Taylor Swift was honored as Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International Sunday night. Taylor tied with Alan Jackson for the honor.
The award was announced at the 38th Annual Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame dinner and awards. Past winners of the prestigious award include Vince Gill, Shania Twain, Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley.
The NSAI Award, Taylor's first songwriting award, was voted by her peers, the professional songwriter members of the NSAI. She was honored earlier this year by AOL as Country's Hottest Female Artist and is a nominee for the Horizon Award at next month's CMA Awards, as well as for Favorite Female Country Artist at this year's American Music Awards. Taylor is the first female solo artist in country music history to write or co-write every song on a platinum-selling debut album.
Taylor spent all day Sunday flying home to Nashville from Canada in order to attend the Songwriter's Foundation event. Currently on tour with Brad Paisley, she played a show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Saturday night.
"I am just freaking out," Taylor said of her surprise win. "I'm so excited because I got a publishing deal when I was 14 and every single day was devoted to writing songs. And it was before I got a record deal, it was before any of this started. I was a songwriter in town. And the fact that this award is voted on by my songwriter peers -- I don't even know how to explain how honored I feel. I mean, I was sitting at the table and they called Alan Jackson's name and I'm just like, 'Oh my God! That's awesome!' And then all of the sudden they say my name and I'm like, 'What happened?' I'm so humbled by this experience. It's just so unbelievable."