Orlando musician Hannah Stokes talks upcoming album ‘Right Where I Belong’

Orlando-based singer-songwriter Hannah Stokes can’t recall the precise moment she first heard Julie Andrews’ “My Favorite Things”; it was likely while watching The Sound of Music for the first time or perhaps on a Christmas radio station. But there are two things she absolutely knows: It’s her mom’s favorite song, and John Coltrane’s 1961 version has an inspiring, “crazy, ripping saxophone.” A cover of the iconic track is one of the singles from Stokes’ upcoming debut album, Right Where I Belong — an expansive project that highlights her journey as a young folk singer-songwriter to the well-rounded musician she is today. Incorporating classical training with the sultry sounds of bossa nova, jazz, soul and R&B, as well as her intimate storytelling skills, Stokes has created a unique niche in Orlando’s music scene.

She debuts the album’s title track at Tuffy’s Music Box on Friday, ahead of the full record release later this summer. The show features what Stokes calls a “dream line-up” of Megan Shea and Morgan Joyce Hart, plus some impromptu collaborations.

A chance encounter at the release show for Stokes’ 2022 EP, Hollow Bones, culminated in Stokes joining up with local label Raised Eden Records. With label bosses Jordan Morales and Vanessa Poulson, Stokes began assembling what was initially intended to be a five-song EP, but will soon be the full-length Right Where I Belong.

The tracks that make up the album showcase Stokes’ emotional and artistic journey, from one of the first songs she ever wrote more than a decade ago to her most recent song, finished only last month.

“Most of my work really involves exploring identity and purpose and growing up and just being a human, which is a process that never ends,” Stokes tells Orlando Weekly.

She credits her steady gravitation toward soul and jazz over the earlier, indie-folk sounds of Hollow Bones to her studies of voice, classical music and musical theater at Valencia and Rollins College, as well as covering classic Motown tracks with her band.

“That really changed the way that I feel music and hear music,” Stokes says.

Her 2023 single “How Could This Love Be So,” featuring a rap verse from Zoetic, was the first recorded evidence of Stokes’ changing sounds. The singer cites Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder and 1970s Aretha Franklin as her main influences.

Stokes will pay tribute to Franklin on the album with a cover of “I Say a Little Prayer,” combining Franklin’s classic reading with British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas’ arrangement of the song, all tied together with Stokes’ bossa-fied approach.

But despite the covers, you overlook Stokes’ songwriting at your peril. The singer-songwriter says the intimate tracks come easiest to her; songs like “Glory,” “Crazy Woman” and “Landscapes” are prime examples.

“I’m so proud of those songs because of how complicated and difficult those emotions can be to experience,” Stokes says. “And then to sit with them and express them was like, monumental for me. I feel like they’re really going to hit people because of how immediate and honest they feel.”

When asked about whether or not she feels pressured for her music to fit into a genre “box,” Stokes replies, “As an artist, it doesn’t seem like it’s a problem, but then trying to quickly get people to understand or know if they are interested or going to like it? That’s really the challenge.”

Although Stokes says cohesion is somewhat a concern in putting this record out, the mosaic of influences that make up Right Where I Belong feels representative of her artistry and experiences learning and growing in the City Beautiful.

And through hosting no less than three scene-building showcases regularly — the “Inspired By,” “Songwriters Rising” and “Songwriters in the Round” meetups — Stokes has built a reputation as a cultivator of local artistry in the community.

“Being exposed to really great and creative songwriters every month has been a cool thing,” Stokes says, “to connect, to get inspired and to motivate each other to keep going.”

Whether or not Stokes is “right where she belongs” all depends on the day. Sometimes she’s doing the right things in the right places, and at other times it can all feel like it’s going terribly wrong. But being a part of the Raised Eden family has given her the support and confidence to grow as an artist.

“It’s meant a lot to me artistically to have somebody that shares my vision and sometimes has a vision beyond mine and brings me up into it,” Stokes says. “So having Jordan to work with and Vanessa to work with to develop that has given me a lot of security in the trajectory of my art.”

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This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2025.