Nashville’s Fiercest Voice Just Dropped the Protest Anthem of the Year

Crys Matthews signs with TRO Essex and releases «Citizen» and «Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream», delivering bold, emotional protest music for today’s America.

Crys Matthews, the Nashville firebrand redefining modern protest music, is turning up the heat once again with a blistering new double single that’s already sending shockwaves through the Americana world. Long hailed as a troubadour of truth, Matthews has carved out her place as one of the most fearless voices of her generation, blending Country, Folk, Blues, Americana and Bluegrass into a sound that’s as bold as her message. Now, under a major new publishing and recording deal with TRO Essex Music Group and its label arm Shamus Records, home to icons from Woody Guthrie to Pink Floyd, she’s stepping into her most powerful chapter yet.

Her latest release pairs a stirring cover of Ed McCurdy’s «Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream» with «Citizen», a searing reimagining of Woody Guthrie’s «Deportee» featuring the Resistance Revival Chorus. Matthews says the inspiration for «Citizen» came as the 2025 political climate grew increasingly hostile toward immigrant communities. Hearing Guthrie’s original, she realised the conversation would be entirely different today, because many of those facing indignities are, in fact, American citizens. As a proud Black southerner, she calls the renewed demand for «papers” not only egregious but an affront to basic humanity. Her rewrite honours Guthrie’s legacy while dragging the issue firmly into the present, urging listeners to confront what their neighbours are living through.

The emotional weight of the project doesn’t stop there. Crys Matthews reveals that when she played «Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream» for her mother, affectionately known as «The Rev», it moved her to tears. She describes the song as feeling like a prayer, a simple but devastating reminder of the world so many long for: one without war, violence or complicity. It’s that clarity, that refusal to look away, that has made McCurdy’s classic a magnet for artists across generations, and Matthews’ rendition lands with the same quiet force.

Already a decorated figure in contemporary folk, Matthews is the only artist to win Song of the Year twice at the International Folk Music Awards (2025 and 2022) and was crowned Artist of the Year in 2024. But accolades aside, she insists her mission remains unchanged: to amplify the unheard, illuminate the unseen and remind the world that hope and love are the truest paths to justice. With «Citizen» and «Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream», she proves once again that she’s not just made for these times — she’s shaping them.