James Wesley was thrilled when he found out that he would spend two weeks of his summer opening for Taylor Swift. However, he wasn't nearly as excited as his 8-year-old daughter, Emily.
"I am soon to be the greatest dad in the world," James told The Boot prior to his first show on the Speak Now World Tour. "We're playing Knoxville, and Emily doesn't know it yet, but we've got her backstage so she can meet Taylor. She will be very surprised."
Emily isn't the only younger Wesley who's looking forward to tour, though. "Her older brother, my son Braden, he won't admit it but I know without him telling me that he thinks Taylor's cute," James reveals. "He won't say anything, though. He's real quiet about the whole thing. He's 10, so he's at that age where it's awkward."
And what is Emily's favorite Taylor tune? "She likes 'Mean' a lot, but she knows all the songs," he admits. "Before I even got her the CD, she heard the songs on the radio, so she was already there."
Dad should also get some brownie points for Taylor selecting him herself. "When I found out that she actually hand-picked us, that was mind-blowing that she liked my music," says James. "It's a big compliment."
The 21-year-old's generosity didn't stop there. "Taylor actually bused me and my management to Omaha, Neb. for the first show to get to see what it's all going to be like," he admits. "We had a meeting, and it was awesome. That show is like Broadway meets Cirque du Soleil. It's incredible. A lot of it is her ideas, too. She has these big dreams for when she stands up there, and she's a great role model on top of all that. A lot of young girls look up to her, and I think that's awesome."
Having an artist who appeals to the younger generation, but is also someone their parents don't mind them emulating, is important. "I got to see it before my daughter, and it was great," James reveals. "You saw mothers and fathers there with their little girls. It's a great feeling. There was a man and his daughter waiting for the show to start -- this little girl was probably five -- and she was so giddy that this show was getting ready to start. Her dad couldn't take his eyes off of her because she was so excited. It's amazing that that's what music does. It would be an awful boring world without music."
Going into a tour such as Taylor's, the 'Didn't I' singer is mindful of what he plays on stage. "I've got one that's pretty rowdy, it's called 'Walking Contradiction,' and it's a great song, but I'm still debating whether or not I should do that one or not," he admits. "I've got one, it's called 'You Should Be Here With Me,' and it's a great song. It's all ages, which I think is pretty cool. Since I've got a family of my own, I try to keep it in the parameter of everybody can listen."
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