Adopted as an infant and raised in Long Island, NY, the fact that Diana Jones 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 “Whenever I heard anyone country…. like Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton, I wanted more but I just didn’t know where to find it.”Diana’s maternal grandfather, who had formed his first teenage band with a young Chet Atkins, was happy to pass on the culture and music that he loved to his granddaughter. Gradually Jones discovered an uncanny affinity for the Appalachian music of her ancestors and began claiming it as her own combining traditional mountain and old-time sounds with a literate, character-driven brand of storytelling that has become both her life’s work and the essence of her live show.
Diana’s breakout album ‘My Remembrance Of You’ (Proper Records) in 2006 garnered rave reviews internationally and set her on a path which would see her release five further critically acclaimed albums: Better Times Will Come (2009), High Atmosphere (2011), Museum Of Appalachia Recordings (2013), Live In Concert (2016) and Song To A Refugee (2020). Better Times Will Come – Reimagined & Remastered will be released in April, to mark the 15th anniversary of its recording.
Diana 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.
