Crystal Shawanda mesmerizes at Bluesfest

By Kelly Anne Smith

NORTH BAY— Headlining the North Bay Capitol Centre’s Bluesfest, Crystal Shawanda mesmerized the audience with her soulful singing of the blues.

Shawanda is beaming as the recent winner of the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year, Church House Blues. From Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, she is the first Indigenous artist to win the award.

On stage, she sings a lot of the new music from the new album while taking everybody on a musical journey playing songs from every album.

In conversation, Shawanda talked about the June win of the Juno Award.

“It was amazing. It was like running through an invisible finish line. You know, we released this album just as the pandemic was declared. Obviously, we were worried. We couldn’t stop the release because the wheels were already in motion,” she recalled. “Thankfully, we had a lot of great support in radio and fans loved the album. Winning the Blues Album of the Year Award made it feel like, ‘Yay – it really did happen. We really did release an album.'”

Shawanda is raring to perform in person.

“We’ve played a few this summer. It feels really good to finally perform these songs from the new album in front of real people. That’s why I said, ‘Yeah, we really did release a new album’ because sometimes it didn’t feel like it because we weren’t out there playing these songs for people. It’s quite the rush. We’re having a great time doing it.”

Shawanda says she connected to music at an early age because her family loves music.

“Even at a young age, I could see music was like a friend to them. Depending what mood they were in, that’s the kind of song they were listening to. I can just see my mom. She would sing along to certain music like Loretta Lynn. I could see in her music she had found a friend and some comfort and reassurance. That’s how it started for me because I wanted to be that for somebody else. I wanted to grow up to be a shoulder for somebody to lean on,” she explained. “There were a lot of musicians in my community. My dad would sing and play guitar just at home. We were always singing and playing music together. He’s the one who taught me to play guitar.”

Shawanda’s parents were very supportive of their daughter’s singing.

“They would take me to church to sing. They would also take me to taverns and bars and grills — wherever there was a live band. If we heard about it, we would go over there. That’s really where I got my start.”

Happiness is the key in life the famed singer tells youth.

“What truly makes you happy? What is it that you enjoy doing? That’s how you find your destiny. That’s how you figure out what you were meant to do. That’s what life should be. You shouldn’t just get a job to pay the bills. You should find something that you are interested in, that you are passionate about and then that way it will be easy to always stay committed to it through your life.”

Shawanda says songwriting is like therapy.

“That’s why I love music so much,” she noted. “Whatever I’m going through, I write about it in a song. Music, for me, was my passion but also an outlet for my feelings, to work through what I was going through. And that is important for anybody, whether you are a youth or all grown-up, finding outlets to get your stress and sadness out of you, whether it’s singing, playing music, dancing, or exercise. You have to find what works for you.”

Shawanda explains the music in her soul and how her creativity continues to expand.

“I grew up listening to all kinds of music. My family loves all kinds of music – country, rock, blues, everything. So, I love it all. I consider them all my voice teachers. My parents listen to country music but my oldest brother listened to blues,” she recollected. “I think the style of country music has kinda changed. I grew up on really old country. Hank Williams was my absolute favourite and Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline… You know, country became more pop-oriented, which is totally cool. It’s great; it’s beautiful. There are a lot of amazing singers and songwriters in country music right now. But for me, that’s not what I grew up wanting to do, so, after a while, it was like I was trying to fit in a box. I was trying to squeeze in this box and be something that I wasn’t. So, I just started writing songs.”

Shawanda says one day she was watching the news and wrote the song The Whole World’s Got the Blues. It was a blues song.

“At the time, I was releasing music on my own record label. That’s why I started my own record label so I could do what I want. I released a blues album and it was like letting a bird out of a cage. I felt free. I felt like this is what I’m meant to do. All of a sudden, I knew who I was,” she explained. “Some of my country music fans were sad that I left country music. At the end of the day, I’m just like everybody else. I’m trying to figure out who I am, where I fit in, where I belong… The resounding thing I keep hearing from all of the country music fans that continue to come out to my shows and buy my blues album is, ‘It’s still Crystal Shawanda. It’s blues music but it’s you’; that’s what they all say to me. Thankfully a lot of them have come around and given my new music a chance.”

“People in the blues world – it took me a few albums to win some of them over but I think now they realize that this really is what I am meant to do. This feels natural to me,” she added.

Shawanda is personal with her fans calling them friends.

“We’re always touring, we’re always playing music, so to be honest, I don’t really have much time for a personal life. Sometimes when you’re on the road, people invite you for things but you can’t go because you have a gig. A lot of my fans have become my social life. Some of my fans have become my friends and some of them are now like family.”

“I got my start on the docu-series on CMT, Crystal living the dream. It was very open and personal. Fans really got to know me through that show and so I just continued that personal relationship with them because they already knew so much about me. (She giggles). I just left it an open book,” she noted. “Also, I feel it’s important if there are people out there that are isolated or don’t have anybody in their life, I become their friend on social media. We all need somebody to look forward to to say ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ to and that’s the really great thing about social media.”

Crystal Shawanda singing Church House Blues feels like a friendly shoulder to lean on.