A quick return for a longtime favourite of Jumpin Hot Club , American singer songwriter Diana Jones. She is such a consummate songwriter and performer that we just couldn’t say no to a date on her short European spring tour .
Widely acclaimed US singer-songwriter Diana Jones has announced the re-issue of her critically lauded 2009 album Better Times Will Come – Reimagined & Remastered on April 7, to mark the 15th anniversary of its recording.
Diana enlisted studio engineer Steve Addabbo, fresh from his work on Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series, to help her cast a retrospective eye over the tracks. Together they reimagined the mixes and the running order and added a previously unreleased song ‘Call Me Daddy’, to reflect changes she has envisaged since the original release.
The new version of the title track “Better Times Will Come”, featuring harmony vocals by Diana’s friend the late Nanci Griffith and a newly found additional chorus, is out now. Its abiding message remains so timely, given the hardships of recent years and those still being felt today.
Hailed variously in the press as the “Emily Dickinson of song,” “The lost daughter of the Carter Family” as well as a “Hillbilly Feminist”, Diana will embark on the Better Times Will Come – Reimag-ined & Remastered UK/IE tour in April and May, when she will perform the complete album along-side gems from her catalogue.
Diana Jones biography:
Award winning, US singer songwriter Diana Jones is known for her gritty, literary, Appalachian influenced songs. Adopted as an infant and raised in Long Island, NY, the fact that Diana couldn’t get enough of her brother’s Johnny Cash records finally made sense when she found her birth family and musical roots in the Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee. Her maternal grandfather, who had formed his first teenage band with a young Chet Atkins, was happy to pass on the culture and the music that he loved to his granddaughter. Diana’s first album ‘My Remembrance Of You’ (Proper Records) in 2006 garnered rave reviews internationally and set her on a path which would see her release four further critically acclaimed albums: Better Times Will Come (2008), High Atmosphere (2011), Museum Of Appalachia Recordings (2013) and Live In Concert (2016). She has toured the globe, including performances at prestigious events such as Cambridge Folk Festival, Galway Arts Festival, Levon Helm’s Ramble in Woodstock, NY, and Bimhuis in Amsterdam, and shared stages with the likes of Richard Thompson, Janis Ian and Mary Gauthier. She has also appeared on world-renowned TV and radio shows Later With Jools Holland, BBC4 Folk America, BBC4’s Songwriters Circle and BBC Radio 2 Country with Bob Harris. Diana’s progressive, yet historically rich, songs have been recorded by artists including Joan Baez and Gretchen Peters and have won her awards from Kerrville Folk Festival, New Song Festival and nominations from International Folk Alliance.
Gem Andrews will be doing the opening spot. A perfect mix we think.