Crystal Shawanda, Native American country singer, will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Rozsa Center. (Photo and text courtesy Rozsa Center)Born in Ontario, Canada, Crystal grew up on a Native American reservation called Wikwemikong on Canada's Manitoulin Island. She wrote her first song at age 9 and cites Loretta Lynn as her childhood hero.
"I'm Native American," Crystal says. "We're automatically country -- joined to the land and the real stories of everyday people. A long time ago, we traditionally used music as our daily prayer and as our way of giving thanks. To Native Americans, music is our everything. It's our storytelling, our history and our dance. We use it to remember and to forget. It's how we celebrate life and mourn death."
Crystal's father was a truck driver whose route regularly led him from Michigan to Nashville. Accompanying him on many of the trips, she was 11 when she made her first visit to Nashville and watched singers and musicians through the window at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.
"I was scared I would be told I wasn't good enough," Crystal notes. "By 12, I had written enough songs to do my own little demo album which I sold back home to pay for more trips to Nashville. Country music had become my full time way of relating to my world. If I couldn't write and sing, I couldn't talk and feel."
At 13, Crystal made her first appearance at Tootsie's and received encouragement from a drummer who had worked in Loretta Lynn's band. She kept returning to Nashville, singing regularly at Tootsie's, and finally moved to Nashville to concentrate on her music. Dawn of a New Day, released in 2008 on RCA, debuted at #2 on the Canadian Country Album chart and at #16 on Billboard’s Top Country Album chart.
Shawanda has been touring in Canada and the United States with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley as a special guest on the Paisley Party 2009 tour. She had previously toured with various artists across Canada and the northern United States in 2008. As of January 2009, three singles have charted: "You Can Let Go," "What Do I Have to Do" and "My Roots Are Showing." The first reached #5 in Canada and #21 in the U.S., while "What Do I Have to Do" also reached #5 in Canada, but wasn't released in the United States. "My Roots Are Showing" peaked at #12 in Canada, as well as #57 on the U.S. charts. The title track and "Try" were then released as the fourth and fifth singles from the album in Canada only. In mid-2009, Shawanda was moved to Sony Music Canada.
On Sept. 13, 2009, the Canadian Country Music Association awarded Crystal Shawanda the prestigious "Female Artist of the Year" award.
Crystal Shawanda's visit is sponsored by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan Tech American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Multicultural Affairs, Michigan Tech Student Life and the James and Margaret Black Endowment.
Ticket prices for the general public are $25 and $20; Michigan Tech student prices are $20 and $15 (MTU student ID required). To purchase tickets contact the Rozsa Box Office at 487-3200, The Central Ticket Office (SDC) at 487-2073, Tech Express (MUB) at 487-3308 or go online at tickets.mtu.edu. No refunds, exchanges, or late seating, please.
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