It tookHannah Dasherexactly 11 years to come out of nowhere and tackle the country music genre with her loud cackle, loose wisecracks and long eyelashes. But now that’s she’s here, there is only one thing that will keep her fromeverbeing forgotten again.

And that’s her undeniable talent.

“I’ve been simmering a little bit, trying to get my pistol loaded before I go to the gunfight,” Dasher, 32, tells PEOPLE from her house in Nashville, a home that somewhat resembles the vintage country music pads of old. “But I’m locked and loaded now. Listen, I’ve been stuffing my bra since I was 7 years old, and last year, I was able to afford not to stuff them anymore.”

Alrighty then.

A country pistol who prefers bell-bottoms over skinny jeans and curling irons over straighteners currently finds herself making a whole bunch of noise in Nashville, not only with the release of her Sony Music Nashville debutThe Half Record, but also her proclamation of a single “You’re Gonna Love Me.”

Crazy just might be an understatement. With1.3 million TikTok followersand over 15 million views of her “Hannah Damn Dasher” content, Dasher finds herself riding the wave to country music stardom at the moment, but the question remains - where the heck did she come from?

Well, she came from Georgia.

In fact, this newfound stardom means that Dasher can’t go to the grocery store without getting noticed, can’t go to the airport without someone wanting a picture, can’t talk about country music without someone telling her that they don’t like it … but they love her.

“I think whatever they were missing in country music, they are finding in me,” says Dasher, who also snagged co-writing credits on Lainey Wilson’s song “LA” off her 2019 EPRedneck Hollywood. “Whatever it is they are liking, I’m just glad that it’s working.”

And while Dasher is getting much attention for her sound and looks at the moment, she stands for so much more.

“I’m a healthy, curvy woman,” she proclaims proudly. “I’ve always tried to embrace that and, being a public figure, I just feel like it’s empowering to other women to show them how to embrace themselves and their imperfections and everything that makes them who they are.”

Dasher grows quiet, as if something quite profound is about to come out of her lipstick-lined mouth.

Then she quips, “I might not be the sexiest crayon in the box, but as long as I think I am, I can get through life with a smile on my face.”

source: people.com