Just announced: Crys Matthews and Lea at Baldwin’s Station

Singer/songwriters Crys Matthews and Lea will share the stage at Baldwin’s Station on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Tickets & reservations: 410-795-1041

Tickets $20.00 ~ Showtime 7:30 pm
Tickets & reservations: 410-795-1041
ALL TICKET SALES FINAL, NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES
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DC’s Crys Matthews is nothing if not ambitious. In August, she simultaneously released both a new full-length album, The Imagineers and an EP, Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers. These collections showcase two sides of Matthews’ dynamic songwriting; The Imagineers is a selection of thoughtful songs about love and life while Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers tackles social justice themes. Songs from both projects have already won her accolades such as being selected as a top 10 finalist (out of 5,000 entries) in the NewSong Music Competition, winner of the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs showcase, and an official showcase artist slot at Folk Alliance International in 2018.

Matthews blends Americana, folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass and funk into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies and punctuated by honest, original lyrics. In August 2015, Matthews released an EP called The Izzle Ballads, vol. II. Just as in the first installment, Matthews sings about hope, love, perseverance and justice with an ease and candor that one might expect from a southeastern North Carolina native whose mother happens to be a preacher. She has four other releases under her belt to date. Having been compared to everyone from Toshi Reagon to Tracy Chapman to Ruthie Foster, Matthews’ eclectic infusion of genres has won her recognition and honorable mentions at the 2013 and 2014 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest and extensive radio play from WERA’s Music Alley in Arlington to WTJU-Charlottesville and WMRA-Harrisonburg to KBOO-Portland.

“A great voice singing great songs.” That is the simplest way to introduce you to Lea’s music. While she often draws comparisons to other female phenoms like Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco, Lea’s sound seamlessly blends gospel, jazz, country and R&B into her own style — SoulFolk.

Lea was born in Baltimore to a father who toured the world playing trumpet in the funk band Black Heat and a mother who dreamed of opera while performing with her siblings in the Jones Family Gospel Singers. Lea was singing on the pulpit of the Baptist church where she grew up as soon she could speak. When she discovered the acoustic guitar as a teenager, she began teaching herself to play by writing songs. Lea’s final year in high school in Germany at a classical conservatory, where she sang with the jazz ensemble Black & White and co-wrote with the British pop trio Indigo Wild.

Having shared the stage with luminaries including Odetta, Mavis Staples, Dar Williams and Anthony Hamilton, LEA performs at a far-ranging array of venues, including arts centers, universities, festivals, and places of worship. She is consistently acknowledged by the Washington Area Music Association as one of the region’s best vocalists, songwriters and recording artists. She is a graduate of the prestigious Artist-in-Residence program at The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD and a beloved children’s music performer among DC families.

Lea’s latest recording, the crowd-funded and highly-anticipated “Let You In,” is a collection of songs the artists hopes will cultivate greater compassion for femininity. Lea’s stunning vocals and award winning songwriting are supported by rich instrumentation, featuring Howard Levy (of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) on the harmonica.

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