Crystal Shawanda - Malahat Nation

Crystal Shawanda's country roots run deep. Born Native American, she was automatically country- joined to the land
and the real stories of everyday people. To Native Americans, music is everything. It's their history, their dance, and
used to remember and to forget. It's a way to celebrate life and mourn death.
Crystal was born on the Wikwemikong Native Reservation on Canada's Manitoulin Island in Ontario. At 12, she accompanied her truck-driver father on a long haul to the southern United States, and visited Nashville for the first time. At
13, she recorded her first album in Nashville, all of which were songs that she wrote. Over the next several years she
recorded three more independent albums, traveled back and forth to Nashville, honed her craft, and finally got a
full-time gig at the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Nashville's world famous Broadway.
Crystal's single, "You Can Let Go", was the fastest rising single in Canadian BDS History and reached top 5 in Canada
and top 20 in the US. Her debut album Dawn of a New Day was released in 2008, was Billboard's highest charting album
by a Native American in history, and sold over 400,000 copies. A CMT six-part documentary also aired in Canada called
"Crystal: Living the Dream", giving fans an inside look at Crystal’s life in Nashville.
Crystal’s latest album, Just Like You, was released in 2012 on her label New Sun Records, based in Vancouver, BC and
Nashville, TN. Following this release, Crystal performed at the presidential inauguration in Washington, DC in January
2013 and won her first Juno Award for Aboriginal Album of the Year. In 2014, Crystal began recording her next album,
The Whole World’s Got The Blues. She looks forward to touring the world singing these new songs.
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
TOURS & APPEARANCES
2013
2009
Canada
endorsement, and an active board member
2008
health and wellness in Aboriginal communities.
BOOKING CONTACT
[email protected]