The plan to release the new album - her third - was interrupted somewhat by the coronavirus pandemic.

Almost 12 months later, she's finally stepping back on stage, with a hometown show at Volta this weekend before releasing her new single in March.

READ MORE: Live music returning to Ballarat

"It's been a strange 12 months for sure," she said.

"When everything locked down, I said I'm not going to waste a record when there's no shows or touring happening.

"It seems silly to release anything - you put so much energy and money into releasing albums and singles and recording them, you'd just be releasing them into a vacuum of coronavirus news and there's just so much going on in the world.

"You have to choose your moments."

Listed by Double J as one of the artists leading a "neo-country renaissance", Hollick and her band managed to fit in a warm up show at Richmond's Corner Hotel earlier in January, her first in front of a live audience in months - "a great way to start the year," she said.

While she's played virtual shows, including the City of Ballarat's Be_Hear/Now online festival, she said it's good to be back.

"As soon as shows began to be a thing again, my agent contacted me and said there are venues offering low-capacity shows, there's reduced capacity everywhere because of social distancing," she said.

"I just said yes to everything, make hay while the sun shines.

"Before all the lockdowns happened, we were touring pretty solidly and playing lots of festivals - it's nice to be back at it again, and there are a few festivals coming up through February and March, and even April which will be wonderful."

The pandemic is still throwing up challenges for touring musicians, with state border closures the latest obstacle.

"Before we played the Corner show, my guitarist called to say he got a message saying he was a close contact of someone and he had to get a test, and he wasn't sure if he'd get the results by the day of the show," Hollick said.

WATCH A WHOLE SET FROM APRIL

"Our drummer had just come back from playing a show in Brisbane, and that was just when they were saying people coming back from Brisbane needed to isolate at home, so we had to get our friend to fill in.

"It's kind of like a minefield, it's a lot more difficult to plan than it would be in the past.

"I've had someone cancel at the last minute maybe once in my whole history of playing shows - it's a totally different system we're all getting used to, but musicians are adaptable creatures."

While the details are still be finalised for what form the Volta show will take, Hollick said it'll be a full-band, full-length set.

IN THE NEWS

"We'll be enjoying an evening with some local folks," she said.

"We've done Be_Hear/Now, but we haven't done a show in Ballarat with a live audience since January, and it'll be great to see some familiar faces."

Freya Josephine Hollick plays Volta on January 30 - tickets are on sale through Eventbrite.

WHAT HAS FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK BEEN LISTENING TO?

"I've had an endless stream of '70s soul and disco to keep morale high," she joked.

Alan Power's Songs to Break America - "I sang on one of these songs and I can't stop listening to the album."

Robert Ellis - "My friend from Houston, he recently did a cover of a Bobby Charles song, his music's amazing."

Ruby Mary Gill - "She's a wonderful South African artist who now lives in Melbourne and I highly recommend her."

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