Crystal Shawanda hails from Wikwemikong, Ontario, Canada. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which aired in February 2008.
Shawands signed to RCA Records in 2007, and released her debut single, You Can Let Go, in Canada in January 2008, then in the US in March 2008.
Shawanda's debut album, Dawn Of A New Day, debuted at Number 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and became the highest charted album by a full-blooded Native American country artist in the SoundScan era.