THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Crys Matthews is a blend of American, folk, funk, blues and jazz and with influences ranging from Otis Redding all the way to Ani DiFranco. In the September 2012 issue of Curve magazine, Rachel Shatto wrote: "A Lesson Learned sounds like how a glass of iced tea tastes: familiar, comfortable and refreshing...Fans of Tracy Chapman and Ani DiFranco will find plenty to love with this album, as Matthews shares their gifts of telling simultaneously intimate and relatable stories, all while continuing to refine her own unique brand of R&B folk."

A prolific lyricist and composer, Crys Matthews has penned three full-length albums and has already began working on a fourth. In 2012 Matthews released her sophomore album, A Lesson Learned, as well as an EP called The Izzle Ballads. Backroads and Driveways is her debut album and first studio release. Having found her voice in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and her inspiration for most of the album in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Backroads and Driveways is about a journey. From "Traveling" which was literally written on an airplane to the title track, these songs play like journal entries along the road to love and happiness.

YEPP is a performance-healing group for street-based queer youth. Their mission is to seek a safe environment for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness to explore their history, investigate new ways to address their struggles and to celebrate their strengths through the process of developing a theatrical performance piece. They will perform a selection from their Faces piece.

$35 VIP Tickets include 6pm dinner with Crys and performance. $20 is general admission. YEPP performs at 7:15; Crys takes the stage at 8pm. crysmatthewsatuce.brownpapertickets.com/ .

Unitarian Church of Evanston at 847-864-1330 or email uce@ucevanston.org .