Taylor Swift Just Surprised a Nashville Venue With a Back-to-Her-Roots Concert

Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville last night, proving that the 'old Taylor' might not be dead after all.

In Taylor Swift’s 2017 pop hit “Look What You Made Me Do,” she famously proclaims that the “old” Taylor can’t come to the phone right now "'cuz she’s dead." The lyrics inspired a slew of memes and ushered in a new “edgy” sound for Swift.

But last night the 10-time Grammy Award winner proved that some of old, country Taylor is very much alive and well after a surprise performance at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, where she was first discovered by Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta in the early 2000s.

According to the Tennessean, country songwriter Craig Wiseman was set to perform when Swift joined him onstage, prompting a standing ovation from the intimate crowd of about 40. The surprise set, which also included “Shake It Off,” was filmed for a documentary in honor of Bluebird’s thirty-fifth anniversary.

Onstage she shared a few words on why the music venue—where country great Garth Brooks also got his start—means so much to her.

"I wanted to say a big thank-you to the Bluebird Cafe," Swift said before playing Little Big Town's “Better Man" (which she wrote). "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."

Wiseman, who has known Swift since she was a teenager, told a story about a party at his house that involved Taylor and Ed Sheeran stealing a large inflatable bottle of Fireball whiskey. The pair then proceeded to take a shot of the cinnamon whisky together for old times' sake.

Swift playfully reminded the Grammy-winning songwriter that he passed on the opportunity to cowrite “Love Story” with her. Before going into a performance of the 2008 hit, she told the crowd, “This is the song I almost wrote with Craig Wiseman.”

See her performance below:

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