Crystal Bowersox - Farmer's Daughter
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 5:31PM 
We'll admit right up front that we're coming at Crystal Bowersox' Farmer's Daughter (December 14, Jive) from a slightly different perspective than many. Not being counted among the millions who watched the ninth season of American Idol -- we'd rather be waterboarded with boiling oil -- we only know Ms. Bowersox and her debut album from what we've heard and read. So we know she can sing, with a husky and supple soul shout of a voice, and unlike most of her small screen competition she can actually play (guitar) and write her own songs. But had it not been for her rather unconventional presence on Idol would we be anticipating Bowersox' music?
Well, probably not -- but that's not to dismiss it, either. We mostly like the soulful, spunky folk and countrified rock that permeate Daughter's twelve tracks, some quite a bit. Bowersox mostly comes off as a very non-Idol: a little rough around the edges, comfortable in her own imperfect skin. When she sings "Whatever happened to good ol' rock and roll, what ever became of rhythm and blues and soul" on the album opener "Ridin' With the Radio" we sense she was born decades too late, that the glossy autotuned hip-pop that dominates the charts doesn't really register with her. Not surprisingly, Daughter's one non-original, the cookie cutter single "Hold On" by ex-Idol judge Kara Dioguardi and Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, is the only real dud here. Conversely, the emotional title track, dedicated to (or aimed at) her mother, is a bloodletting revelation of impressive lyrical and melodic power. "Mommy dear" indeed.
Crystal Bowersox - "Farmer's Daughter" (from the album Farmer's Daughter)
Crystal Bowersox - "Lonely Won't Come Around" (edit from the album Farmer's Daughter)
Reader Comments (1)
I want the new Crystal Bowersox. thank you