Social justice warrior, proud Black woman, and lesbian Americana/folk/country singer-songwriter Crys Matthews has released a cover of “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” by Ed McCurdy and a derivative work of “Deportee” by Woody Guthrie called “Citizen”. Crys was recently signed an exclusive publishing and recording agreement with TRO Essex Music Group (home to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, and more), alongside its label arm, Shamus Records (Woody Guthrie’s Woody at Home, Vol. 1 & 2, Flamy Grant’s CHURCH, and Sam Robbins’ So Much I Still Don’t See).
Matthews’ impact has already been widely recognized across the industry. She is the 2025 and 2022 Song of the Year winner at the International Folk Music Awards, making her the first artist to receive the honor twice since its inception, and she was also named 2024 Artist of the Year. In her own words, Matthews says her mission is to amplify the voices of the unheard, shed light on the unseen, and serve as a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice.
A troubadour of truth, Nashville resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. An award-winning, prolific lyricist and composer, Matthews blends Country, Americana, Folk, Blues, and Bluegrass into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies punctuated by honest, original lyrics. She is made for these times.
Matthews has signed with TRO Essex Music Group (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, and more) alongside its label arm, Shamus Records (Woody Guthrie’s Woody at Home, Vol 1&2, Flamy Grant’s CHURCH and Sam Robbins’ So Much I Still Don’t See), under an exclusive publishing and recording agreement.
Her latest release is a double single, a cover of “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” by Ed McCurdy and a derivative work of “Deportee” by Woody Guthrie called “Citizen” featuring Resistance Revival Chorus.
Crys shares on “Citizen”, “As this administration’s intentions toward our immigrant population became abundantly clear in the summer of 2025, I remembered thinking of Woody Guthrie’s important song “Deportee”. I turned it on and immediately thought, there is an entirely different conversation that would be had were he trying to write that song now because so much of the indignities being hurled at our immigrant siblings are being hurled at people who are in fact citizens of this country. As a proud Black southerner, the motion of again seeing this country ask to see somebody’s papers is beyond egregious. What is happening to them is an affront to their humanity. If they did absolutely nothing for this country, it would still be absolutely egregious because they are human beings and their humanity matters, point blank, period. But the fact is, our immigrant community does so very much for this country. And so, I sat down to just sort of rewrite Woody’s song in a way that felt like it honored his original impetus for writing “Deportee” (the plane wreck at Los Gatos and the tragic loss of over 30 migrant works that resulted from the crash), but that still held space for the reality in which we are living. “Citizen” is the result of that endeavor. It was important to me to keep as many of Woody’s words as possible because again, that song is so very important. I hope that people who love Woody’s music and especially that song will hold space for “Citizen” as well. I hope that the song helps them have important conversations about what is happening to our immigrant neighbors.”
She confides, “When I played “Last Night I had the Strangest Dream” for my mother, who I affectionately refer to as “The Rev.” she had tears in her eyes. She said it felt like a prayer. I think that is what has drawn so many artists to Ed McCurdy’s song over the years. So many of us want peace, want an end to war — not just dreaming of it, marching for it, calling our representatives begging for it, withholding taxes in an effort to not be complicit in war, etc. I think the power of Ed’s song is in the simplicity of it: imagine the world we could have if we just agreed to never fight again.”
Crys Matthews’ impact has already been widely recognized across the industry. She is the 2025 and 2022 Song of the Year winner at the International Folk Music Awards, making her the first artist to receive the honor twice since its inception, and was also named 2024 Artist of the Year. In her own words, Matthews says her mission is to amplify the voices of the unheard, shed light on the unseen, and remain a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice.
