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Stars in cars
Gravel, gears and heartache: On the road with Crystal Shawanda First Nations blues powerhouse on life on the road and trucking in her foundations
By Carter Hammett
It’s not uncommon to hear truckers say something like, “trucking’s in my blood,” but for First Nations blues singer Crystal Shawanda, trucking’s genetically encoded in her DNA.
“My dad worked at a paper mill but always wanted to be a trucker. After 11 years he quit his job and became an independent operator, starting out with one truck. He later trained his brother and then his other brother joined. Later a cousin joined and Shawanda Trucking grew to have four trucks. I grew up on the windshield of a big rig,” she laughs.
In Toronto to perform at the UpFRONT Festival of Indigenous Arts and Music in August, Shawanda took a break to speak with ATA about life on the road and her latest record, Homesick Indian Blues.
A performer since childhood, Shawanda moved to Nashville at the tender age of 16. In Nashville, she won a singing contest and a chance to perform at The Grand Old Opry. Thrilled to promote the occasion, she was on her way to a media event when her truck broke down. It so happened her father was nearby and she was dropped off for her very first media appearance in a big rig.
She’s had many trucking adventures since, both positive and unnerving she says, recalling some stories that occurred throughout her career.
“We were on a tour bus and opening for (country music singer) Brad Paisley in a tour that started in southern Ontario. Our first gig was in London before we were booked to play several gigs in the northwestern states, when the bus generator broke. We were playing a different city every night and there’s not a lot of repair shops in February across Canada!” she says. “My husband went into Walmart and taped pillows and cardboard to the window to try to keep the heat in. We cuddled our way across Canada! The tour led down to California and we found ourselves in New Mexico with no air conditioning! My brother was dressed only in boxer shorts and we had a small fan blowing at the driver. And our winter tour had no heat.
“You just have to roll with the punches. There’s no sick days as a musician.”
On yet another occasion, Shawanda had planned to meet her mother in Michigan, when she noticed a pickup truck had been following them for some distance. Nervous, Shawanda picked up her CB radio and called for help. In a flash a small group of truckers heard her cry for assistance and before she knew it she was surrounded by a protective group of fellow truckers. It didn’t take long for her stalker to take off.
Born and raised in Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Shawanda moved back and forth between there and Nashville for several years before signing with RCA Nashville in her early twenties. She released Dawn of a New Day in 2008, which became the highest charting album by a full- blooded Canadian Indigenous country artist in the SoundScan era. She was also the first Indigenous woman to win the Canadian Country Music Award for Female Artist of the Year in 2009, before making the transition to blues music, winning several Juno awards in the process. In 2012, she founded New Sun Records, the first female and Indigenous- owned record label in Canada, which she continues to run while mentoring emerging Indigenous artists.
“Come Unto Me” the first powerful single from her forthcoming album, Homesick Indian Blues, is a cover of the legendary country group Mavericks song and a soulful tribute to late band member Raul Malo, who passed away in 2025.
“The whole new album is about finding our way back to who we really are so we can remember who we wanted to end up as. It’s getting rave reviews on blues radio,” she enthuses.
For more info visit https://crystalshawanda3.
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