>>From the second floor of the Orlando Public Library welcome to Melrose in the Mix.

Our series of live recording sessions from here at the Melrose Center.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Jim Myers.

Today's session features Hannah Stokes.

Based in Orlando, Hannah is an acclaimed singer, songwriter and jazz vocalist, gaining recognition from numerous press outlets and playing noteworthy shows across the southeast.

Her music is informed by folk, R&B and soul influences and adorned with personal, insightful lyrics.

Hannah first played in the center at the 2023 Melrose Pop Festival and now, just a few months after the release of her well-received full length debut album, Right Where I Belong, She returns to perfor and record in the audio studio, backed by Sal Martinez on keys, Bryce Hayes on bass and Jack Bramichi on drums.

>>Two trees standing together, two trees close, but apart.

Two trees braving the weather from the storms that brew in the heart.

I know that the love we grow didn't come from a seed or the swaying of the breeze, but where we plant our roots.

Two bees buzzin' together.

They work hard 'til the end of the day.

But at night they lay close together and make sweet of the honey they made.

And I know that the life we chose didn't start with the flowers or the April showers, but where we lay to rest.

[SCATTING] [SCATTING] Two seas wave at each other.

Shifting tides with the change of the day.

But part of one always stays with the other.

Till the moment the sun fades away.

And I know when my heart beats slow, that it's you.

It's always been you.

Us we two.

Us we two.

[SCATTING] Us we two.

[SCATTING] Us we two.

My influences and music started in folk music and Americana when I was a teenager.

And then, when I started studying jazz at Valencia College, it totally changed my life.

And I got super into classic soul and jazz and Motown and all that stuff.

And then outside of music, literature actually really inspires my writing.

And I love to read, to, inspire my music.

So most of my songs I've, written mostly, you know, on my own, I start with my guitar and and just singing, you know, melody and lyrics.

And I really appreciate personal storytelling and songwriting.

I know there's some songwriters that they'll, you know, have these hypothetical situations or, you know, come up with, like fictional stories.

And I appreciate those things.

But for me, I really like to keep it personal and applicable to, you know, my journey and my story and, the things that I believe.

So I usually start with that.

I'll, you know, sometimes go do like a brain dum journal entry and then, kind of scrape song lyrics out of that brain dump and, you know, put it togethe or sometimes it's just, you know I'm feeling a heavy emotion and I start playing and then something just comes out of it.

Crazy Woman was one of those songs on the record that kind of just came out of me, while I was feeling that emotion.

And then I'll usually bring it to the guys, and Bryce is one of the first people that I go to, and I say, you know, here's here's how the song goe when I'm playing it, you know, what do you hear?

And Bryce is a very melodic bass player.

That's wha I really like about his playing.

So, he usually comes up with some cool stuff.

And then Jack and Sal, we haven't really had a chanc to write together too much yet, so I'm excited what that will look like in the future.

I woke up this morning needing to know if you're alive.

I keep having dreams about us, the acid uncertainty of you and I. You make me feel so proud of myself I don't think you understand.

I've never felt more real than when you said you wanna hold my hand.

You see, you talk to me about chemistry and I make sure to look like I'm listening.

But "I love you, I love you, I love you" is the only thing I'm whispering.

Praying hard that you don't hear me, praying harder that you do.

Oh please don't tell me that she's your someone new.

My eyes sting from the ash left behind by your destruction.

But the thing is, I was the bomb that shook you down to your foundation.

I look you in the eyes, stained glas windows shattered into shards.

This love used to be a home before it was a scattered house of cards.

They remind me of the sky, your eyes right before it starts to break.

They remind me of the day when we left it up to fate.

You said to look at me was fire, to be without me was to freeze.

It's hard to know if you love someone when you arms are growing weak, please.

I think I'd give almost anything to wake up next to you again.

Your warm hands on my cold shoulders, the sweetest way I know to begin.

But the truth is you are leaving, leaving behind a version of yourself for me to hold and to remember and finally, to put onto a shelf.

I don't know if it was worth it, mistakes are things you should regret, but I know I'll always remember the day you chose to forget.

[SCATTING] >>Hannah and I actually have similar journey as young adults.

We met at Valencia College and then went to Rollins together and had this, almost the same path into college.

>>Our band came together originally in like 2017.

It was Hannah Stoke and the Croaks, which featured Bryce and some other people from Valencia.

I think we played like maybe two shows together and then, you know, people all graduated, went separate ways.

There's bee a couple different iterations.

I've just kind of been collecting the people that I like over, over the years.

So Jack came into the picture around a year ago.

He's been playing with Bryce forever, so they've been good friends and, having played together.

And then Sal's the newest member.

Yeah, I saw him play with one of my friends at a songwriter showcase, and, my original keyboard player was just, you know, getting bus with other projects and stuff.

So I was like, Sal's the guy I want to work with.

I wake up with the sun beaming in my eyes.

It's a beautiful day and I'm feeling alright.

Then I pick up my phone, say I'll be up in five, but when I check again, an hour's gone by.

Why do I even try?

Gotta catch up now, I gotta catch my train.

And don't you dare forget to grab that spare change.

I can't afford to be late and lose my pay, in my rush I drop a twenty on the ground somewhere anyway.

Why do I even try?

How much time have I wasted trying not to waste time?

How much time have I wasted trying not to waste time?

I'm pinching pennies just to drop a dollar, taking shortcuts just to lose it all.

Counting out my wins and losses just to prove that I'm worth my soul.

We make plans to go out, decide on eight.

Oh I'm stressing and nagging please don't make us late, oh no.

You say "It's supposed to be fun," why am I acting this way?

Before it's even begun, I've ruined my own date.

Why do I even try?

My ideal doesn't strive.

Not for love or for time.

How much time have I wasted trying to not waste time?

How much time have I wasted trying to not waste time?

Pinching pennies just to drop a dollar, taking shortcuts just to lose it all.

Counting out my wins and my losses, just to prove that I'm worth my soul.

I don't wanna be afraid anymore.

I don't wanna waste away anymore.

I've learned to love just being with you.

It doesn't matte if we get where we're going to.

I've learned to love just being with you [VOCALIZING] Recording the album was interesting because it started probably three years ago.

It originally was going to just be an EP, with myself playing and singing and that was going to be it, it was going to be a really simple project.

And then my producer met my band and heard them, and he was like, oh no, we gotta we gotta reshape this whole thing.

We're going to get the band in here.

So it was a very long process over the past three years.

And a lot of it was very segmented.

It wasn't like how, you know, some people will book a studio for a week and they just, you know, record and get everything done that week and then go into mixing.

But it was, a lot of, a lot of stop and start.

But it was cool because it kind of developed over those three years in a way that I don't think it would have been completed if I had finished it three years ago.

Especially with you know, the different players kind of changing and, my own musicality changing.

Bryce plays almost all the bass parts on the album and Marco Bojorquez does the upright bass song.

Jack's on of the songs he plays, Say a Little Prayer and then Sal-- >>I just got in there.

>>Sal came in right after the album was released, so it was a long process, bu I think it was really worth it.

And I had so much fun recording with Jack and Bryce and the other incredible people that were featured on that record.

And a lot of it was just homegrown at a home studio Raised Eden Records.

And it was.

Yeah, it was a really special, intimate process that was really cool.

Jordan Morales and Vanessa Frances, they'r the spearheads of Raised Eden, and they had this dream a couple of years ago that, they had so many friends that were artists that they loved so much, but they saw them struggling with, you know, getting organized with marketing and, having, you know, a safe space to record and produce music.

So they wanted to create that.

So I was one of the original artist that they started working with.

And, it's been amazing to work with them and kind of see them grow in the industry and to grow with them, because they're.

Yeah, they're just super, super nice folks.

And they really believe in music and making music good.

Even at our rehearsal this weekend, we had it at their, their studio, and Jordan was just all night giving us notes on, okay, this sounded great.

Here's what you guys need to fix, which is just such an amazing help to have somebody in your corner that believes in you.

That's been one of the most valuable things in my career the past couple of years.

There's just having somebody there that's cheering me on and helping me with things that I don't know how to take care of on my own.

I'll tell you something about me, I'm not gonna go where I don't wanna be.

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna sit here and be with you.

I'll show you what you can't see, when you're overwhelmed by reality.

I'll remind you what's true when the lies you hear go running loose.

When you're up, when you're down, when the world is spinning the wrong way 'round.

This is what I'll do, when I say I'll love you.

This is what I'll do when I say I'll love you.

If you're up all night, I will shield you from the morning light.

And if you sleep all day, I'll lie with you 'til you're okay.

You can be yourself, there's no curtain to fall, no cards to be dealt.

You don't need to pretend, I will give you space I'll be your friend.

When you're up.

When you're down.

When your world is spinning the wrong way round.

This is what I'll do when I say I love you.

This is what I'll do when I say I love you.

When your world is spinning around, I'll be your ground.

Holding you down.

When your world is spinning around, I'll be your ground.

Holding you.

When you're up.

When you're down.

When your world is spinning the wrong way around.

The most memorable show at this point has to be the album releas show that we had back in June, so it ended up being more like an album preview party, because it can't.

The album came out a couple months later, but that was like, but probably one of the best nights of my career.

It was really fun to, first of all have, have the band with me.

And then I had my friends Chels and Riley doing backup vocals for the first time ever, which was incredible.

So much fun.

And then the openers were just really good friends of mine.

So it was, just an incredible night of music at Tuffy's in Sanford.

And, yeah, we just had so much fun.

Everything went perfectly.

There's there's very few moments in musi where things just all go right.

And that was one of the nights where everything was just perfect.

And we recorded the show.

I listened to it back later and I was just like, crying in my room alone, listening to all of u just playing our little hearts out for this music.

God I know you want to see me.

I want to see you too.

God I know they're so against me, but I can't help the way I feel about you.

I just want some peace of mind, that when you hold me tight, that's right where I belong.

I've always been the one to throw it all away.

But I don't want it to be just another one of those days.

And I I just want you to make me feel okay.

I just want some peace of mind that when you hold me tight that's right where I belong.

Oh, oh.

Oh and I am only human.

I'm afraid to let you go.

I would never want to lose this.

Please oh, please.

Just let me know.

'Cause I just want some peace of mind that when you hold me tight that's right where I belong.

[VOCALIZING] >>Thanks for joining us for this episode of Melrose in the Mix featuring Hannah Stokes.

We'll see you again soon for another live recording session here in the Melrose Center at the Orlando Public Library.

We.

I woke up this morning needing to know if you're alive.

I keep having dreams about us.

The acid uncertainty of you and I.