January 30, 2009

By By Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

As expected, Taylor Swift will embark on her first headlining tour this spring, beginning April 23 in Evansville, Ind. The 52-city trek will feature "multiple costume changes" and a stage with a "fairy-tale castle," according to Swift's publicist.

Swift is touring in support of her sophomore album, "Fearless," which is so far the top seller of 2009 with 287,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It has spent eight straight weeks at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, and since its release last November, it has shifted 2.4 million.

Before the tour, Swift will play three one-offs, including a March 20 show before 71,00 fans at Houston's Livestock Show and Rodeo. Kellie Pickler and new act Gloriana will open all dates. For the full tour itinerary, visit TaylorSwift.com.

After the North American run, the plan is for Swift to play fall dates in the United Kingdom, and somewhere along the way Japan will be part of the picture.

"It will be super thrilling for her fans in the States to see photos of her in front of Buckingham Palace, downtown Tokyo and then the next time she's in Cedar Rapids [Iowa] she'll be that much a bigger star, but still Taylor -- approachable," Scott Borchetta, the president of Swift's label Big Machine, told Billboard last fall.

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