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Crystal Plamondon
Crystal Plamondon hails from Plamondon, the village in Northern Alberta founded by her
Franco-American great grandfather in 1908.
Crystal is a talented bilingual singer, songwriter, and performer with a twenty-year track
record of consistently delivering passionate concerts that cover an emotional range from heartwarming
ballads to rockin’ country, roots and cajun. Whether performing with her high-powered
five-piece band, an acoustic ensemble, or covering classic jazz standards in her new TORCH act,
Crystal never fails to connect with her audience. People drive for miles around just to catch one of
her shows because of Crystal’s warmth and wit and report with the audience. No one ever leaves
disappointed and feels like they have made a life long friend after attending one of her concerts.
Crystal Plamondon has toured extensively, bringing her music to intimate venues, theaters,
and festivals in North America, Europe & Africa.
She received the Molson Canadian ARIA (Alberta Recording Industry Association)
Performer of the Year Award and was nominated for YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award for Arts &
Culture. She was recognized as an honorary citizen of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
Crystal's second independent release, Carpe Diem! (1993) yielded two #1 hits in France -
"Capitaine", followed quickly by "On va faire le rigodon". She released two other independent CDs –
La Rousse Farouche in 1996, and Plus de frontières /No Borders in 2002. Both featured a wealth of
original material as well as a few covers. Plus de frontières / No Borders was nominated for a Western
Canadian Music Award for “Outstanding Francophone Recording” in 2003.
Crystal hosted the first French Country Music Program in North America called, CountryMax
on Musimax, a sister station to Much Music and Musique Plus in Montréal in 1997 - 1998.
She has performed in Ottawa on parliament hill for the Canada Day celebrations; and on
October 18, 2000 she translated and sang the Famous Five Anthem for the inauguration of the
Women are Persons! monument on Parliament Hill once again.
Crystal has two music videos to her credit: filmed in Louisiana and Plamondon, AB.
In addition to hosting numerous television, radio, and live events, her acting career includes
performances in TV productions, movies, and live theatre. Her television special, Passeport Musique,
filmed in Benin, West Africa for Radio-Canada in 1998, also aired on the BRAVO network. In 2004
she was awarded Prix Sylvie Van Brabant for Excellence in Artisque Creation in Alberta. 2005 marked Crystal's lead performance in the musical, Cow-Boy Poétré, a production of L'UniTthéàtre / The National Arts Centre that toured the Maritimes and Alberta after its run in Ottawa.
Crystal wrote, performed, and MC’d a concert for Alberta Scene 2005 at The Canadian
Museum Of Civilization Theatre. She also appeared in a documentary titled “Alberta Bound”, which
aired on CBC Television in August of that same year as part of her province's centennial celebration.
Crystal came back to the live music stage in 2007 by headlining at The Leonard Cohen
Festival in Edmonton.
In 2009 she released her fifth and long awaited CD – On a Song & a Prayer / une chanson,
une prière. She was co-executive producer and produced the 13 song CD, of which 10 of the songs
were her original material. One of the songs from the recording – “Forever More” - was featured on
the hit CBC-TV series Heartland Season 2, Episode 210. Later that year she recorded another original “Only Dreaming” for Heartland episode 303 in Season 3. She produced both of the songs written by Dayle Simpson for CBC. In May 2009 she was honored with the “prix CHFA de la chanson albertaine”. January 2010 marked a wonderful start to a great year for Crystal as she performed with her band at the Olympic Torch Relay ceremonies in Calgary and also sang Oh Canada! In March she realized a dream by releasing a soft jazz album of classic pop and jazz covers titled “TORCH!” her sixth album which she co-produced. That same year she returned to Louisiana for mardi gras to take part in the filming of a documentary titled “Au Coeur du Country” for ARTV about the relationship between cajun and country music. She recently was heard on Heartland’s 4th season Episode 412, as Grandpa Jack Bartlett’s deceased wife, marking her third song and appearance on the CBC television’s hit series.