Taylor was named after James Taylor, and her mother believed that if she had a gender neutral it would help her forge a business career. Taylor spent most of her childhood on an 11 acre Christmas tree farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. When Taylor was nine years old, the family moved to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended West Reading Elementary Center and Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. Taylor spent her summers at her parent's vacation home at the Jersey Shore. Swift's first hobby was English horse riding. Her mother put her in a saddle when she was nine months old and Swift later competed in horse shows. At the age of nine, Taylor turned her attention to musical theatre and performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions of Grease, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie and The Sound of Music. She traveled regularly to Broadway, New York for vocal and acting lessons. However, after a few years of auditioning in New York and not getting anything she became interested in country music. At the age of eleven, after many attempts Taylor won a local talent competition by singing a rendition of LeAnn Rimes's "Big Deal", and was given the opportunity to appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown amphitheater. This interest in country music isolated Swift from her middle school peers.