Next time you get a couple of dollar bills back in change, take a quick look before stuffing them into your wallet. The odds are not particularly high, but you might find the following phrase scrawled in marker across the back:
“Crystal Bowersox should have won.”
Bowersox, who brought her one-woman operation to the Collective Encore in Columbia, MD on Wednesday night, rose to prominence in 2010, when she finished as the runner-up on season nine of American Idol. She ended up losing out to Lee DeWyze and the decision struck a lot of viewers as just a bit gender biased. That year was the third in five consecutive seasons that saw a man take the top prize.
As she set out on her post-Idol career, Bowersox began hearing a pretty steady refrain shouted out by audiences at her shows or casually mentioned by people who recognized her on the street. “You should have won.”
Crystal Bowersox still boasts one of modern music's most powerful voices
At some point, that old line which begins… “If I had a dollar every time…” became unavoidable. So she began taking her old busker’s box and encouraging audiences who were so inclined to kick in a buck with that “Crystal Bowersox should have won” message written across the bill.
She had some popular success in the immediate wake of Idol. Her debut album, Farmer’s Daughter, climbed all the way to number two on the rock chart in 2011. Since then, subsequent releases have not sold as well, but they have remained very strong.
She has a new album in the works, though she doesn’t yet have a completion or release date. On Wednesday, she opened her set with one of the new songs – “Sell The House” – accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, and tossing in a whistle solo. (When she has a full band, that becomes an electric guitar part.)
“Sell the House,” along with the two other new songs “It’s Not That Deep” and “Let It Burn,” reveal an artist who has crossed a threshold of sorts. Bowersox just turned 40. In addition to asking those qualified audience members whether rage was a common symptom of pre-menopause, she also suggested that reaching this stage of life has her less concerned with holding onto the past and more eager to say adios to those things that no longer bring joy.
A melancholy streak runs through much of Bowersox’s work. She shared an awful lot of her troubled relationship with her mother, which seems to inform some of her best songs. Yet, despite subject matter that can be gloomy, her sense of humor, her sense of melody, and those phenomenal pipes make all of her songs fun listens. The jazzy piano ballad, "Dead People's Things," has a little bit of all that.
From the early hits like “Framer’s Daughter,” to the wistful travelling story of “Hitchhiker,” from the 2022 album of the same name, Bowersox has the ability to blend poignance, passion and perfect tonal control into something very special.
She performed a beautiful cover of the Don Henley/Glenn Frey song “Desperado” early in her main set, and then saved two other classic covers for her encore. Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide” showed off the delicacy in her delivery, while the Leonard Cohen standard “Hallelujah,” – with a little bit of “Amazing Grace” interpolated into the middle – revealed her righteous power.
She did one blues shouter – “Too Late” – mid set but did not perform one of her standard closing numbers. I’m not sure anyone in the past several decades has had a better take on “Me and Bobby McGee,” but Bowersox did not sing it on Wednesday. That is one of the songs that introduced her to the judges of a American Idol back when she was just 23, and I’ve always wondered whether she viewed it as a blessing or a burden.
Crystal Bowersox should have won, but more importantly, she should have had a bigger career. She seems quite happy still being able to get out on the road and sing for a living, so I suspect she does not question much in her past at this point.
Fifty-five years ago, well before Bowersox was born, Janis Joplin could rise to the top of the recording industry by belting out blues rock in her unique and iconic voice. These days, that style of music is largely assigned to the niche markets. But if you’re a fan of that particular niche, you’ll want to hear Crystal Bowersox. And you might want to bring long a dollar – or a five like I did – or a twenty like the woman in front of me did. After hearing her sing, you’ll probably agree…
Crystal Bowersox should have won.