{"id":5281,"date":"2026-07-10T15:38:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/indigenous\/cisce\/?post_type=cu-people&#038;p=5281"},"modified":"2026-07-10T15:38:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:38:42","slug":"crystal-shawanda","status":"publish","type":"cu-people","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/indigenous\/cisce\/people\/crystal-shawanda\/","title":{"rendered":"Crystal Shawanda"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"col-lg- column \">\n<p>Crystal Shawanda is an Ojibwe\u2013Potawatomi singer, songwriter, and powerhouse vocalist from Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. She is celebrated for her incredible ability to move between country, blues, and soul with equal conviction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg- column \">\n<p>Raised in a musical family, Shawanda began performing at six, joined Debajehmujig Theatre by nine, and recorded her first Nashville sessions at thirteen \u2014 early signs of a voice and drive that would carry her far beyond her rural Rez (community).<\/p>\n<p>Shawanda first rose to prominence in Nashville\u2019s country scene. Her 2008 debut, Dawn of a New Day, became the highest-charting album by a First Nations artist in the SoundScan era, leading to international touring, major award nominations, and quickly becoming one of the most visible Indigenous women in mainstream country music.<\/p>\n<p>However, the blues \u2014 the music she grew up hearing from her brother\u2019s record collection \u2014 remained her deepest artistic inspiration. In 2014, Shawanda shifted fully into blues, unleashing a raw, soulful vocal style she had felt compelled to restrain in country music. Her 2020 release, Church House Blues, received extensive airplay in North America and Europe, and she went on to become the first Indigenous woman to win a JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year. In 2022, she achieved another first: her song \u201cMidnight Blues\u201d made her the first Indigenous person to appear on the American Billboard blues chart.<\/p>\n<p>Despite immense career success south of the border, Crystal Shawanda continues to perform with emotional honesty, vocal mastery, and a spirit rooted in her home community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"people-type":[46],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - 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