Anais Mitchell, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, October 16

Her songs are influenced by Rickie Lee Jones, Gillian Welch and Cyndi Lauper, as well as Dylan, Cohen, Cash and The Velvet Underground, as can be heard on her latest album, the folk opera Hadestown.

The record recalls the ancient Greek myth of the poet Orpheus and his doomed quest to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld.

“People often ask why I wanted to retell this particular myth,” says Anais.

“The truth is, the first few songs just came out of nowhere. It wasn’t an academic idea or anything; the songs led to the myth, not the other way around.

“But once I got going, I recognised in the Orpheus character something a lot of artists feel: his heartbreaking optimism. In the underworld, the rules are the rules, you don’t get a dead person back – but Orpheus believes if he can just sing/play/ write something beautiful enough, maybe he can do the impossible, move the heart of stone, get through to someone. I’ve felt that feeling.”

On the album, Anais sings the part of Eurydice, joined by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon as Orpheus; Greg Brown as Hades, lord of the underworld; Ani DiFranco as Hades’s subversive wife, Persephone; and The Low Anthem’s Ben Knox Miller as the messenger Hermes.

“It’s beyond belief, hearing those songs come out of the mouths of some of my heroes,” Anais says.

“It’s especially great because I’ve always thought of myself as a writer first and a singer/performer second. And songs are out there, they’re on the wind, they don’t belong to any of us. I love that about them. I’m so grateful to the singers for telling the story like they did.”

“Anais now hits the road to prove she can do the album even better live,” says Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham, who has booked Maia, Huddersfield’s missing link between The Incredible String Ban, Fleet Foxes and Calexico, as the support act.

• Tickets for tomorrow’s 7.30pm show can be booked on 01751 433201 or online at thebandroom.co.uk