Stanwood singer’s backup is her Christian faith

STANWOOD — At 19, Leanna Crawford just started college, but she’s been making music for years and she’s already had a song on Christian radio.

The Camano Island and Stanwood native is majoring in music industry business at Kirkland’s Northwest University.

She was home schooled and raised in the Camano Chapel. Her dad, Mark, works for Smokey Point Concrete, and her mom, Nancy, is a former teacher.

Growing up, the four Crawford kids went to church every Sunday except when farming and horse shows took up the schedule.

Crawford has worked as an assistant horse trainer for her older sister. Her own horse is a Belgian-thoroughbred cross named Crispy.

“That’s been a huge part of my life, our life, all of our lives,” she said.

She got involved in youth group in junior high and later began leading the worship music, singing and playing keyboard. She also plays piano and ukelele.

As a child, she got obsessed with the “Sound of Music,” and did her first musical at 10 or 11. She found out she loved performing.

She auditioned for a play at Show &Tell Family Projects, a local community theater group focused on family-friendly farce.

At the audition, Crawford was shy but had an electricity on stage, theater co-owner Lydia Crouch said.

“She’s got a spark that I think comes from her walk with Christ, her deep faith,” Crouch said. “That comes out in who she is and how she acts.”

People are drawn to Crawford for her sincerity, on and off the stage, Crouch said.

Josie Colby, the director of music and worship at the chapel, has seen Crawford grow up.

“My favorite part of Leanna is her very sweet spirit,” Colby said. “She’s a very genuine, sweet person. She’s very humble.”

Crawford stood out for her organic, earthy voice, and her ability to connect with an audience, Colby said. She described Crawford’s songs as honest and realistic but also full of hope.

“She is who God created her to be, and she is using her gift and it’s really fun to watch that,” Colby said.

In 2013, Crawford won a singing competition hosted by Lynden-based Praise 106.5, and got to open for Christian rock band Jars of Clay. Event organizers invited her back to the same event this year.

A Nashville production company released an EP of four of her songs last year. She wrote the lyrics and the melodies, which the studio remixed. She is taking classical singing lessons as well.

Her sound is contemporary Christian pop with a country twist, she said. She might sing mainstream songs, too.

“I like writing songs that mean something to me, so the songs that come out are usually Christian,” she said. “I have a few love songs. They’re just cute little things.”

The band members almost always pray together before they go on stage, she said.

“That’s something that always calms me down and puts the focus where it really should be, for me, for all of us,” she said.

Learn more about Leanna Crawford

Visit www.leannacrawford.com and look for her music and videos on YouTube and in the iTunes store.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood blocks Highway 99 south

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.