Taylor Swift surprised country radio programmers during a recent dinner in New York City before her sold-out Madison Square Garden show. Pictured above with Taylor are her tour openers, Gloriana and WKLB/Boston MD Ginny Rogers. (l-r): Gloriana’s Mike Gossin, Cheyenne Kimball, WKLB’s Ginny Rogers, Taylor, Gloriana's Tom Gossin and Rachel Reinert. Photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Sept. 29, 2009 — Gloriana has made quite the splash in 2009. The band earned its first hit with “Wild At Heart,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard country album chart with its initial CD and hit the road as an opening act on Taylor Swift’s Fearless Tour.
Taylor was, perhaps, a bit of a visionary, offering the band the concert slot when it was still just trying to get a little traction by visiting radio stations across the U.S.
“We had been doing this tour for about 20 weeks in a 15-passenger van, just driving around the country and flying to different states day in and day out,” group member Tom Gossin told The Youngstown Vindicator of Ohio. “We were in a van leaving a radio station when we got a phone call. We put it on speaker, and a girl got on and said, ‘It’s Taylor Swift.’”
The band had barely released “Wild At Heart” and had no idea if it would even be a success. They weren’t sure what to make of the voice on the other end.
“At first, we think it’s a prank,” Tom recalled. “We’re like, ‘no way.’ We thought it was someone playing a joke on us. And she’s like, ‘No, it’s really Taylor Swift and you guys are one of my new favorite bands. I think you guys are going to be superstars, and I love your music. I want to pick you up on my tour before anybody else does. How would you like to come out with me for six months this year?’ That’s when we freaked out.”
The band continues working with Taylor and Kellie Pickler on the Fearless Tour this weekend, performing in Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids and Cleveland. Other dates later in the year will team them with Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, Love And Theft and Jason Michael Carroll.
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