Crystal Shawanda returned to the blues music scene with her latest album Sing Pretty Blues which has earned her a 2026 Juno Award nomination for Blues Album of the Year.
With themes of resilience, self-worth, and independence, the songs reflect Shawanda’s refusal to settle in love, life, or business, delivering a powerful statement of strength and self-discovery.
“It’s been three years since my last album, and so much has happened, so there’s a lot of life in this music,” said Shawanda in a press release.
“The good, the bad, the redemption and healing can be messy, and life is not always pretty. That’s the Sing Pretty Blues.”
The album is the follow-up to 2022’s Midnight Blues, which also earned Crystal a Juno Award nomination in the Blues Album of the Year category, the 8th of her career.
She became the first Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 10 of the American Billboard Blues chart upon the album’s release when it debuted at #8.
Born and raised in Wikwemikong First Nation, on Manitoulin Island, in Northern Ontario, Crystal was introduced to the blues by her eldest brother and to old-time country by her parents.
Shawanda’s first foray as a professional singer was in country music, not blues. She was in her early 20s and had immediate success after signing a U.S. record deal with RCA Nashville.
Her 2010 country album Just Like You won the 2013 Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Album, before she made the change to the blues with 2014’s The Whole World’s Got The Blues.
Since the switch to blues Shawanda has had numerous albums including the 2020 Church House Blues, which won the 2021 Juno Award for Best Blues album.
Shawanda joined Darrell Stranger to talk about her latest album Sing Pretty Blues, the Juno nomination and what is next in her career.
This year’s Juno winners will be revealed on stage in Hamilton, Ontario on Sunday, March 29th.
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