Taylor Swift “Eras Tour” Kick-Off w/ Angela Meyer & Ariel McReynolds at the Raccoon Motel -- March 16.
Thursday, March 16, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
To celebrate the kick-off of the artist's eagerly anticipated “Eras Tour,” a pair of gifted local singer/songwriters will pay tribute to both the performer and her nationwide event at the Raccoon Motel on March 16, with the Davenport venue hosting Angela Meyer with two hours of Taylor Swift hits, and Ariel McReynolds performing songs made famous by the tour's esteemed opening acts.
Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, the 33-year-old Swift moved to Nashville at age 14 to become a country artist. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording contract with Big Machine Records in 2005, and her 2006 self-titled debut album made her the first female country singer to write a U.S. platinum-certified album. Swift's next albums, 2008's Fearless and 2010's Speak Now, explored country pop, with the former's "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" the first country songs to top the U.S. pop and all-genre airplay charts, respectively. She then experimented with rock and electronic styles on 2012's Red, which featured her first chart-topping Billboard Hot 100 song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," and subsequently eschewed her country image in her 2014 synth-pop album 1989, which was supported by chart-topping songs "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," and "Bad Blood". Media scrutiny, meanwhile, inspired 2017's urban-flavored Reputation and its number-one single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Exiting Big Machine, Swift signed with Republic Records in 2018 and released her seventh studio album, Lover, in 2019, which was followed by 2020's autobiographical documentary Miss Americana. Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock in her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, whose singles "Cardigan" and "Willow" topped the Hot 100. Swift began re-recording her first six albums after a dispute over their masters, re-releasing Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021, with the latter's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" becoming the longest song to top the Hot 100. Her 2022 album Midnights and single "Anti-Hero," meanwhile, broke all-time streaming records.
Having sold over 200 million records globally, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians in history. She is the most streamed woman on Spotify, and the only act to have five albums open with over one million copies sold in the U.S. Among her accolades are 12 Grammy Awards, including three Album of the Year wins; an Emmy Award; 40 American Music Awards; 29 Billboard Music Awards; three IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year awards; and 92 Guinness World Records. Swift has been featured in rankings such as Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists, the Time 100, and Forbes' Celebrity 100. Honored with titles such as Artist of the Decade and Woman of the Decade, Swift is an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment, and her music is credited with influencing an entire generation of singer/songwriters.
The Taylor Swift “Eras Tour” Kick-Off with Angela Meyer & Ariel McReynolds takes place in downtown Davenport on March 16, admission to the 7 p.m. event is $20, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
