Everyday is a Winding Road - A Profile of Sheryl Crow

“I was not a person growing up that ever thought I was going to be well known or famous,” said Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow.

She was raised in the small town of Kennett, located on the border of Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri. It was a small, quiet place with characteristics that describe most old-fashioned towns in Southern America; a courthouse “downtown,” farmers and church goers.

Crow’s parents, who have been married now for 51 years, incorporated music into their household since she was born. They both studied and appreciated music, played instruments, and they even played in a swing band when Crow was a kid.

“On weekends, they would bring all their friends home after their gigs and stay up smoking and playing records, drinking. It was just what I thought every kid grew up with,” she said.

By the age of four, she could play by ear. Crow said she always found her “identity” in music, and that is how she knew what "direction" to go in.

Growing up in a small town, she enjoyed listening to musicians Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen on the radio. These songwriters, she said, were her biggest influences.

When she was younger, she took piano lessons along with her three siblings. Out of the four of them, three of them, including Sheryl, majored in classical piano in college. She attended the University of Missouri and received a music degree.

Her first professional gig as a singer happened in Los Angeles, Calif., when she was featured on records by Johnny Mathis and Rod Stewart. However, her biggest break came when she auditioned for a spot on the Michael Jackson Bad tour, and she got it.

“That (touring) made a huge difference in my career,” Crow said, “It was very life changing and a great learning experience.”

Three years after touring with Jackson, she landed a record deal and created her first album, which came out in 1994 when she was already 29 years old.

“I really got my start much later than what rock and roll originally was designed for,” she said.

The title of her debut album, “The Tuesday Night Music Club,” resulted from a group of musicians, including Crow, who would “jam” on Tuesday nights. Its first single did nothing compared to the response from the forth and last single, “All I Wanna Do,” which become the record's biggest hit.

Crow went on to win three Grammy Awards in the mid 90’s, become a political activist and survive breast cancer after she was diagnosed in 2006.

“The whole fame thing was not ever very interesting, but definitely wanting to matter was more interesting,” she said, “It’s a pretty amazing idea that you can take yourself anywhere in this country, speak your mind, educate people, and really just create your own dream and live it.”

Soak Up the Sun
A Profile of Sheryl Crow
Singer/Songwriter

Age: 47
Hometown: Kennett, Mo.
Children: 1 adopted son, Wyatt Crow (age 2)
Extracurricular high school activity: Drum majorette
Childhood reading: Steinbeck, Twain and Ellery Queen mysteries
Before your music career, what did you want to be when you were younger? A great writer
What did you do before moving to Los Angeles? I moved to St. Louis and taught music in an elementary school in 1984 and 1985.
Quote: "I've been lucky in being recognized for doing something that I really love and feel compelled to do."