RINCON —  Aspiring country music star Hannah Dasher has an unexpected hit on her hands.

After her music career was unexpectedly sidetracked by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dasher discovered Tik Tok and created “Stand By Your Pan,” which features her sharing her favorite Southern recipes with sides of sass and vivaciousness

“When the quarantine came on, the tours were canceled so my kitchen became my stage,” Dasher said. “I grew up in Effingham County with a load of good cooks to learn from so I just started cooking meat and potatoes — good, ol’ comfort food recipes that I love — and put my little spin on it.”

“Stand By Your Pan” is approaching 18 million likes and 1.5 million followers. Nearly two dozen of her videos have been viewed more than a million times.

“I’m excited about it,” she said. “I can’t go in a grocery store or airport without taking a picture with someone. The best part about it as an entertainer is that it is translating over to ticket sales (for concerts).”

“Stand By Your Pan” has garnered the attention of celebrity chef Rachel Ray. Dasher is scheduled to have a 10-minute segment on her TV show during this spring.

She said, “I will get to talk about my music and my cookin’. “

Musically, Dasher, a member of CMT’s 2021 Next Women of County list,  is poised to regain the momentum she lost during the pandemic. She and her band recently opened shows for Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntyre in Toledo, Ohio and Green Bay, Wisconsin, on successive nights.

“Reba was real impressed and tickled with us and that’s leading to better things,” Dasher said. “I had a ball opening for her. ... They enjoyed us as much we enjoyed them because, obviously, we appreciate country music.”

Dasher recently gained access to a larger tour bus and plans to release some new songs this summer.

“I’ve got some festivals and private gigs coming up that I’m excited about down in Daytona that are associated with the race,” Dasher said. 

Dasher will perform at a Dale Earnhart Jr. event to help him promote his new brand of vodka. She also has 2022 gigs slated with Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“I’m hoping for a lot more shows,” she said. “I should know more next week.”

Even though she lacks the amount of free time she had at the start of the pandemic, Dasher intends to keep producing Tik Tok videos.

“I think you have to go where your momentum is happening,” she said. “I am being approached by a lot of  TV people that want to do shows with me and whatnot. I am very grateful to have that as an option to ‘breaking’ because the old ‘break you on radio kind of thing’ is kind of a dying recipe for success. It could still happen but ...”

At least her Tik Tok endeavor gives her something enjoyable to do while she chases her dream of music stardom.

“It’s been a really fun forum, for sure,” she said. “It’s been fun to share my music on that platform and to bring fans who don’t listen to country and who used to listen to country over.”