American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox exuded a hippie-chick, coffeehouse artist persona while competing on the show, but for her debut album, Farmer’s Daughter, the newly hitched singer-songwriter appears to be leaning heavily towards country. Smart move, Mama Sox. Will Crystal’s debut steal Lee DeWyze’s thunder when his lite-rock album drops? (If we’re judging from album cover art alone, we think she’s already way ahead — this chillin’ photo fits Crystal’s laid back vibe perfectly.) Preview her tracks “Farmer’s Daughter”, “Hold On” and “Lonely Won’t Come Around” below.
Back in May, we shared our thoughts on how we thought Crystal should manage her post-Idol career, requesting that she bypass Kara DioGuardi and stick to the likes of songwriters and producers like Glen Ballard and Jewel. Alas, Mama Sox did not heed our advice — her track “Hold On” was co-written by DioGuardi and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. Urg. Good luck with that one, Crystal. (Listen to Kara singing a demo of the track here.)
Her 12-track album also includes a cover of “For What it’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield.
We’re bobbing our heads to each of these songs, but we think “Farmer’s Daughter” in particular has an extremely good chance of being a massive hit on the country charts. Can’t you just hear Crystal performing that tune on the copious amount of country music awards shows there are every year? We can.
What do you think of Mama Sox’s tunes? Tell us!
I like “Farmer’s Daughter,” but I don’t think it sounds particularly country. More like pop-soul–kind of like Melissa Etheridge. Jive Records can barely market its artists to its prime format, Top 40, anymore. It wouldn’t know what to do with country. I’m not feeling “Hold On” at all. Sorry Kara and Chad. “Lonely Won’t Come Around” is alright. I like the whistling.
Love Crystal and Love Lee too. I wonder why the writer of this piece (Becky Bain) can’t just give Crystal a good review without comparing her to Lee DeWyze, even down to the album cover. Get a grip, American Idol is over and I wish the best to both these young stars but starting to feel like “Idolator” can’t write without partiality anymore as seen in Ms. Bain’s last two pieces. Thumbs Up for Crystal. Thumbs Up for Lee. Thumbs down for Becky.
Hey, I think Roger Ebert has “thumbs up/thumbs down” copyrighted! But honestly, I promise you I won’t be the only person comparing Lee and Crystal – it’s natural to compare sales and critical reception of singles/albums between the winner of Idol and the runner-up.
Love ya Crystal but it sounds overproduced. Farmer’s Daughter should be raw,rough around the edges cut ya and make ya bleed. Her original youtube of it shocks you, makes ya cry and it’s exactly what the song should be.
*sigh*
Once again the producers don’t appreciate the artist and think they can improve on anything by adding more and more crap that doesn’t need to be on the track in the first place.
I have to agree with some of the comments I read yesterday in that there is too much engineering to some of the sample songs. I am totally in love with Crystal’s pure rich voice, and I feel cheated that there is so much background that her voice doesn’t come through the way it should. I am not an expert in this area, but I know what I like. Having said that, I am a 65 year old man and have heard a lot of great music over the years. Crystal ranks right up there at the top. I think she is the most genuinely talented artist and unique personality that has come along in a decade. I will be buying everything she records.
Waay overproduced. What research do these guys use to believe that what the Crystal audience wants is bloated sounds-like-everything else product pop. She;s fighting the band all the way..Actually, I think its the union rules that say that every record produced must have twenty eight surpufuous muscians on all cuts on the record , including the producer’s girlfriend on backup vocals. Maybe they’e right but don’t think so.. ughhh..
Love Crystal, but not feelin the whole country thing. Would rather here her sing joplin style. Just sayin….
Check the recent VH1 posting of Crystal’s 3 songs (Farmer’s daughter, jolene, ridin’). The stripped down versions with the added percussion along with her bassist are fantastic. Her current producer should listen and go easy on the ‘production’.
bowersoxs rocks!! i totally agree that it sounds like country, but who can really tell because she can change it up in so many ways. that is a true artist that can do that!!
David Bendeth heard the the response to Farmers daughter before he finished production and said he took alot out…
Theres plenty of the true Crystal on the album…Hold On is for the younger crowd…She will outshine Lee….
Love the tunes I’ve heard so far, but Bowersox fans should not expect this album to sell a ton of records. It will be successful, but I doubt if the sales exceed 200,000. Hope I’m wrong. I will buy everything Crystal put out. Her voice is simply Fantastic!
I soooooo agree.
That comment was supposed to follow the post that said this is overproduced. It lacks the raw emotion that makes the YouTube version so compelling. I love Crystal’s voice, her style, the whole thing. She’s a true artist. Why do they have to go screw with her sound by adding all that sh*t in the background?
Totally screwed up Farmer’s Daughter. Someone should be shot.
Crystal’s youtube version of Farmer’s daughter was haunting and you could easily “feel” the message in the song. This version seems upbeat, perky, and a total mismatch for the lyrics. They need to tone it down a bit.
hey guess what people???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? crystal bowersox (walkersox) is my neighbor bc i live in elliston and she lives next to me so HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHHAAHHAHAAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA she has such a wonderful voice KEEP SINGING MAMA SOX
Hope this is not the final release version, if it isn’t they have totally missed Crystal’s vibe.
I’m a big Crystal fan since AI. I don’t want to compare her to anyone…she is her own artist. Her style, to me, is more folk/rock than traditional country on this album….but that’s okay. There is a big part of America that is country, but not necessarily Nashville country, and she speaks to that audience….that hybrid country/rock crowd, in my opinion. The album still highlights the control she has over her voice and the beauty in her guitar work. But most importantly her songwriting…..especially in the call out to ‘the parent’ on Farmer’s Daughter …..is unique and deeper in meaning than all of the over produced pop and country that is out today. Hope she has a long and successful career.
Guten Tag Blogger, dein Website was beim Beitrag schreiben mehrmals wie eingefrohren, dann kam eine weiße Webseite trotzdem großartiger Blog. Grüße aus Bayern