Taylor Swift Folklore collaborator Aaron Dessner has recalled how the singer contacted him during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to their acclaimed musical partnership.
The Taylor Swift Folklore era began unexpectedly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the pop superstar reached out to musician and producer Aaron Dessner about working together remotely.
Dessner, a member of The National, recalled that Swift contacted him around March or April 2020. She reportedly asked whether he would consider collaborating remotely and simply told him to send her anything he had been working on.
At the time, Dessner had already accumulated a large collection of musical ideas. He had been preparing music after being invited by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver to open for the band on tour.
Dessner said he sent Swift a Dropbox folder containing his music. He was surprised when, only hours later, she returned a fully written version of “Cardigan.”
Recalling the moment, Dessner described the experience as being unexpectedly paired with one of the world’s biggest basketball stars, comparing himself to a high school player suddenly finding himself on a team with Michael Jordan.
The collaboration ultimately became an important part of Swift’s Folklore project and continued into Evermore, with contributions from artists including Jack Antonoff and Justin Vernon.
The story quickly attracted attention from Taylor Swift fans online, with many praising the creative partnership between Swift and Dessner.
Some fans compared Dessner’s contribution to Swift’s music with that of Jack Antonoff, while others described the Cardigan story as a memorable moment in the making of Folklore.
Swift’s collaboration with Dessner became one of the defining creative partnerships associated with her pandemic-era albums, which were developed remotely during a period when traditional studio and touring activities were heavily disrupted.
