Welcome to the 5 Questions Series. Each week, I’ll ask five questions of some of my favorite authors, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. This week, I’m stepping outside the box to talk with one of my favourite musicians, singer/songwriter, Crys Matthews.
Thank you for agreeing to talk to me! As you know, I’m a big fan and have mentioned your music in a few of my books! I’m excited to talk about your Kickstarter. Can you tell me about it and what you’re hoping to accomplish?
It makes me so happy knowing that I’m mentioned in your books! I’m such a fan! Yes, I launched a Kickstarter to record my first Nashville record. It will be my 10th record, but the first I’ve made in Nashville. If folks have been keeping up with the news in TN this past year, they understand why having a Black, Butch lesbian record a Country/Americana album there is such a huge deal. To learn more about the Kickstart project, click here.
Crowdfunding seems like an excellent way for musicians to get their work into the world. What lessons could you see authors taking from musicians when it comes to finding ways to promote and share their work?
Our professions are so similar, so I could absolutely see authors digging into crowdfunding! It’s a great way to actually engage the superfans, the folks who want to make sure you get to keep creating art that means something to them. It’s a really beautiful exchange. Books and stories save lives the same way music does. It’s fun thinking about the reward tiers for an author, like having someone who made a substantial pledge get a cameo in the book, or to have fans be able to vote on the cover art.
A lot of your songs touch on what people might call social justice issues. How important is it to you to blend your ideals with your creativity?
The thing that is so important about this particular album is that, while I’m leaning into my roots as a Black southerner, I’m also not shying away from my social justice music, which is also part of my roots as a Black southerner. It matters a great deal to me that my full, authentic self shows up fully in this album. There will be songs about loving women, there will be songs about the struggles of being Black in America, and songs that just remind folks of our shared humanity. That’s really what I hope any song of mine does, especially the social justice songs, which I consider just another form of love song.
I know you’re not supposed to play favourites, but what is your favourite song you’ve ever written and why?
Oh my goodness — that is such a hard question. I think, if I had to pick one, it would be Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers. That song changed my life. I wrote it after the 2016 election. At the time, I was in an interracial marriage and living in VA, so you can imagine how terrified I was. It was the first time in my life that I had felt fear like that, the kind of fear that makes you feel a little less like yourself. I called my mom to get her advice on how I was feeling and what had just happened, and she reminded me that Presidents come and go, but it’s up to us to hold steady during the storm so that we’re around for what comes next. It was the kind of hope that she is so good at giving and so, with a little help from her wise words and the wise words of Michelle Obama, Rita Mae Brown, Nelson Mandela, and Curtis Mayfield, Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers was born. I got to sing it for the first time on the eve of the Women’s March. The feeling of hope that filled the air is something I will never forget. Of all of the songs I have written, that is the one that delivers that level of hope most consistently, and that is powerful. (Ed. Note. This is an incredible song and well worth a listen!)
The next year, I entered it into a songwriting competition, which I won. That song afforded me the opportunity to play at Lincoln Center (which I will also do again this year), to play the Sundance Film Festival, to then acquire a booking agent, which then allowed me to travel all over the world and share my music with thousands of people. So, when I say that song changed my life, I am not being hyperbolic.
What is the most surreal, I can’t believe I’m here experience you’ve had in your musical career to date?
There have been so many, but perhaps the one I’ll be proudest to tell my grandkids about is singing my song about John Lewis (Call Them In) on the steps of the Lincoln Monument in DC, the same steps that he and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on during the March on Washington.
Bonus question: Have you ever taken a picture of a weird bird?
When I was in New Hampshire this summer, I took a bunch of pictures of a Loon. My partner is a birder and I thought she would think they were cool.
If you’re excited about Crys Matthew’s new Kickstarter, check it out here!
Finnian Burnett 