Just over a week ago, musicians gathered for the JTM music festival in Rexburg. Opening for JTM was Tiffany Houghton, a Dallas native with a wide musical background and a strong, guiding faith.

Houghton, who has opened for One Direction, performed on Broadway, and held the #1 spot on the Radio Disney charts said she loved the crowd’s excitement in Rexburg.

“I wasn’t quite sure how the crowd would respond,” Houghton said. “It was such a thrill to go on stage and have such a warm welcome from Rexburg.”

At 10 years old, Houghton was cast as an alternate for “Annie on Broadway” in New York City. She attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas where she had chances to hear from Kristin Chenoweth and Kevin Bacon, among other artists.

At 17, Houghton graduated high school early to move to Nashville in pursuit of a music career.

“I didn’t know anybody there,” Houghton said. “I had no idea where I was going to stay when I got there. It was a really, really hard experience and I learned a lot.”

Houghton began covering songs on YouTube from Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and others. She gained a following doing this and in 2014, Taylor Swift introduced Houghton’s single, “Love Like That.” Houghton’s “Catch Me if You Can” hit number one on the Radio Disney charts in 2015.

Her debut single, “High” was quickly popular and has now received more than 1.5 million viewers on YouTube. Other popular songs from the Texas-born musician include “I’m Gonna Love You,” “Pretty Pretty,” and “17 Again.” She’s received awards from Billboard, Teen Vogue, and more.

Now, Houghton has launched the online Tiffany Houghton Singing Academy. In offering advice to young aspiring artists, Houghton counseled, “Make sure it’s something that you’d be fine with if you for five years you work without getting paid and you’re willing to still stick with it.”

Her path has been challenging much of the time but she had deep-rooted motivation to guide her.

“I’ve really always felt like this was a calling,” Houghton said. “This is something that I’ve felt was a mission for me.”

However, Houghton said choosing to live by traditional values as she does, usually doesn’t mix well with the industry in which she works. She said working in Los Angeles—a place where her morals and values were constantly tested—ultimately strengthened her resolve to live according to her faith.

Her new album, produced entirely by women, is a praise to finding her voice and encouraging others to be true to themselves. What she called her favorite song on the album and one she performed live for the first time in Rexburg, “Dodged a Bullet,” is about calling off her wedding just weeks before it was supposed to happen.

On October 18, JTM and Houghton will release a collaborated version of her single, “Pretty Pretty.”

“JTM put a great verse on the song, he adds a really fun flare to it,” Houghton said.

You can find more information about Tiffany Houghton and her music at her website tiffanyhoughton.com.