Crystal Bowersox

Drawing inspiration from admired songwriters such as Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin, and Sista Otis, Crystal Bowersox delivered an easygoing, folk-tinged presence throughout the ninth season of American Idol. Her audition occurred in Chicago, yet she had grown up five hours farther east in Elliston, Ohio, a town of fewer than 100 residents. Songwriting began for her at age ten, and by her early teens she had assembled a band with her brothers.

The siblings called the group “Oldinuph,” a playful nod to their own adolescence, and performed for several years across Ottawa County while Bowersox supplied most of the original songs. At seventeen she relocated to Chicago, hoping a larger city would advance her career. Five years later she returned to Ohio to give birth to her son, Tony, although she kept playing local venues and tried out for American Idol during a weekend visit to Chicago in 2009.

Blonde dreadlocks and earthy vocals distinguished her from most other contestants, but audiences quickly embraced her; she advanced smoothly with performances of “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” and other roots-oriented material. After Siobhan Magnus was eliminated in early May, Bowersox remained the only female finalist and ultimately finished runner-up to champion Lee DeWyze. Her debut album, Farmer's Daughter, appeared later that year.

Standard post-Idol promotion accompanied Farmer's Daughter, yet the record never became a hit. RCA Records restructured the following year, leaving Bowersox without a label. She signed with Shanachie Records in 2012 and worked with producer Steve Berlin, best known as a member of Los Lobos. The resulting album, All That for This, arrived in March 2013. The following year she released the Promises EP, and her third album, Alive, came out in summer 2017.