With a voice as powerful as Crystal Shawanda’s, it’s hard to imagine she would wind up performing anything other than the blues. From deeply soulful ballads to knock-you-on-your-butt R&B, Crystal’s energy and love of blues and soul comes out in every performance. As songwriters, Crystal and her creative partner, producer Dewayne Strobel, understand how to build a great song around her ability to wring an immersive emotional experience out of each lyric.

Midnight Blues includes the song of the summer, “How Bad Do You Want It,” along with six new original songs and four covers. Her takes on Willie Dixon’s “Evil” and Buddy Guy’s “What Kind of Man” are given new life as she twists each into a woman’s point of view.