Chapel Hart earned a collective golden buzzer when competing on America’s Got Talent, but they almost didn’t even audition. The trio, comprised of sisters Danica Hart and Devynn Hart, and their cousin Trea Swindle, wowed all four judges with their original “You Can Have Him, Jolene,” but they now reveal it took a lot of convincing to get them to appear on the reality TV talent show.

“We had no idea what we were really walking into,” Devynn tells Taste of Country. “It’s a super long process.”

Chapel Hart can, unfortunately, credit an illness and a canceled tour with giving them the time to even audition for America’s Got Talent.

“I think the craziest part is we almost didn’t audition at all,” Danica reveals.

“We were actually scheduled to go on tour with the Indigo Girls and one of them got sick with COVID,” Trea says. “(AGT scout) Lindsay Rush had reached out a couple of times. Maybe more than a couple of times.”

As Chapel Hart prepares to compete in the live auditions of AGT on August 16, the trio admits that they likely never would have even made it onto the show if not for Rush and her insistence that their music needed to be heard.

“Honestly it was just her persistence,” Hart admits. “She was like, ‘I listened to your music. I love you ladies. The world needs to hear your message. The world needs to see you.'”

Chapel Hart might have made their introduction to country music with America’s Got Talent, but once they opened their mouths, it was their sheer vocal and performance abilities that got everyone to take notice. Their debut on AGT earned the trio praise from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, among others, as well as an invitation to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. It’s a far cry from where the Mississippi natives were just a few short months ago, struggling to introduce get their music heard.

“We’ve been trying to break into Nashville for the last couple of years and It’s been kind of hard when I think country music doesn’t always look like us,” an emotional Danica said from the stage during their first audition.

Although their popularity has soared in recent weeks, Chapel Hart acknowledges that, at least historically, country music was not favorable towards Black artists or female artists. The fact that they happen to be both made their dreams of finding success in country music nearly impossible, but they found the courage to persevere anyway.

“Growing up in Poplarville, country music was the music,” Danica tells Mississippi Today. “If you’re going in the grocery store, the music playing overhead’s country music; if you’re on the school bus and the school bus driver brings his or her radio, it’s country music; if you have a job and you’re at work and they have music that goes on at work, it’s country music. Even I remember at nap time when we were little and they turned on music when you get ready to lay down and go to sleep, and it was country music.”

America’s Got Talent airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM ET on NBC. Voting will be open at NBC.com/AGTVote until 7:00 AM ET on Wednesday, August 17.