Crystal Shawanda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Crystal Shawanda
Crystal Shawanda at Scotiabank Place, 14 February 2009, opening for Brad Paisley
Background information
Born	(1983-07-26) July 26, 1983 (age 42) Wiikwemkoong, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Country, Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2008—present
Labels	RCA Nashville, New Sun, True North Records

Crystal Shawanda is a talented Canadian singer and songwriter. She is known for her amazing music in both blues and country music styles. A TV show called Crystal: Living the Dream followed her journey to becoming famous. It was shown in February 2008.

Crystal signed with RCA Nashville in 2007. Her first song, "You Can Let Go", came out in Canada in January 2008. It quickly became a Top 10 hit on the Canadian Country Singles Chart. The song also did very well in the United States, reaching number 2 on the American Mediabase chart. Crystal made history as the first Indigenous woman to reach the Top 20 on the American Billboard Country chart. She was also the first to sell over 300,000 records and sing at the famous Grand Ole Opry. In 2009, she won the CCMA award for Female Artist of the Year. Later, in 2020, she won a Juno Award for "Blues Album of the Year." In 2022, she was the first Indigenous person to appear in the Top 10 of the American Billboard Blues chart.

Crystal's Early Life and Beginnings

Crystal Shawanda was born on July 26, 1983, in Wiikwemkoong First Nation, which is on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. She started performing when she was just 6 years old. By age 9, she began acting with the Debajemujig Theatre. She even started getting paid for her performances when she was 10.

When she was 13, Crystal recorded her first music album in Nashville, Tennessee. A Canadian producer named Gary Buck helped her with this. She spent her first three years of high school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Crystal's last name, Shawanda, means "Dawn of a New Day." This special meaning inspired the title of her first album.

At 16, Crystal moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She often sang on street corners and at songwriter events to earn money. She moved back and forth between her home in Wiikwemkoong and Nashville a few times. Eventually, she made Nashville her permanent home. When she returned for the last time, she performed for tips at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. She signed a music publishing deal in 2014 and a production deal in 2015. Then, in 2016, she signed with RCA Records. Many of Crystal's songs are inspired by her strong connection to Wiikwemkoong. Part of her 2016 album was even recorded there.

Crystal's Music Career

Crystal Shawanda's first album, Dawn of a New Day, was released in Canada on June 24, 2008. It came out in the United States on August 19. The album quickly reached number 2 on the Canadian Country Albums chart. It also hit number 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. This made it the highest-charting album by a full-blooded Canadian First Nations country artist at that time.

In 2008, Crystal toured with many different artists across Canada and the northern United States. The next year, in 2009, she joined Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley on the Paisley Party 2009 tour. Her first song, "You Can Let Go," reached number 21 on the Hot Country Songs charts. In mid-2009, Crystal left RCA Nashville. She then started her own record label, New Sun Records. Through this label, she released a Christmas album called I'll Be Home for Christmas.

In 2010, Crystal released a song called "Beautiful Day" through her New Sun Records label. She also performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that year. She sang "Let's Come Together" and "This Is My Land." On August 15, 2011, she released another song, "Love Enough," in both Canada and the United States. To promote it, she toured with Reba McEntire. Crystal's second studio album, Just Like You, was released by New Sun on April 24, 2012. This album won a Juno Award for Aboriginal Album of the Year in 2013. Crystal became the first Indigenous woman to be the CEO of a record label and achieve these important milestones.

In 2014, Crystal decided to try something new and released a blues album called "The Whole World's Got the Blues." Instead of just singing traditional blues, she shared her own story as an Indigenous woman in the song "Pray Sister Pray." This song helped raise awareness about the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in Canada. She filmed a music video for the song in her hometown. This video is now used in schools across Canada to teach about this important issue. Her album was nominated for "Aboriginal Album of the Year." Crystal was also invited to perform at the Juno Awards opening gala.

Crystal released her fourth album, "Fish Out of Water," in 2016. This album mixed blues and country music, creating an Americana sound. In 2017, she released "Voo Doo Woman," which included six blues cover songs and four new original songs. Later that year, Crystal signed with True North Records. They re-released her album, and it received good airplay on blues radio stations in America.

In 2020, Crystal released "Church House Blues." This album was played a lot on blues radio in both America and Europe. She also became the first Indigenous woman to win a Juno Award for "Blues Album of the Year." In 2022, Crystal released "Midnight Blues." This album debuted at number 8 on the American Billboard blues chart. This made her the first Indigenous person to appear on this chart. The album also received a lot of airplay on blues radio and was nominated for "Blues Album of the Year" at the Juno Awards.

Crystal's Awards and Nominations

Crystal Shawanda has won many awards and been nominated for others throughout her career.