Toronto-based blues artist Crystal Shawanda has secured a 2026 JUNO Awards nomination for Blues Album of the Year with her latest release, Sing Pretty Blues, marking another milestone in a career that continues to bridge artistic credibility with commercial impact.
The nomination places Shawanda among Canada’s top blues performers and underscores her sustained momentum following a series of acclaimed releases over the past decade. The winners will be announced during the JUNO Awards weekend in Hamilton, Ont., with the Gala Presented by Music Canada scheduled for Saturday, March 28, and the televised JUNO Awards Broadcast taking place Sunday, March 29, at TD Coliseum. The events will air nationally on CBC, stream on CBC Gem, and reach global audiences via CBC Music’s YouTube channel.
Sing Pretty Blues arrives three years after Shawanda’s previous album and reflects a period of personal and professional change. Drawing on blues and southern country soul traditions, the record nods to classic influences associated with Stax, Chess and Motown, while centring on themes of resilience, self-worth and independence. The album positions Shawanda not only as a vocalist but as a storyteller intent on asserting control over her creative and business direction.
“It’s been three years since my last album, and so much has happened, so there’s a lot of life in this music,” says Crystal. “The good, the bad, the redemption and healing can be messy, and life is not always pretty. That’s the Sing Pretty Blues.”
The release follows 2022’s Midnight Blues, which also earned a JUNO nomination for Blues Album of the Year—her eighth career nomination. That album marked a significant commercial breakthrough south of the border, debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard Blues chart and making Shawanda the first Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 10 of that ranking.
Produced by her husband and long-time collaborator Dewayne Strobel, Sing Pretty Blues blends original material with a curated selection of covers that span eras and genres. Original tracks such as “Stop Funking Me Around” and “Waiting For My Lover to Call” sit alongside reinterpretations of Tom Petty’s “Honey Bee,” Son House’s “Preaching Blues” and Black Sabbath’s “Changes.” The latter was recorded as a tribute to a late fan and close friend, adding a deeply personal dimension to the project.
“She grew up just down the road, back home on the Rez,” says Crystal. “She had a beautiful heart and just wanted to be loved, and people took advantage of that. Addiction is killing our communities, and her death triggered a lot of emotions about old friends who have passed and loved ones currently in active addiction. I needed to sing this song, to mourn, to grieve, because she mattered, and she was loved.”
The album rollout was led by the January release of “Would You Know Love,” a single that blends Shawanda’s signature raspy delivery with blues grit and country storytelling. The track serves as an entry point to the broader themes of endurance and emotional honesty that define the record.
“It sounds like it’s from somewhere in between, where old meets new, and the blues meets country, kind of like me,” she says. “It’s honest, vulnerable and soulful. When I sing it, I think about who wouldn’t be in my life, if I had let love slip on by. I think sometimes people walk away from love too easily when it gets tough, but that’s what makes it love. It endures.”
Born and raised in Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario, Shawanda was exposed early to both blues and classic country through family influences. While her musical roots were diverse, her professional breakthrough initially came in country music. In her early 20s, she signed with RCA Nashville, releasing Dawn of a New Day in 2008. The album topped the Canadian Country Album chart and reached No. 16 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, setting a benchmark for Indigenous Canadian artists in the SoundScan era.
After leaving the label, Shawanda founded New Sun Records and gradually shifted her focus toward the blues. That transition culminated in Church House Blues, which won the 2021 JUNO Award for Best Blues Album, firmly establishing her standing in the genre.
With Sing Pretty Blues now JUNO-nominated, Shawanda continues to expand her profile as both an artist and entrepreneur. She is currently available for interviews as the awards season approaches, adding further visibility to a release that blends personal narrative with enduring business relevance in Canada’s music industry.
