On a sunny afternoon, Oklahoma indie-rocker Samantha Crain might be found hanging laundry out in the backyard, but this mundane chore isn’t as boring as it seems. Crain said it provides her with the perfect setting to quiet down her busy mind before heading into a meditative state, which can inspire the creation of new songs.

Harnessing that pioneer spirit, she began touring almost immediately upon beginning her music career several years ago. Crain only had a vague idea about what the endeavor would entail. Early in the morning, she called to book shows, drove many hours to these locations and then followed up with venues to ensure set-up went as planned before taking the stage to perform. Touring, Crain discovered, was time-consuming work.

“It was just one of those things where I’d made up my mind to do something,” she said. “And the only option for me, really, was to just do that. I’m a pretty hard-headed person and a pretty stubborn person, so I don’t think I would have let myself give up.”

It took a lot of persistence, she said, but the adventure was something she thrived on, even when all she had to live on were peanut butter crackers and coffee. Today with three albums to her name, Crain said Oklahoma is still her home base.

She doesn’t like to stick to one genre of music, as it goes against her nature to stay tied to any one style. Her first album, “The Confiscation: A Musical Novella,” features a folk sound. “Songs in the Night,” the second album, has an alternative country vibe. The latest album, “You: Understood,” has more of an indie-rock quality.

Crain described her approach to songwriting similarly. In some collections there are big-picture stories, while in others she takes something as simple as a window and hones in on a feature to describe its character, thereby letting a story freely unfurl. Crain’s albums generally mix these two styles of writing, she said.

When strapped for ideas, Crain said she finds a lot of inspiration from friends and peers who are also artists. Her creativity is sparked by the different ways others approach their craft. But poetry and paintings also have had influence on her.

Crain took a trip to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., and admired the way O’Keeffe enlarged and examined otherwise small details. Additionally, Crain read the works of John Keats, Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas during her high school days.

Oklahoma filmmaker Sterlin Harjo said Crain’s music and lyrics have a cinematic quality. After hearing Crain play a show in Tulsa, Harjo said he introduced himself afterwards and offered to help Crain make videos for her music.

“She’s one of those singer-songwriters that you listen to and a million stories just go to your head,” Harjo said.

They’ve since made three mini-documentaries, including one filmed at SXSW, and a handful of music videos. One of the newest videos, “Santa Fe,” from her latest album, came about because Harjo liked the song. Together, he and Crain made the music video while on a road trip to New Mexico to see a band named Frontier Ruckus.

Crain, originally from Shawnee, performs with folk singer-songwriter John Fullbright this Friday at the Blue Door.