Description
Already being hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie,” Nashville resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. A powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls “the poster child for intersectionality,” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation called Matthews’s gift “a reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides.” She is made for these times and, with the release of her new, hope-fueled, love-filled social justice album Changemakers, Matthews hopes to take her place alongside some of her heroes in the world of social-justice music like Sweet Honey in the Rock and Holly Near. Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.”
Here is a video of Crys performing her song “Sister’s Keeper”.
A member of Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard MA, performing songwriter Thea Hopkins calls her music – Red Roots Americana. She has been described as a “standout writer” by the Washington Post. Her new album is scheduled to be released in January 2026.
The New York Stage and Film Fund selected Thea as a 2025 and 2024, “Indigenous Voices of The Northeast” artist resident in support of her play, “An American Ghost Dance”. October 2024 saw Thea at WOMEX Manchester (UK), as a Western Arts Alliance US artist delegate. In Spring 2024, she was selected to attend the First Nations gathering and the ISPA Congress in Perth, Australia as a Western Arts Alliance artist delegate. Thea was an official showcase artist at the International Indigenous Music Summit, held in Toronto in June 2023. She was an Official Showcase Artist at Folk Alliance International in 2022.
