Taylor Swift has never brought one of her huge concerts to New Hampshire. It was, therefore, a bit of a surprise when Frank Breen stopped in at the Exeter Historical Society back in December to ask us a question and happened to mention that he remembered when Taylor Swift performed at Exeter’s Relay for Life many years ago.

At first, we thought he was putting us on. Swift’s gigantic Eras Tour had just ended and earned bragging rights as the largest-grossing tour ever. No, he was certain. The Relay for Life was a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. He knew Taylor Swift performed, but he wasn’t quite sure of the date. We guessed about 2001. He contacted Kristin Sullivan, who is now living out of state, and who also remembered the event.

Sullivan’s mother was friends with Britney Spears’ manager, and she asked if Spears might perform at the Cancer Society’s fundraiser in Exeter. Spears was huge at the time, so it was no surprise that she was unavailable. But how about another up-and-coming singer – a bit younger, but eager to play at smaller venues? And this was how Taylor Swift came to play in Exeter in 2003.

The Exeter News-Letter ran a piece about the Relay for Life leading up to the event. “Hundreds of participants are expected to participate in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, scheduled to take place at Phelps Stadium on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter beginning Friday, June 27th.”

The article goes on to mention, “Entertainment will be included as part of the event. The day of June 27 will feature Taylor Swift, a singer who has opened for the Charlie Daniels Band in Pennsylvania, Diamond Rio, Tammy Cochran and Trace Atkins, and other acts. She has sung the national anthem at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City and in Philadelphia. Swift, a 13-year-old from Pennsylvania, writes and records in New York and New Jersey. Her debut album was released in 2002.”

The “debut album” was more of a demo CD than an actual album. It comprised only two songs: “Lucky You” and “Smokey Black Nights.” A youthful Swift appears on the cover in jeans, a white tank top, and a comfortable flannel shirt.

Sullivan spent the weekend hosting Swift and her family at a few different venues. She remembers her as “very sweet and very genuine.”

Breen recalled that she performed in the evening, not the afternoon as scheduled. He thought it was the weather that delayed the performance. Kristen Sullivan also recalls the show in the evening, but thinks it might have been due to Swift stopping at a radio station to do a bit of promotion. It wouldn’t be surprising – WOKQ has a framed photo from Swift that she inscribed, “WOKQ the first station to ever play me! Love love love  Taylor Swift.” She would later play a gig at the Portsmouth Gas Light as a thank you for the station’s support in 2005.

Swift played a few songs at the Phelps Arena for the Relay For Life, and the next day she sang a few songs at Frisbee Memorial Hospital’s cancer ward. That evening, she appeared at the “Best of NH Party” at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. Rick Broussard, the event planner, recalled in the 2011 edition of New Hampshire Magazine, “All I recall about the skinny teenager with the big guitar standing alone on the Verizon Wireless Arena stage was that she had a great name for show business. I’m terrible with names, but this one I remembered: Taylor Swift.”

Indeed, it would have been easy to forget these performances. There are so many local events with artists performing – how often do we remember them later? Kristin Sullivan’s sister-in-law, Dawn, remembered Swift well. The crowd at Exeter was small, perhaps only a few hundred people. It was a far cry from her later performance in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where she sang to a crowd of 67,000 fans. There was no seismic activity (called a “concert tremor”) like her 2023 performance in Seattle during “Shake it Off.” Exeter’s entire population in 2003 was only 14,000. Even if we’d all shown up for the concert, we wouldn’t have shook the earth.

Dawn followed Swift’s career over the years. She still seems to marvel about her later success. “Wow, who would have thought this would be where she would end up when she was performing at a small town in New Hampshire? This is how people get their start.”