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."

Since relocating from her home state of North Carolina to the DC area, Crys Matthews has performed at The Hamilton, Busboys and Poets, Sully's U St. Tavern, The Folk Club of Herndon-Reston, Jammin' Java, and Ebenezer's Coffeehouse. She is currently also on rotation with the Tasting Room Wine Bar (National Harbor and Reston). Her festival and showcase roster includes Folk Alliance International, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance, FolkFest St. Pete, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, Out/Loud (Eugene, OR) and many more.

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.