Known for her quick wit, warmth, and for unapologetically stealing your Grandma’s clothes, Calgary, Canada-based Americana artist Mariya Stokes turns life’s messiest moments into songs that feel like late-night confessions with an old friend. Blending country storytelling with pop, R&B, and funk grooves, Stokes released her debut album Mood Ring (May 2025) with a sold-out release show at Studio Bell at Calgary’s National Music Centre, kicking off a national tour that spanned coast to coast. Produced by JUNO Award-winners Justin Kudding and Spencer Cheyne, alongside longtime collaborator Lucas Gienow, the record has earned over 900,000 streams to date. With anthemic choruses, gritty storytelling, and snappy basslines, Mood Ring traces the edges of a sound that refuses to fit neatly in a box. But neither does Stokes.​​

​

From the laid-back swagger of ‘Break My Heart’ to the R&B pulse of ‘Hands on My Body,’ the album builds on previous singles like “Rebound” (named Next Big Thing on the Casey Clarke Country Countdown) and “Christmas, Arizona” (Top 100 BDS Canadian Holiday Chart).  ​In 2024, Stokes earned national recognition as a semi-finalist in SiriusXM’s Top of the Country, in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association: an achievement that marked her as one of Canada’s most exciting new voices.

 But, her story started long before that. Raised in Stavely, Alberta, Stokes found her voice early, sneaking into her parents’ small-town bar at just eight years old to sing with the local jam band and falling in love with live music. The two-time Country Music Alberta Female Artist of the Year winner, has performed at festivals including Big Valley Jamboree (AB), Folk on the Rocks (NWT), Cavendish Beach Music Festival (PEI), and AmericanaFest (Nashville, TN) and opened for artists including Dallas Smith, Jade Eagleson, Mackenzie Porter, and played guitar for drag icon Trixie Mattel (RuPaul’s Drag Race).

A three-time Country Music Alberta ‘Songwriter of the Year’ nominee, Stokes has co-written songs recorded across genres, from Leaving Thomas’ “Like I Used To” and Shantaia’s “Exes and Friends,” to Ben Chase’s That Was Then, This Is Now, which hit #1 on the Canadian iTunes Country Albums Chart. Her voice is also featured on European pop project Hearts On The Run, licensed by Universal Music Group Norway.

Stokes is equally committed to community work. She served as an Artist in Residence at the Women’s Centre of Calgary and co-chaired the Legacy & Community Engagement Committee on the 2022 CCMA Host Committee.

​

With Mood Ring out in the world, Stokes is writing her next record. She continues to tour, create, and connect, bringing her music to more stages across Canada and beyond. Whether she’s front and center or tucked away working the next song, this chapter is unfolding in real time. And it’s just the beginning.

​