Crystal Shawanda (born in Wikwemikong, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian country music artist.CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which was broadcast in February 2008. Signed to RCA Records in 2007, she released her first single, "You Can Let Go", in Canada in January 2008. 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 5 weeks. It was released in the United States on March 17, 2008.
Music career edit:
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.
Shawanda is a First Nations member of the Ojibwe band. Her surname translates to "Dawn of a New Day".
Shawanda toured with various artists across Canada and the northern United States in 2008. In 2009, she toures 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. Another single, "Love Enough", was released 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. All three releases failed to chart.
