Crystal Shawanda, a Native American and citizen of both the U.S. and Canada, was born in Ontario and grew up on the Wikwemikong reservation on Canada’s Manitoulin Island.

Music came very early to Crystal, who wrote her first song at the age of 9 and was soon riding with her truck-driver father to Nashville, where she earned a standing ovation at Music City’s fabled Tootsie's when she was only 13.

In music, she found her lifeline – a source of hope, joy, self-expression, and salvation discovered while growing up on a reservation, where hopelessness and poverty were common.

Today, she is working on wrapping up her first album, "Dawn of a New Day", which hits stores in August.

Did you know?

• Her influences include such artists as Hank Williams, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, her idol Loretta Lynn, and even Tina Turner!
• When she was 11, Crystal had her own 90-minute cable access variety show!
• A full-blooded Native American from the Ojibwe tribe, Crystal’s name, Shawanda, literally translates to "Dawn of a New Day."