Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What was Crystal Bowersox up to Before American Idol??

Crystal Bowersox is an Ohio Native, but has been playing around the Chicago area since 2004. At the age of ten, her Mom would take her to the seedy bars so she could hear the musicians play. Not long after, she began performing around her hometown under the wings of her so called, “Gray haired rock stars.”

At 17, Crystal packed up and moved to the big city. She went from singing on subway platforms, to traveling the world in a few short years. In 2006, the city of Chicago department of cultural affairs chose Crystal to represent Chicago’s folk music scene in a week long festival called, “Experience Chicago”, held in sister city Birmingham, UK.

In 2007, Crystal was once again on the road. In Mexico and in Istanbul, Turkey, she spent time on a small cafe tour.

Crystal’s early influences were artists like Jewel, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, etc. Later influences include Counting Crows, Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Ray Lamontagne, and many others. Crystal even had the opportunity to meet with her strongest influence, Melissa Etheridge in 2008.