With open mic nights, festivals and tours cancelled, it has been a rough year and a half for up-and-coming musicians.
But 18-year-old Canberra singer Stewart Barton is making a name for himself despite these challenges.
Barton's recent single, You Are Beautiful, rose to number two on the Australian country iTunes charts — even knocking off global star Taylor Swift.
Barton has also signed with indie recording label Country Rocks Records.
The story of his seemingly sudden success has humble beginnings in the suburbs of Tuggeranong, on Canberra's fringes, and a music program he signed up to while still in primary school.