Amanda Shires, alt-country singer-songwriter and second-year student in the Sewanee School of Letters, will make her debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage tonight. A highly original songwriter and world-class fiddler, Shires has recorded three albums, most recently the acclaimed Carrying Lightning. She is often compared to Lucinda Williams, Townes Van Zandt, and Allison Krauss, but fellow artist Justin Townes Earle comes closest, crediting her with “a voice that whispers Dolly and lyrics that scream Faulkner.” Shires, now based in Nashville, has been enrolled in the School of Letters since 2011, pursuing an M.F.A. degree in poetry.