Crystal Lynn Bowersox is an American singer-songwriter and actress, who was the runner-up on the ninth season of American Idol. She was the first female finalist in three years.
Bowersox's debut album, Farmer's Daughter, was released on December 14, 2010 by Jive Records. Bowersox released her second album, All That for This, on March 26, 2013. She will be playing Patsy Cline in the Broadway production of Always, Patsy Cline in the fall of 2013.
Early life
Bowersox and her twin brother, Carl, were born in Elliston, Ohio. She attended Oak Harbor High School in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and later attended the Toledo School for the Arts in Toledo, Ohio. She was in choir and played flute in the school marching band. Bowersox performed her first professional gig at the age of 10. She appeared at local bars in Toledo, most popularly Papa's Tavern, and The Village Idiot in Maumee, Ohio. At the age of 17, she moved to Chicago looking for opportunity. She most commonly played as a busker at several train stations, including the Washington and Lake Redline stops. She frequented open mics, such as the Uncommon Ground Clark and Grace, and Devon locations. She also played extensively in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. In 2006, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs chose Bowersox to represent Chicago folk musicians in the Sister Cities program "Experience Chicago", held in Birmingham, England. In 2007, Bowersox traveled internationally on an independent small cafe tour, including Memphis, Tennessee, Oaxaca, Mexico, and Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey.
American Idol
Bowersox auditioned for American Idol in Chicago, Illinois. She sang "Piece of My Heart." Guest judge Shania Twain commented that she had a "raw, natural talent."
On March 2, 2010, Bowersox was hospitalized because of complications from type 1 diabetes, forcing a last minute switch in scheduling to give her extra time to recuperate. Bowersox confirmed the illness on the May 19, 2010 results show during an interview with host Ryan Seacrest. The men competed that day instead of the women. She sang the next day and impressed all of the judges.
The following week, her strong performance prompted Simon Cowell to state, "Right now, you are the one everyone has to beat." After Siobhan Magnus's elimination from the top 6 of American Idol, Bowersox became the last remaining female contestant in the competition.
Bowersox is the first female contestant to make it to the finale since Jordin Sparks won the title in 2007. She is also the first contestant in American Idol history to have one of their original songs played on the show, or at least during their hometown package. Crystal's original song "Holy Toledo" was played on the May 19 Top 3 Results show as the background music for her homecoming package - when she returned to Toledo, Ohio and Elliston, Ohio the previous weekend - and segued into her live performance of the same song at "Bowerstock".
During her time on Idol, Bowersox dated Tony Kusian, but the couple broke up just hours before the Idol finale. On the final performance day, in Simon Cowell's final critique on American Idol, he called her performance of "Up to the Mountain" "outstanding" and "by far, the best performance and song of the night". On May 26, 2010, Bowersox was named runner-up to winner Lee DeWyze. She announced that after her Idol career, she wants to bring more awareness to type 1 diabetes. Bowersox is the third Idol Runner-Up behind Clay Aiken and David Archuleta to never be in the Bottom 3 or Bottom 2.
Post-Idol career
On May 27, 2010, one day after Bowersox's second place Idol finish, it was announced that she had signed with Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and with Jive Records. Her single "Up to the Mountain" has since been released to radio stations and iTunes.
2010-12: Farmer's Daughter
Bowersox's debut album Farmer's Daughter was released to stores and iTunes on December 14, 2010. Bowersox performed her single "Farmer's Daughter" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 16, 2010.
On October 7, 2011 RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, all other artists previously signed to these three labels would see their future material released under the RCA Records brand. However, Bowersox was not one of the artists who made the move, and was instead left without a record label.
She made her acting debut on a second season episode of Body of Proof. An EP of pre-Idol recordings called Once Upon a Time... was released in June 2012.
She was a guest on the Blues Traveler album Suzie Cracks the Whip performing back-up vocals on the song "I Don't Wanna Go" and appeared with them in concert at their July 4, 2012 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
In October 2012 Bowersox signed a recording deal with Shanachie Records. On January 7, 2013, it was confirmed that Bowersox's sophomore studio album, All That for This, would be released March 26, 2013. The album was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and features Jakob Dylan. Bowersox debuted the first single from the album, "Dead Weight," on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on February 5, 2013. Bowersox told Seacrest, "This song means more to me than even I can completely comprehend."
Bowersox began a headlining tour in support of the album on March 1, 2013. The band Montë Mar was her concert opener, as well as her backing band on dates through March 31, 2013. On March 25, 2013 Bowersox appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed her song "Movin On" to promote the album. Montë Mar was her back up band for this performance as well. It was announced here that Bowersox will play Patsy Cline in the Broadway production of Always, Patsy Cline in the Fall of 2013. It was announced on June 11, 2013 that Bowersox will be headlining the Lancaster Festival in Lancaster, Ohio on June 27, 2013
www.crystalbowersox.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Bowersox
Director David Mickey Evans, producer Cathleen Summers and cast Patrick Renna "Ham," Chauncey Leopardi "Squints," Marty York "Yeah-Yeah," Grant Gelt "Bertram," Victor DiMattia "Timmy," Shane Obedinksi "Tommy" and Daniel Zacapa "Police Chief" will be on hand for the game and the movie screening. There will be a question-and-answer session on the field with Evans and the cast prior to the screening.
