When kids her age were climbing trees or preparing goodies in EasyBake ovens, Crystal Shawanda was producing and starring in musical showcases.
The Canadian country singer grew up on a reserve on Manitoulin Island and would invite singers from across the region to perform with her as part of a cable access television show.
She was 11 years old.
“I started singing as soon as I could make noise,” Shawanda said. “It was a passion of mine.”
Performers would show up and ask what she wanted to sing – when they suggested Puff the Magic Dragon, she countered with Folsom Prison Blues.
She readily says she had great support from the performers, staff at the cable access channel and most of all her parents.
“My parents love music,” Shawanda said. “They’re both dreamers – we never had a lot of money but it never stopped them from dreaming.”
Her dad, who owned a small trucking company, would take her along on long-haul routes through Nashville, where they would stop for Shawanda to perform, even as a child. He encouraged her not only to sing, but also focus on the business of music.
“I would get up at every, single bar,” she said, adding she shook hands with as many people and collected as many business cards as possible.
Her perseverance paid off and she landed a regular show in Nashville at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, performing six days a week, three times a day.
It was there she met her husband and together the formed their own record label, New Sun Records, which just produced Shawanda’s latest album.
Despite owning her own record label and touring most of the year, she often heads back to the bar where she got her start.
“I miss it – I miss my friends,” Shawanda said.
She and her band tour for more than 200 days a year, making it difficult to spend much time in the recording studio. But Shawanda made it work, releasing Just Like You on Tuesday.
“We’ve definitely put some blood, sweat and tears into it,” she said.
But now her baby is out there and the first single Closer is receiving positive reviews.
“You want your kid to be liked and not picked on,” she said.
Nanaimo fans can hear Closer, as well as more of Shawanda’s original material, during a concert at Spice Lounge Sunday (April 29). She’ll also pick a selection of her favourite songs.
“I love to sing the songs of the people who made me want to sing,” she said.
For more information, please visit www.crystalshawanda.co.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com