When listening to the hauntingly beautiful melodies on Wherever I Go, the debut full-length album by Rose-Erin Stokes, you can’t help but be transfixed by every lilting note, every phrase and every plucked string. There is a quiet stillness to some songs, and within others one can sense an emotional tumult just rippling under the service.

What is undeniable is the deeply honest approach to her musical storytelling, a wide-open emotional tableau that is representative of the silence of the vast forests, and big open skies of the northern Ontario city of North Bay where Stokes was born and raised.

Highlighted by an artistic acumen and an amazing ability to evoke emotion, Wherever I Go is demonstrative of a songwriting craftsperson at work, with music, words and vocal performances that connect to the hearts and spirits of all who hear them.