Joyful, earthy, and delightfully free of pretense, wilderness-based B.C. songbird Yael Wand is like a breath of fresh air in the Canadian roots scene, blessed with a voice as pure and sweet as the air in her mountain home and a penchant for writing music that radiates the bliss of rural life. For her third solo release, Good Stitch Gone, Wand collaborated with quirky Victoria producer, Corwin Fox. It her most mature and cohesive album to date - one that places Wand squarely into the Americana genre without compromising either her airy, free-spirited sound or her worldly sophistication. The writing is Wand’s best yet, much of it building on her penchant for creating intimate and inspired poetry from simple encounters with the landscape – both the emotional one and the physical one. The arrangements are lush and at times orchestral, with old-timey banjo, fiddle and mandolin right up front, accentuated by all manner of less traditional accompaniment: electric guitar, organ, congas, trumpet, and French horn, by way of example. The fiddle and trumpet parts come courtesy of virtuoso, Daniel Lapp, who adds a hoppin’ solo to “Lightspeeds”; electric guitar is contributed by Jordy Walker (Kim Barlow), who rocks out on the gospel-inspired “Take Me to the Water”; and accordion lines are added by idiosyncratic BC artist Raghu Lokanathan, whose work gives “Ballad of You and I” an Eastern European feel. Also accompanying Wand is long-time collaborator and roots cellist of choice, Christina Zaenker. It’s no wonder Good Stitch Gone received two BC Interior Music Awards nominations. Best of all, in a culture now focused on song-at-a-time downloads, Stitch is filler-free and a captivating listen from beginning to end.