Crystal Bowersox in Concert

Crystal Bowersox doesn’t have to go any further than her own life to find songwriting narratives these days. Between relocating to Nashville, raising a 6-year-old boy as a single mother, managing her Type 1 diabetes and recently finalizing a dragged-out divorce, the singer-songwriter estimates she has enough material to fill four full-length albums. In 2010, Bowersox’s career launched after Season 9 of American Idol. The Ohio native’s rootsy, untamed take on tunes like “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Piece of My Heart,” fused with an infectious sardonic sensibility, seduced Idol audiences and judges. Simon Cowell referred to Bowersox as “the one everyone has to beat,” following her tearful rendition of Patty Griffin’s MLK-inspired “Up to the Mountain.” As an unruly underdog – with dreads, face piercings and tats – she inspired parallels to everyone from Ani DiFranco to Sheryl Crow to Janis Joplin.