Young musician is living out her dream

On the verge of releasing both a debut single and airing a six-part television series next month; one of Canada's newest rising stars in the country music scene is proving that success comes in spades for those who want it badly enough.
Crystal Shawanda, a 27-year-old Ojibway woman from the Wikwemikong reserve on Manitoulin Island, in northern Ontario, is living the life she's always hoped after signing with renowned US recording label, RCA Nashville and working with Country Music Television (CMT) to document her journey in a six-part television series, Crystal: Living the Dream.
For Shawanda, music is as natural as breathing. "I love to sing. I'm not really good at anything else," she said. "It was just something I've always loved."
Growing up on the reserve in the "middle of nowhere," Shawanda wrote songs that expressed her feelings of hopelessness and despair. While she admits "it was out of the norm" to have such lofty dreams of performing in Nashville's Grand Ole Opry while growing up on the reserve, she followed her passion. Singing since the age of three, she took to the stage at age 6, playing events and entering contests in Canada and the US. "It was natural," she said, in reference to a life of country music. With a family of country music fans and a trucker father who often drove from Ontario to Nashville for work, Shawanda was able to develop a taste for the honky tonk music scene at a young age-a taste that would consequently transform into a sheer hunger for the business.
As a child, Shawanda would revel in the melodic ditties of her idol, Loretta Lynn. She wrote stories of her own life, Shawanda said, in relation to Lynn's experiences woven within her words and music. Shawanda says that while she is becoming successful in her industry, she denies blazing any trails. Aboriginal singers and songwriters Rita Coolidge and Buffy Sainte Marie have paved the way for Aboriginal music artists, she said. "They made me think I could do it."
Yet, while music icons have influenced the young artist, she said personal encouragement and family and community support throughout her journey to Nashville stardom has been pivotal to her success. Her family members are her biggest fans and she accredits them with her determination and perseverance.
"That's really why I hung on so tight and am going forward with my dream," she said, in reference to her mother and father's unwavering support.
Undoubtedly, Shawanda's parents are proud of their daughter's success. "We were always encouraging her and told her 'you can do anything you want as long as you're committed to that,' said Shawanda's mother, Virginia.
Shawanda's life is nothing these days if not sought after and hectic. But unlike some celebrities that let fame go to their head, Shawanda seems genuinely down-to-earth and insightful.
"You have to love it, because it won't always love you," she said.
But the music scene does love Shawanda and her realization of how far she's come manifested recently when her feet touched down on Nashville's country music epicentre- the Grand Ole Opry. "It was definitely the highlight of my whole journey," she said.
When asked, what the defining moment was when she knew she had finally reached her country music goals, Shawanda said it was at the CMT music awards and sharing the stage with such country stars as Martina McBride, Brooks and Dunn and Carrie Underwood.
In her daily life, Shawanda's overall goals are simple and clear, "I want to inspire people to just take chances, "she said. "It's not about being perfect, if you love something, go after it."
Shawanda's love of music has brought her much achievement throughout the years. Her parents recalled the many contests she would enter and win and the theater group she joined as a youth. Virginia said when her daughter was just three years old, she would turn on a stereo in the family home and sing the Scotty Wiseman original 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love you.' Except rather than sing verbatim, Shawanda would make up her own lyrics to the tune- proving a singer/songwriter was in the making. Shawanda's mother said singing was always just a part of her daughter.
"No matter where she was- washroom, shower, living room, driving down the road- she was always singing."
Phyllis Ellis, writer and director of Crystal Shawanda: Living the Dream, said working with Shawanda and visiting her First Nations roots was a benefit to her work and life.
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"To be invited into someone's life and document it is a pleasure and an honour," she said. "When I first heard her sing, I almost fell over. She is one of the most talented artists I think I've ever heard."
Produced by Ontario-based company, Henry Less Productions Limited and under the CMT label; the reality series was shot in various locations between Nashville and the Wikwemikong reserve. It took production and crew a year to make the series, with a budget of $750,000.
Ellis believes Shawanda is a role model for all young people- Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike. She said the songs provoke insight, experience and humour. "Her music is direct. It is not obscure. She addresses things." Calling Shawanda an "old soul," Ellis described her as having the "knowledge of 80-year-old. She is complex, honest and has integrity."
Crystal Shawanda's single 'You Can Let Go' will be released by RCA records on Feb. 25th and the six-part series chronicling her life will air on CMT Tuesday Feb. 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm Pac.