Lara Ruggles lived an isolated adolescence in rural Arizona. She grew up homeschooled and off the grid and could often be found escaping into the desert hills on horseback at dusk. Loneliness, unrequited love, and the influence of imposing landscapes were central inspirations behind her first songs. Lara sang her first concert in three-part harmony and won her first poetry slam, but that didn’t stop her friends’ parents from asking her, “Are...