It was nearly midnight by the time Grace Leer and her band leader and songwriting partner, Kyle Clouse, packed into the car to begin their five-state, nearly 600-mile journey from Nashville to Milwaukee. Leer drove the first shift, and when it was her turn as the passenger, she found that she couldn't fall asleep.

"I was just so anxious, and you're kind of sitting in the car in this small space," Leer said. "All I'm doing is thinking about that audition and just how much it meant to me and just not knowing if they were going to like me or not. I just had no idea."

So she stayed awake – mercilessly and anxiously wide awake – and nine hours later, after the duo had rolled through Kentucky, and Indiana and Illinois, they finally arrived at American Idol auditions at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where Leer attempted to de-puff her exhausted eyes. She threw on her signature fringe leather jacket and bolo tie with a pair of white booties, then placed a pair of false eyelashes on top of delicately applied mascara to complete the look.

Hours later, she was doing her best to stop the mascara from running. Leer attempted to fan away the tears that were now pooling in her eyes as three titans of the music industry -- Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan – looked on.

The former Cal women's soccer standout turned budding country music star had just heard the four most important words of her career: "You're going to Hollywood!"

"It was crazy. I just had this moment where they were giving me just such nice feedback and I looked down at my feet and saw the American Idol logo and just had this feeling," Leer said. "It was just one of those moments where it was just kind of like, 'Yeah, this is right. You're on the right path. This is what you're supposed to do.' I had a feeling, it was going to kind of change my life, and it already has."

The three resounding yeses from the American Idol judges signifying Leer's opportunity to move on to the next rounds of the long-running televised singing competition marked the start of a new journey for Leer, who has spent the better part of the last three years in Nashville developing as a country artist.

The former Golden Bear forward graduated in 2015, and after spending several years at home in the Bay Area coaching at her childhood soccer club, moved to Nashville in 2017 with bandmate Clouse to help develop her country sound. Since then, she has worked a 9-to-5 job in sales while pursuing her longtime passion to become a musician on the evenings and weekends, performing as the lead singer of her five-piece group, The Grace Leer Band.

Performing at Nashville hotspots such as The Local, Live Oak and Tin Roof on Broadway, Leer has honed in on her 90s-country sound, taking inspiration from the Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina and Faith Hill.

It was that soulful sound that grabbed the Idol judges' attention during Leer's audition.

Though Leer originally started with a performance of The Highwomen's "Crowded Table" during her audition, Perry asked her to sing a "sad country" song on the spot. Leer responded with an improvised A capella rendition of Patsy Cline's "Crazy," selling the judges on her unique vocal ability and natural talent.

"It's clear. I don't have to suss out who the artist is," Richie commented.

"I love the texture of your voice…I love it so much, I would never steer away from it," Perry added.

After punching her ticket to the show's Hollywood week, Leer faced a grueling stretch of performances.

"I'd never been through anything like that. It's a test of sticking to who you are because you watch most of the performances and you can't help but compare yourself," she said. "I sat there most of the day and you are watching these singers get up who are just incredible and they're so different and unique and belting these songs out. You start to think, 'Am I good enough?'."

 "I could only be myself, and that was the biggest thing. It was a test to not sway away from who I am and not do things like change my song or sing a different way or act differently because there's only one me."

To her own surprise, Leer made it past the first round and on to the duet and solo rounds. It was then that her soccer mentality kicked in, propelling her through each round despite exhaustion from nights with little sleep.

"When I did that, it kind of put a fire under me…going back to my soccer mindset which is one game at a time. When you think of the playoffs, you can't think of that championship game. You have to think of one game at a time," Leer said.

Now, the Idol hopeful is one of 40 contestants left on the show, which pares its competition to the top 20 finalists during the show's Hawaii's episodes. Leer will be featured during the second Hawaii showcase this Sunday.

"Between these challenges on American Idol, it's just taught me to control what I can and give it my all and just be myself, because at the end of the day, that's all I can really have control over," Leer said. "I can't control who they're gonna pick…but I can control the minute and a half that I get on stage and as long as I'm happy with what I put on stage and my performance, I can't have any regrets."

American Idol airs Sundays on ABC at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, and follow along with Leer's musical journey on @GraceLeerMusic on Instagram and Twitter, and by using #TeamGrace on social media.