At 17, Taylor Swift has had the kind of success some artists twice her age can only dream about.

The Pennsylvania-born, Tennessee-based country artist's self-titled debut landed at No. 3 on Billboard's Country Albums chart, No. 15 on the Hot 200 and was certified gold 13 weeks after its release.

In April, Swift skipped her prom to pick up the CMT Breakthrough Video of the Year Award for her smash single, "Tim McGraw." But it wasn't until the Academy of Country Music Awards last month that the teenager met the namesake behind her hit.

"It was unbelievable, I was performing on stage and it was just me and my guitar. After my song, I stepped down and said, 'Hi, I'm Taylor," she said in a phone interview from the road. "I hadn't met him in the entire year my single had been out. So it was just really cool."

A big part of Swift's breakout success can be attributed to her savvy use of the Internet, particularly the youth-oriented social-networking site MySpace. In April, Swift's label, Big Machine Records, announced that her site, www.myspace.com/taylorswift, had surpassed the mark of 12 million plays, making her the second-highest-visited MySpace page for any country artist.

This summer, Swift continues her tour with Brad Paisley on the Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour, also featuring Jack Ingram and Kellie Pickler. Later in the summer, she will open for McGraw himself and his wife, Faith Hill.

Q: You've found success on the Internet and MySpace. Why do you think that has worked so well for you?

A: I think MySpace has worked so well because I didn't want to make (my page) like every other artist's page, with a third-person bio that was completely not personal. Instead of doing that, I wrote a first-person bio about what I like and dislike. It is about what I am as a person, not my accomplishments. It lets them in and lets them know it's me running it, not a company. I love the fact that people my age are paying attention to my music. I know how my friends and I look at music and address music, either they love something or don't like it at all.

Q: How did you get started?

A: When I was younger, I loved to sing and write poems, but it didn't come together until I picked up the guitar. As soon as I learned my first three chords, I wrote my first song.

Q: You co-wrote all your songs. What interests you lyrically?

A: I love to write about people I meet, people I've come in contact with. I really love to name-drop, I love to let people in. I found that it doesn't make it unrelatable, it makes it more relatable. There really is a guy named Drew out there who has a song called "Teardrops On My Guitar" and has to hear it all the time.

Q: How do you keep things in perspective, at such a young age, with the success you've had so far?

A: I think with something like this it is all about the people you keep around you. You have such a huge lifestyle change. This time last year, I was at a desk in high school. Now I am on a tour bus, playing in front of 15,000 people.

But at the end of the day, you are not a business transaction; you are nothing more than a person. If you keep people around you who knew you when you were a little kid, they will realize when you are changing.

They'll tell you you are being a jerk. You have to realize that you are no different than anyone else, it's just a different kind of job.

Q: You're still in high school. When do you fit in your work?

A: I do my home-schooling in the mornings usually, then I'll go to meet-and-greet and sound checks. But morning is the only free time I have. I will graduate in the class of 2008.

Q: What do you think is key to having a long career?

A: It is all about your attitude and making the right choices. I think to succeed over a long period of time, you have to not reflect back on the success you have so far. For the second album, I am going to make it like the first album. I am going to put out eight songs I think can be singles, not just three or four. Record companies want you to only put three or four great songs on an album, with the rest filler, so not to waste a single. But I want to put out great songs for people. As long as I am making people as happy as they are making me, I will feel like I've accomplished something.

Q: Is a new album in the works?

A: I'm about to start recording and it will come out in 2008. I am so excited about it. There is so much I wanted to put on the first album, I can't even wait. I am so excited about giving these people who have done so much for me and have had the (first) album this entire time something new to latch on to. They've been so supportive of these 12 songs of mine, I want to give them more.

(c) 2007, The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.).

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