During a new conversation with the Recording Academy's CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., Taylor Swift reflects on starting in country music, and hints at a return to that sound as she talks about wanting to “honor” her country roots more moving forward.

When asked how she has changed and evolved from the artist that created ‘Tim McGraw’ in 2006, Swift begins by reflecting on how many easter eggs are in that song hinting at how her life would pan out, “That's a really beautiful and eloquent question. If I look back at the song ‘Tim McGraw’, there are actually sort of hints at everything that was going to happen in the next 20 years. Like, character work, like when it says, “He said the way my blue eyes shined / Put those Georgia stars to shame that night”. I had never been to Georgia. That was not real...That had not happened. But it's like, as you know, you kind of are working around...‘character’, and like what feels like what this character would have said, and what paints a picture that kind of informs this story that we just locked into”.

Swift continues, “Because that first line described so much for us. Also, sort of the idea of a song as a message, the song that jumps forward in time, and even in jumping forward in time, it's saying, ‘I hope you reflect back in time’. This sort of time machine song”.

The ‘Lover’ singer-songwriter thens shares how, as she gets further into her career, she increasingly finds herself wanting to showcase and pay homage to her country music foundations, “I think this can happen as you as you grow up - I love my country roots more and more. The further along this path I get, and I want to honor them more and more, and I feel more tied and more loyal to them. The people that shaped who I am as an artist. And as a writer, that all happened in Nashville”.

It's hard to simply see this as a passing comment, particularly given how rumours continue to swirl around a Taylor's Version re-release of her debut country album. Just last week, for instance, the Empire State Building lit up green - the colour of Swift's debut - with the tantalising caption, “whaTS happening???” The ‘TS’ capitalisation and the green lighting promptly sent Swifties into a frenzy.

Swift has seemingly been sprinkling clues about a debut album re-release for months now, with some fans even speculating that there are hints in her ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ video about a reimagined version of her break-out country single, ‘Tim McGraw’.

Now, with these comments about wanting to highlight her country roots more and more moving forward feel like another not-so-subtle hint that Swift is planning a return to country music, quite possibly through a Taylor's Version release of Taylor Swift.

Of course, the global phenom doesn't need to drop any more Taylor's Version projects, since acquiring her masters in May 2025, but many fans have been wondering whether Swift might still finish the set, out of a sense of completion and fulfilment.

What's more, Swift's recent single for Toy Story 5 - ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ - was billed as a “return to country”, potentially signalling the start of her post-The Life Of A Showgirl era. Swift's debut album came out on October 24th, 2006, with the 20 year anniversary approaching this Fall. If Swift is plotting a re-release of this iconic project, surely October 2026 would be the obvious release date.

Either way, it's refreshing to hear Swift tipping her cap to the Music City scene and influences that helped shape her sound and perspective on songwriting. With country enjoying such a popularity boom at the moment, with Ella Langley spending an historic 19th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the likes of Morgan Wallen and Stella Lefty remaining at the business-end of the charts, it feels like the timing couldn't be better for Swift's long-awaited Nashville homecoming.