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Then COVID-19 hit.

Her debut single 鈥淲ater Down the Whiskey,鈥� released late last year, was getting traction on country radio and the video dropped in late January, just weeks before the country went into lockdown.

鈥淭hankfully we had been able to go out on a radio tour with the single,鈥� she said last week days after arriving back to Nashville after spending five months at home with her family in North Carolina. 鈥淲e had enough time to get a couple weeks of that in.鈥�

But then it all came to a screeching halt.

鈥淚 went from being on the road to ... nothing going on,鈥� said the 23-year-old North Carolina native. 鈥淎ll this hit and it was kind of like a huge roadblock and slap in the face for everybody. It was discouraging.鈥�

With venues big and small around the country still closed and no sign that anything resembling in-person performances will resume anytime soon, Johnson did what most of her music industry colleagues did: She turned to the internet.

鈥淓verybody realized we have this platform on Facebook or YouTube or Zoom or wherever it was. Why not use it to our advantage because everyone was stuck in their house. And all of us musicians were going stir crazy,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 think it was just a meeting of the minds, if we鈥檝e got this why not use it and see how it goes. Try to create some sort of normalcy.鈥�

Johnson started out doing a show or two a week, and before long performing on her couch with her guitar while her iPhone perched on a tripod recorded it live became a regular part of her week. She would do a 30- to 45-minute show not knowing if anyone was truly paying attention.

鈥淚t was a huge 180 to do a livestream or event where if you were singing into a camera,鈥� she said.

鈥淗alf the time you couldn鈥檛 even see yourself or what you look like: 鈥業 don鈥檛 know if this is centered. I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 still going but I鈥檓 still playing to the camera!鈥欌��

And while it was a good alternative, streamed performances disconnect artists from their audience, which is something Johnson still grapples with. But seeing the little quote bubbles gurgling on the side of the screen as she performs is some validation that people are watching.

鈥淵ou feed off the energy in the room and you feed off the energy of the people that are right there in your eyesight, singing songs back to you and they are interacting with you,鈥漵he said.

Johnson is on the opening day of 鈥� Music,鈥� the four-day country music 鈥渟treamathon鈥� to benefit the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance. For many tuning in, it will be the first time they have heard from her, and Johnson is hoping to make a lasting impression.

鈥淎t the beginning of all this it all seemed like gloom and doom, and very much still we are all kind of in the dark not really knowing when we are going to have other things to get back to, things that are semi-normal,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just want people to have a good time. Hopefully for 30 minutes, they can get their minds off whatever problems they may have.鈥�