Taylor Swift’s appearance on Monday night’s Grammy telecast, and the flood of media coverage that followed, illustrate that mega-fame and media saturation  can be a double-edged sword. While the multi-platinum singer scooped up a record-setting four Grammys, including the coveted Album of the Year award, far more ink has been dedicated to her not-so-spot-on vocal duet with Stevie Nicks on the Fleetwood Mac classic, “Rhiannon.” Historically, the road from teenage phenomenon to long term success can be very bumpy, with most teen artists winding up in the where-are-they-now column. As she’s already clearly demonstrated, Swift is not most artists, but the stratospheric level of her success makes the leap to longevity all the more daunting.

In the weeks prior to the Grammy’s, Swift kept a relatively low profile, spending time in the studio, reportedly recording an album’s worth of material. It will be a few months before any of that new music sees the light of day, and the singer will be busy and perhaps slightly less ubiquitous, with a just-launched Australian tour. Meanwhile, bloggers and journalists continue to weigh in on Swift, her fame, her vocal abilities, and her future.

One especially insightful article was written by Jon Caramanica in the New York Times. He recognizes Swift’s strengths, and human frailties and casts them in the context of a rite of passage from teen to adult. Part of the article is below, read the complete article here.

Over the last three and a half years, Ms. Swift has established herself as pop’s leading naïf. Not in her songwriting, which has been precocious, but in her persona. By now, she’s even patented a look she whips out at award shows, concerts and more, when her innocence is threatened by acclaim: eyes wide, mouth agape, hand held over it as if to keep in the breath she’d just gasped as if it were her last.

Most stars — and make no mistake, Ms. Swift is the most important new pop star of the past few years — have their images undone by failure. In Ms. Swift’s case, the opposite is true: success has necessitated a re-evaluation.

Her Sunday night at the Grammys will be remembered as the turning point. She won four awards, including album of the year for “Fearless” (Big Machine), her outstanding second record — the youngest artist ever to do so, and the first solo female country singer to earn that as well. It was the ultimate stamp of insider approval for someone who insists that she’s thrilled just to be invited to the party.

But the night also revealed her weaknesses.      […read on]

(Updated 2/3/10) Madeleine Parlatore, longtime administrator and office manager of Big Tractor Music, has passed away. The company’s Jason Krupek says she was “Mom” to everyone at the publishing company, where she spent 13 years. The funeral will be Friday, February 5 at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens, located at 9090 Highway 100. Visitation will be at 12:30 pm, followed by the service at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made In Memory of Madeleine Parlatore to Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 210830, Nashville, TN 37221

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Nashville Sound era hit maker Shirley Collie died last week in her home state of Missouri.

Born Shirley Caddell in 1931, she initially gained prominence by performing in the 1950s on the nationally telecast Ozark Jubilee. She married and divorced Disc Jockey Hall of Fame member Biff Collie, which is how she acquired her performing name.

Signing with Liberty Records, Shirley Collie made her chart debut in 1961 with the Harlan Howard song “Dime a Dozen.” She and Warren Smith revived the George Jones classic “Why Baby Why” as a duet later that same year.

Her next duet partner was Willie Nelson. In fact, their version of “Willingly” in 1962 marked his debut on the country charts. It was also her only top-10 hit. She married Nelson as her second husband in 1963. She was his second wife and was married to him when he was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. They resided north of Nashville in Ridgetop, TN in the 1960s. They had no children and divorced in 1971.

They co-wrote his 1968 single “Little Things,” and she is also credited with writing his singles “I Hope So” (1969) and “Once More with Feeling” (1970). Shirley Caddell Collie Nelson published Scrapbooks in My Mind as her autobiography in 2009. She was 78 when she died on Wednesday, January 27.