Better Times Will Come is Diana Jones' first release since My Remembrance of You in 2006 which broke her out of the singer-songwriter pack to emerge as a major figure in Americana music.

One of her songs, Henry Russell's Last Words, has been recorded by Joan Baez, while another, If I Had a Gun, has been recorded by Gretchen Peters. Diana's own versions of those songs can be heard on Better Times Will Come, an ambitious effort that consolidates and extends the leap forward of the preceding record.

Jones' fellow singer-songwriters certainly recognize the quality of her new work. Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith and Betty Elders add vocals to the project, and the Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor adds fiddle.

The restraint of the backing reveals the haunting originality of the melodies and the understated skill of the performances. This reflects the deceptive simplicity of the lyrics, which tell their stories with the hypnotic repetition and plain speech of old mountain song.

• Better Times Will Come
• All God's Children
• If I Had A Gun
• Henry Russell's Last Words
• Soldier Girl
• Cracked And Broken
• Ballad Of The Poor Child
• Oh Appalachia
• Evangelina
• Something Crossed Over
• The Day I Die