Walking home as a runner-up, she toured with the rest of "Idol" Top 10 contestants and later headed to New Jersey to begin production on her debut album. Gifted with strong songwriting skills, she infused her songs with raw emotion from her real-life experience. In her first official single "Farmer's Daughter", she bared her dark past and events that followed and made who she is now.
"It's my life story," Bowersox said of the personal track. "And that includes the good and bad chapters. I hope that people can appreciate the honesty in the lyrics and get to know me as a person through my music. I'm an open book and this is my diary." Despite the somber vibes of the track, she insisted, "I don't see it as a sad song" but rather as "a healing song."
Instead of following the "Idol" pattern by dropping an album in November to meet Black Friday shopping season, she released the album titled after the lead single, "Farmer's Daughter", across United States on December 14, 2010. She might fall short of becoming the "Idol" champion of season 9, but got a revenge as she successfully beat winner Lee DeWyze in the opening sale number. She bowed with 58,000 copies, while DeWyze opened with 39,000 units.