Crystal Shawanda on new single 'Would You Know Love', big plans for 2025 & being an Indigenous ambassador

SWOMP

Chart-topping, JUNO Award-winning powerhouse Crystal Shawanda just released a brand new single 'Would You Know Love' on January 10, 2025 via New Sun Records on all streaming platforms.

Shawanda told SWOMP in an interview the song is set to be on her forthcoming album, which set to be released in April.

Produced by Crystal’s husband and long-time collaborator Dewayne Strobel, 'Would You Know Love' is a heartfelt ballad that beautifully explores the depths of love.

The track features Crystal's unmatched raspy vocals and strikes a perfect balance between old and new, blending the raw emotion of the blues with the storytelling soul of country.

“When I sing it I get emotional thinking about who wouldn’t be in my life, if I had let love slip on by,” said Crystal, in a press release.

“I think sometimes people walk away from love too easily when it gets tough, but that’s what makes it love. It endures.”

Crystal was the first Indigenous woman to win a Canadian Country Music Award for Female Artist of the Year (2009) and the first to win a JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year (2020).

She became the first full blood Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 20 on the American Billboard Country chart, sell over 300k records and to sing at the Grand Ole Opry.

Her album Midnight Blues debuted at #8 on the American Billboard Blues chart in 2022, making her the first Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 10.

Her debut single "You Can Let Go" (2008), was the fastest climbing single on the Canadian Country Singles Chart since Carolyn Dawn Johnson's "Georgia" (2000) and reached the Top 10 in only five weeks.

Born and raised in Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario, Crystal discovered her love for blues music through her brother and old-time country from her parents.

Her professional music career began in country music, signing with RCA Nashville in her early 20s.

Her debut, Dawn of a New Day (2008), topped Canadian country charts and set a record for a Canadian Indigenous country artist.

After leaving the label, she launched New Sun Records, and made the change to the blues with 2014’s The Whole World’s Got The Blues.

Follow Crystal at https://crystalshawanda.co/.