Richland Public Health Sponsoring Crystal Bowersox Concerts at Richland Academy of the Arts
Mansfield, OH — Richland Public Health is sponsoring two concerts by Singer/Songwriter Crystal Bowersox at Richland Academy of the Arts, 75 West Walnut Street, Mansfield, on November 2.
The first concert is at 1:30 p.m. and is an exclusive concert for area students and children with diabetes and is by special invitation only. The second concert is open to everyone and begins at 8 p.m. Call 419-522-8224 for tickets and additional information.
Bowersox may be best known for finishing second in the ninth season of “American Idol.” Less well known is that she has used her talents to benefit several causes close to her heart, and has become an advocate and inspiration for people living with Type 1 Diabetes. Richland Public Health will help give Bowersox the opportunity to bring her inspirational message and music to Mansfield children.
“I’m just looking forward to having fun and showing these kids that they can pursue their goals and dreams, and that diabetes doesn’t have to stand in their way.”
When Crystal Bowersox was taken to the hospital in the second grade, she had no idea it would change her life. To her, it was a fun trip to some place new. To her family, it was a devastating diagnosis for their 6-year-old girl – type 1 diabetes.
Not really understanding what that would mean for her future, Crystal quickly realized she stood out, but for reasons a little girl her age couldn’t fully grasp. All she knew growing up in northwest Ohio was that there wasn’t anyone else at school who had diabetes. And she felt alone.
“I don’t think that I was fully aware of what having diabetes meant for me back then. I just wanted to be a kid and eat ice cream.” At age 10, Crystal started to stand out for another reason: her music.
Bowersox is a northwest Ohio native currently calling Nashville home, and has built her life around music. Crystal’s love for music developed at an early age from a need to find peace in a chaotic world. Through art and creation, Crystal was able to direct her energy and emotion, finding a way to mend a mind in turmoil. For her, music was always the most effective form of catharsis, and she would play for anyone, anywhere. In her own words, “my guitar was an appendage. I couldn’t live without it.”
Dead set on a career in music, Crystal moved to Chicago as a teenager, where she spent her days performing underground on subway platforms in between working odd jobs. While in the big city, she broadened her musical horizons and shared her talents with a variety of venues, ultimately auditioning for the ninth season of American Idol. Crystal’s time on the show proved to be well spent, as she immediately left the soundstage for the recording studio. Since her introduction to the world through television, Crystal has released two LP’s, two EPs, and several singles.
However, it is what’s in front of her, not what’s behind her, that will define Crystal’s personal and professional evolution. The accomplished singer-songwriter is set to release a new project – a live album, recorded at the Kitchen Sink Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, cleverly titled Alive. Not only is the title a play on words, representing the rawness of the tracks, but it pertains to the place where Crystal currently is in her life. That place is one of joy, fulfillment, and stability for Crystal and her eight-year-old son, Tony.
Crystal has drawn on her various influences — across folk-pop, classic rock, soul, blues and country — to make the kind of music that resonates with her spirit. It is both tender and tough, rough yet polished, and it encompasses many genres without falling neatly into one category. As one of her songwriting partners describes it, Crystal has “a voice like dirt and diamonds.” Her music is intended to bring a positive message of love and light to the world – things that folks will be able to take with them on their own journey, so that they, too, can feel truly alive.
Similar to her beginnings, Crystal intends to make music that has healing power, but at this point, she sees far beyond her own troubles. Her live show is a safe space for concertgoers. Attend a Crystal Bowersox show, and you just might see a grown man cry and a child dance simultaneously. You’ll also likely get the chance to meet her personally; Crystal is typically the first one to arrive and the last one to leave the venue. Meeting with the fans and hearing their personal stories is something Crystal considers a blessing in her life.
By reliving her own painful moments in song, Crystal hopes to transcend that pain, lifting herself and her audience to a higher place. In the opening lines of “A Broken Wing” she sings, “I know there’s beauty in the burden / And even on my darkest day that sun will shine.” Crystal’s story is one of resilience and perseverance, and it’s evident in every note of her newest album, “Alive.”
— special note —
This special children’s concert and evening concert are being sponsored by Richland Public Health to bring awareness to understanding, preventing, and controlling diabetes. Please contact the following Health Educators for more information about diabetes awareness (and know that November is American Diabetes Awareness Month):
Ellen Claiborne 419-774-3542 eclaiborne@richlandhealth.org
Sydney Lange 419-774-4771 slange@richlandhealth.org
Emily Leedy 419-774-4773 eleedy@richlandhealth.org