HOUGHTON - One of the rising stars in the world of country music is visiting the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts Saturday.

Crystal Shawanda, who was recently named the Canadian Country Music Association "Female Artist of the Year," is coming off a tour with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley as well as a radio hit in "You Can Let Go." She will begin showcasing her talent at 7:30 p.m.

"This is her first time in the area, so we're pretty excited for having her here," Niki Belkowski, design and marketing coordinator for the Rozsa Center, said. "Aside from being a country artist, she also has crossover appeal."

Born on Manitoulin Island, a Canadian island northeast of Michigan, Shawanda grew up on a Native American reservation with a native Ojibwe population, according to Belkowski. She wrote her first song at age 9, and made an album at age 12, according to a press release. She finally hit it big with her album "Dawn of a New Day" in 2008, which reached No. 2 on the Canadian Country Album chart and No. 16 on Billboard's Top Country Album chart.

"Country music (has) become my full-time way of relating to my world," Shawanda said in a press release. "If I couldn't write and sing, I couldn't talk and feel."

With a shortage of country musicians visiting the area, Belkowski is excited to bring one of the up-and-coming stars to the area.

"When we do surveys at the Rozsa, we ask what you want to see more, and country music is always one of the things we hear," Belkowski said. "The Chassell Country Western Show is always a popular show in the spring."

Tickets are $25 for orchestra seating and $20 for tier seating, with the prices $20 and $15 for Michigan Technological University students.

Zach Kukkonen can be reached at zkukkonen@mininggazette.com.