OK. Forget what I said yesterday about having two women artists in a row. Because today’s post makes three. Also I was going to throw an exclusive tag up on this post but why bother since every one of the songs from this week are exclusives to Songs:Illinois. So why signal this one out. As I said back in January, Diana Jones‘ new record Better Times Will Come is one of my most anticipated records of the year. I’ve raved about Diana’s music before and I’m just in love with her voice (more so than any other singer I think her voice expresses so much angst and yearning), her deft instrumentation, and of course her songs. And I’m not the only one in such a tizzy as she’s won multiple awards since her groundbreaking 2006 release My Remembrance of You. She’s toured with some of the best, her songs have been recorded and praised by the elite in the folk world (most notable were covers by Joan Baez and Gretchen Peters) and she’s got some pretty serious friends at radio (BBC, Mountainstage, WXPN) and press.

Diana Jones’ new record is called Better Times Will Come and that’s also the track I have for you today. Considering she must have written this song long before the markets collapsed, before people lost their jobs en masse and before the trillion dollar bailout was proposed it is a pretty prescient. The message of hope and change in this song is strong but it’s Diana jopnes’ world weary voice that makes it seem like having such hope is a pipe dream.

To add to the appeal of the album are guest appearances by Mary Gauthier, Nancy Griffith and Betty Elders. You can order this as an import here or wait for it to hit the states in April. I’ll do an update once this is for sale here.

Better Times Will Come

Here’s the song that literally floored me from Remembrances of You – “Pony” live at the Folk Alley studios

There have only been a handful of timers in 4 years that I have not posted an mp3 along with a post. Today’s post joins that short list. And that’s only because I couldn’t get clearance to post the title track from Diana Jones’ Better Times Will Come due out in April on Proper American.

When I first wrote about Diana Jones’ music back in 2007 I had no idea at the time that it would stick with me for so long and affect me so much. Her voice is a study in regret and her music blends all the best of old time folk, gospel and blues. On the new record she’s joined by guests Mary Gauthier, Betty Elders and Nanci Griffith. You can listen to a stream of this song on her Sonicbids page here. It’s just about the perfect tonic for these times we’re in.

Here’s a video of Diana and band performing “Better Times Will Come” at the Station Inn in Nashville:

P.S. I’m twittering over here.