At just 23 years old, Taylor Swift is already one of the most successful music artists of all time, but she's trying not to let fame and fortune go her head. The country-pop superstar, who is currently playing before sold-out crowds on her Red tour, insists that in spite of her multi-platinum-selling albums and worldwide appeal, she still feels some of the same insecurities she did when she was a struggling adolescent.

"I'm still the same person that I was in middle school when I didn't get invited to stuff," says Taylor. "You just don't want to go too ahead of yourself and think, 'I really killed that. Man, those people -- they're so lucky to be here to see me.' I was so lucky to be onstage in front of that many people. That's the truth of it."

The singer-songwriter admits that there is a big dichotomy between her public and private life. "My real world involves walking on stage and there are thousands of people out there, then walking off stage, and there's my cat," she deadpans. "You just kind of adjust your mind to experiencing that level of sound, that level of lights and that level of excitement, and your heart racing. It takes a couple of hours to fall asleep that night because your adrenaline is still rushing."

Still, Taylor does like to escape reality for a few hours during her performance each night.

"I love a theatrical production," she tells The Boot. "I love for you to see a different thing for each song. I love for there to be surprises -- having the audience think they're going to see one thing and then it's a completely different thing than you thought. That's a really rewarding part of putting on a show, is getting to know that the crowd got their money's worth. For the effort it took to file into the arena and find parking for their car and all that, I want them to completely, without a doubt, feel like it was worth it to come see me play."

Taylor's Red tour continues Friday night (April 12) with a show in Florida. See a list of her upcoming concerts here.

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