RACINE, Wis. — Have you ever done something every day for 3,709 days in a row? Without fail?

And, no, getting out of bed doesn’t count. Nor does breathing.

This would be doing something for yourself, and for an audience of more than 10,000.

Yup, sounds crazy. And incredible. So meet Zachary Johnson, Mr. Incredibly Crazy.

Johnson is from Racine and a graduate of Lawrence University. He’s also a singer/songwriter, and back in early 2011 he had this idea:

What if he performed a song every day? He would put it out on YouTube. Maybe people would notice. Maybe it would help cultivate his career.

So in March 2011, he registered “The Song a Day Project” on YouTube. Then he wondered if that was a bad idea. Social media isn’t a place known for its warmth, compassion and encouragement.

“It took me like two years after having the idea to build up the courage to do it for that exact reason,” said Johnson, who launched “The Song a Day Project” in September 2012. “I just wasn’t sure it was for me.”

Today, over 10 years after it began, turns out this idea on this platform was exactly for Zachary Johnson.

His project has opened more doors than a limo driver, as he has appeared on stage with the likes of Donovan, Shawn Colvin, Kevin Costner and Modern West, Steve Forbert and The Verve Pipe. Artists who have appeared in “The Song a Day Project” videos include Rosanne Cash, Jeff Daniels, Noel Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary), Creed Bratton (“The Office”), Melissa Manchester, Collective Soul and more.

While many of his songs are covers, Johnson performs his own music for “The Song a Day Project.” He also tours nationally with more than 75 live dates a year.

“One of the biggest problems for any artist is overcoming that fear of, ‘What will people think of my music,’” said Brian Pertl, dean of the Conservatory of Music at Lawrence. “‘What will the world think if I put my art out there?’"

“A lot of the work we’re doing here is to empower students, empower them that what they do matters. And it might not matter to everyone, because everybody has different tastes. But it could be the very thing that that one person needed to hear that day that can like literally change their life. And how cool is that to put it in that sort of context? That instead of worrying about the people who aren’t going to like it, thinking about that person who is just waiting to hear or stumble across your music and then only to discover that what you said through your song profoundly impacted them.”

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The project was not an instant hit. The first few months Johnson drew only about 100 followers a day. But on Day 128, he performed his rendition of Elliott Smith’s Waltz #2 and everything changed. The song received over 50,000 views.

“I just kept thinking it was a glitch,” Johnson said. “I would look a couple of times a day and say, ‘It’ll go back down.’ And it didn’t.

“I really don’t know what it was that made that one click, but I’m glad it did.”

There have been a variety of experiences he never could have imagined happening, but the Donovan story holds a special place.

“I tell it every show I’ve had since it happened,” he said.

Around the five-year anniversary, Johnson got an email. The subject line said, “From Donovan.”

“I don’t know anybody named Donovan, so it didn’t ring in my brain as, ‘Oh, this is the Donovan,” he said. “I almost deleted it, but I opened it and read it. And I just thought it was like a weird practical joke that somebody was playing on me.”

A couple of weeks later, he got a phone call. It was Donovan’s manager. He told him Donovan wanted him to come to Ireland and perform with him live on stage.

“And I remember he put Donovan on the phone,” said Johnson. “They called me a couple times and Donovan would get on the phone with me and talk about how great it was going to be. But he sounded like a cartoon on the phone. I was like, ‘He doesn’t sound like that. That’s not Donovan.’

“And so I just kept waiting for them to like do the ‘All we need is your social security number’ part of the scam.”

But then they sent him a plane ticket.

“I thought, ‘Well, if nothing else, I get to go to Ireland for free,’” he said. “It was a legitimate ticket. So I thought, ‘Let’s see what happens here.’ And everybody I knew was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know what part of the scam you’re missing.’ Yes, it does feel strange. But you know, I think you gotta go find out because this is this is either a really good scam or real.”

When he arrived, there was a driver waiting for him.

“He delivered me to Donovan,” he said. “And I walked in the room and there he was, and we had such fun. I mean, we sat down at a restaurant and he told me stories about teaching John Lennon how to finger pick. Stories about parties at Joni Mitchell’s house where everybody you can imagine was there. He told me all these stories and then it’s like, ‘OK, now we’re gonna go rehearse.’

“It was very intimidating, and it was very overwhelming. But it’s an incredible story. He really is exactly as quirky as you might imagine he would be, and as generous and as thoughtful as you might imagine he would be. It was just so much fun. And he just really pulled out all the stops.”

To this day, Johnson said he does not know how Donovan found him or he came across “The Song a Day Project.”

“I think he was just somebody who thought, ‘I’ve had a good career. I’m gonna pay it forward for the next generation,’” said Johnson. “And what a way to do that. I mean, it was so fantastic.”

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Being known as “The Song a Day” guy can be difficult at times.

“Yeah, that is a little hurdle for me because I am a songwriter,” he said. “I write songs, I put out CDs, I do all the things that like my peers do. And yet what I’m known for is this completely other thing. This YouTube thing. Where most of the time I’m doing covers of other people’s songs. And so it is a little bit of a … it’s a very specialized thing. It’s not always the most comfortable, to tell you the truth.”

But it’s his niche. The one he put in countless hours and effort to carve out.

“There’s a part of me that feels like I could do this every day as long as I’m alive,” he said.

“I do think it brings me joy, and it is good for my career. And it’s something that I value doing, and something that has just been worthwhile in a lot of ways for me. And so, for me, continuing it is worthwhile.”

Pertl said Johnson is a testament to a philosophy all musicians should adhere to.

“You know, people do interesting things,” said Pertl. “And I think you can be creative like Zach and not compromise your musical integrity.

“Think about things that might resonate with the world in ways that this music you love and want to share and maybe want to get to different populations. Maybe you’ve come up with a way to do that and you should try. Like so what if you fail. Failure is a necessary step to success. So try your big, bold, beautiful idea.”

Zachary Johnson did. And look at him now.

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com.