Hayden Anhedönia, the singer-songwriter known as Ethel Cain, draws from an encyclopedic trove of cultural references for her work, stirring them into a Southern Gothic brew that feels uniquely her own. But long before the alt-rock visionary began building worlds with her albums Preacher’s Daughter and Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You , she was getting lost in those conjured by others.

“I was a massive reader as a child,” Anhedönia, who is 27, writes in an email the day after wrapping the North American leg of her Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour. “I was extremely into the escapism of fantasy, so series like Redwall and Eragon were my bread and butter,” she explains.

Those books helped occupy the big mind of a small-town girl from Perry, Florida, who grew up surrounded by v

See Full Page