Crystal Shawanda

Crystal Shawanda (born July 26, 1983) is a Canadian country music artist.[1] CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which was broadcast in February 2008.[2] Signed to RCA Nashville in 2007, she released her first single, "You Can Let Go", in Canada in January 2008.[3] It was the fastest climbing single on the Canadian Country Singles Chart since Carolyn Dawn Johnson's "Georgia" in 2000, reaching the Top 10 in five weeks.[4] It was released in the United States on February 25, 2008 .[5]

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

Life

Shawanda was born in Wiikwemkoong First Nation, Manitoulin Island, Ontario. She spent her youth in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where she attended Korah Collegiate.[6] Her surname translates to "Dawn of a New Day".[7]

Many of Shawanda's songs have been inspired by her connections to Wiikwemkoong and part of her 2016 album was recorded at the Debajehmujig Creation Centre in Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island.[8]

Music career

Shawanda's first album, Dawn of a New Day, was released in Canada on June 24, 2008, and in the United States on August 19. The album entered the Canadian Country Albums chart at number 2, and the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at number 16. It became the highest charted album by a full-blooded Canadian First Nations country artist in the SoundScan era.[9]

Shawanda toured with various artists across Canada and the northern United States in 2008. In 2009, she toured Canada and the United States with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley as a special guest on the Paisley Party 2009 tour. Her first single, "You Can Let Go", peaked at number 21 on the Hot Country Songs charts. In mid-2009, Shawanda left RCA Nashville and, through her own record label, New Sun Records, and a distribution deal with EMI/On Ramp Records, released a Christmas album titled I'll Be Home for Christmas.

In 2010, Shawanda released a single, "Beautiful Day", via her own label, New Sun Records. Shawanda also performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2010, performing "Let's Come Together" and "This Is My Land".[10] She then released another single, "Love Enough", on August 15, 2011 in both Canada and the United States. Shawanda's second studio album, Just Like You, was released by New Sun on April 24, 2012.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Country [11]	US [12]
Dawn of a New Day	Release date: June 24, 2008 Label: RCA Nashville	16	81
I'll Be Home for Christmas	Release date: December 1, 2009 Label: New Sun/EMI/On Ramp Records	—	—
Just Like You	Release date: April 24, 2012 Label: New Sun Records/Fontana North	—	—
The Whole World's Got the Blues	Release date: September 30, 2014 Label: New Sun Records	—	—
Fish Out of Water	Release date: October 2016 Label: New Sun Records	—	—
Voodoo Woman	Release date: October 31, 2017 Label: New Sun Records/Fontana North	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions			Album
		CAN Country [13]	CAN [14]	US Country [15]
2008	"You Can Let Go"^[a]	5	60	21	Dawn of a New Day
	"What Do I Have to Do"	5	79	—
	"My Roots Are Showing"	12	87	57
2009	"Dawn of a New Day"	7	90	—
	"Try"	24	—	—
2010	"Beautiful Day"	39	—	—	Just Like You
	"Fight for Me"	—	—	—
2011	"This Fever"	—	—	—
	"Love Enough"	—	—	—
2012	"Closer"	32	—	—
	"Down on Broadway"	—	—	—
	"Chains"	—	—	—
2013	"Someone Who Loves You"	—	—	—
2016	"Laid Back"	—	—	—	Fish Out of Water
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Notes

• a^ "You Can Let Go" also reached number nine on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[16]

As a featured artist

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		CAN Country [17]
2009	"In Your Arms Again" (George Canyon featuring Crystal Shawanda)	16	What I Do

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2008	"You Can Let Go"	Margaret Malandruccolo
2009	"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
2010	"Beautiful Day"	Stephano Barberis
2012	"Down on Broadway"

Awards and nominations

Year	Organization	Category	Result
2008	Aboriginal Peoples Choice Awards	Best New Artist of the Year	Won[18]
		Best Country Album of the Year - Dawn of a New Day	Won[18]
		Best Single of the Year - "You Can Let Go"	Won[18]
	Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards	Best Artist of the Year	Won[19]
		Best Album of the Year - Dawn of a New Day	Won[19]
		Best Country Album of the Year	Won[19]
		Best Music Video of the Year - "You Can Let Go"	Won[19]
		Best Single of the Year - "You Can Let Go"	Won[19]
	Canadian Country Music Association	Single of the Year - "You Can Let Go"	Nominated[20]
		Female Artist of the Year	Nominated[20]
		Program/Special of the Year	Nominated[20]
2009		Album of the Year - Dawn of a New Day	Nominated
		Female Artist of the Year	Won
	Canadian Radio Music Awards	Best New Country Artist	Won[21]
	Juno Awards	Best New Artist	Nominated[22]
		Country Recording of the Year	Nominated[22]
2010	Canadian Country Music Association	Female Artist of the Year	Nominated[23]
2013	Juno Awards	Aboriginal Album of the Year	Won[24]
2015	Juno Awards	Aboriginal Album of the Year	Nominated[25]
2017	Juno Awards	Indigenous Music Album of the Year	Nominated[26]
2017	Indigenous Music Awards	Best Producer/Engineer (for New Sun Records – Missy Knott/My Sister's Heart)	Nominated[27]

References

1. "Artists to Watch in 2008 (Part 4 of 5): New Faces". The9513.com.
2. "From Manitoulin Island to Music Row Crystal is living the dream on CMT". Newsire.ca.
3. "MAGMEDIA: Canadian > Crystal Shawanda > You Can Let Go". Magmedia.blogspot.com.
4. "Crystal Clearly Doing Great". Cmt.ca.
5. "MusicRow Singles Calendar". Archived from the original on October 28, 2007.
6. "Crystal Shawanda finds her wings". SooToday.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
7. "HearSomethingCountry.com". June 2, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-02.
8. Burridge, Robin (2016-04-27). "Crystal Shawanda talks about her two new albums set to release this summer". Manitoulin Expositor. Archived from the original on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Crystal Shawanda- Country Albums". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
12. "Crystal Shawanda - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
13. "Crystal Shawanda - Canada Country". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
14. "Crystal Shawanda - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
15. "Crystal Shawanda - Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
16. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
17. "George Canyon - Canada Country". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
19. "Crystal Shawanda Cleans Up At 2008 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
20. "2008 CCMA Awards Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011.
21. "Announcement". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
22. "It's a new dawn for Shawanda". Vancouversun.com.
23. "2010 CCMA Awards Nominees". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
24. "Juno Awards 2013: Carly Rae Jepsen, Leonard Cohen Are Early Winners". Billboard.com. April 21, 2013.
25. "2015 | Aboriginal Album of the Year (Sponsored by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) | Crystal Shawanda | The JUNO Awards". The JUNO Awards. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
26. "INDIGENOUS MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR | Crystal Shawanda | The JUNO Awards". The JUNO Awards. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
27. "Here Are the Winners of the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2018-03-14.

External links

• crystalshawanda.co, (Official Website)