Crystal Shawanda considers herself a strong woman who is a survivor. The Indigenous musician from Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island released her latest album in October.

"The fans are loving it," she told CBC.

"People are sitting up and taking notice because we recorded it live off the floor so it's very raw and real."

Voodoo Woman is a blues album, something Shawanda has done in the past.

"I found a common theme while I was working on it that a lot of these songs were [about] women, and they were strong women," she said.

"They were survivors. Survivors of life, survivors of the music industry. I consider myself a survivor too. It was about the resilience of women and the power of them."

Shawanda says the album is a way for her to showcase the strength and power of women.

"There's all kinds of different survivors in life and I definitely try to bring attention to that and awareness to those issues," she said.

"Then there's the issue of me. As a contemporary Native woman in the urban world and making my way through the industry. There's not a lot of Native American women in the music industry."

Shawanda is already working on future albums, including a blues album, a country one, a children's album and one focusing on Indigenous music.

"I'm at that point as an artist [where] I'm a multi-genre artist and I'm comfortable saying that now," she said.

"I'm not going to sit inside a box anymore."

With files from Wendy Bird