Diana Jones announces release of “Better Times Will Come – Reimagined & Remaster”ed

Fifteen years after its original release Diana Jones is revisiting one of her finest albums, and not only remastering it but reimagining it. Reimagining in the sense that not only is there the obligatory additional track (‘Call Me Daddy‘) but the existing music has been re-ordered on the album, and has also seen some rework. Diana Jones explains the thinking behind it like this: “After the release of my first record, ‘My Remembrance of You,’ in 2006 I found myself on the road over 200 days a year. Luckily I was writing in between solo tours, opening a Richard Thompson tour, and working with artists like Nick Lowe and Seasick Steve. I recorded my first BBC4 television special and did BBC radio with luminaries Bob Harris and Ricky Ross. When I was ready to record Better Times Will Come Joan Baez was already slated to record ‘Henry Russell’s Last Words’ on her record, ‘Day After Tomorrow.’

During the summer of 2008 I took three days off from touring and joined a stellar band of musicians and friends at Signature Sounds Studio in Promfret, CT to record Better Times Will Come with Mark Thayer who also co-produced and engineered My Remembrance of You. Of course I arrived with what my British friends would call “a stinking cold” tanked up on cold meds but by then even the newer songs were reflex after performing them night after night and recording felt like pressing play supported by a stellar lineup of musicians including the instinctive and versatile Duke Levine on all manner of strings. We tracked most of the record in three days and then Nanci Griffith and Mary Gauthier’s harmony vocals and Ketch Secor’s snake handling solo on the song ‘Something Crossed Over’ were recorded in Nashville.

During the pandemic more than one friend/fan suggested re-releasing ‘Better Times Will Come’ and folks had been asking for vinyl for a long time. This winter I revisited the tracks with Grammy Award winning producer and studio engineer Steve Addabbo and together we reimagined the record choosing different mixes of some of the songs and remastered everything. A track I’d forgotten about, ‘Call Me Daddy,’ was recorded in the original session but left off the record so Steve and I included it and arranged the songs in a slightly different order.”

An example of how the new version of the album will sound is given by the title song. As relevant today as when it was first released ‘Better Times Will Come‘ features harmony vocals by Diana’s friend the late Nanci Griffith and has a newly found additional chorus. The new version of the album will be released on April 7th.