make them sound young.
Rascal Flatts might have stolen the hearts of millions of teenage girls and young women, but the band has plenty of more mature fans, too. Pat Osborne, a 40-something from Murrysville, is one of them; she even works as street team leader for the fan club in the Pittsburgh area.
What is it about Rascal Flatts that makes them such a sensation?
“They’re awfully cute,” Osborne says about the trio. “They put on a great show; they have great voices.
“They’re awesome musicians,” she continues. “They’re really, really, really great guys. I’ve met them several times, and they really love and appreciate their fans. They are very religious, and they always credit God with all their success. They’re humble.”
Rascal Flatts facts
The group formed after second cousins Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus moved to Nashville from Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s and hooked up with guitarist Joe Don Rooney, of Oklahoma.
The group’s self-titled debut album in 2000 went double-platinum and had four hit singles.
“Feels Like Today,” released in 2004, debuted at No. 1 on both pop and country charts and sold nearly 5 million copies. It spawned the No. 2 tour of 2005, with 750,000 fans in 70 cities, and led to a host of awards and honors, including Grammys for country song of the year (“Bless The Broken Road”) and vocal performance.
They have won the Academy of Country Music’s vocal group of the year award five times.
Swift’s busy year
Earlier this month, she was nominated in the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards best new artist category. The awards ceremony is Sept. 7.
In early August, Swift won the Teen Choice award for breakout artist.
In July, Swift got her high school diploma by mail. She left public school after the 10th grade to pursue her music career. She finished her degree through home schooling.
In April, at the CMT Music Awards, she won for video of the year and top female video for “Our Song,” which she wrote when she was in the ninth grade.
(c) 2008 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.