First U.S. Release For Vashti Bunyan Album

On October 11, more than 30 years after the album's initial appearance and four years after its United Kingdom re-issue on the Spinney label, DiCristina Records will release British singer/songwriter Vashti Bunyan's Just Another Diamond Day for the first time in the United States.

Originally issued in 1970 and produced by Joe Boyd (the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Richard and Linda Thompson, R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs), Just Another Diamond Day was Bunyan's first and only album and stands as a highlight of British folk music. "New Folk" star Devendra Banhard calls Bunyan "the living Nick Drake."

Recorded with the help of members of the Incredible String Band (Robin Williamson) and Fairport Convention (Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol), the album contains songs inspired by Bunyan's travels throughout England and Scotland. Just Another Diamond Day garnered little attention after its release; eventually, Bunyan retreated from music in order to continue her travels and raise a family.

Bunyan's absence from the public eye, however, did not stop her from becoming something of a celebrity to those who managed to find copies of her recording. Among her most vocal supporters is Banhart, who asked Bunyan to sing with him on the title track of his recent album Rejoicing in the Hands. In an interview earlier this year with Neumu's Jennifer Kelly, Banhart explained Bunyan's influence on his career: "Vashti is the reason I play music and the first person ever to support me musically, and one of the reasons I want to write music and play music." 

The reissue of Just Another Diamond Day includes several bonus tracks culled from acetate demos and home-recorded tape. Among the extras are "Love Song," the B-side of "Train Song;" "Winter Is Blue" and "I'd Like to Walk Around in Your Mind," two unreleased acetate recordings dating from 1966 and 1967, respectively; and "Iris's Song Version Two."

Bunyan is currently working on an album of new songs. "She really has not lost any of anything, you know," Banhart told Kelly. "She's the same person. It's unbelievable, and that really, really does not happen. Diamond Day came out 30 years ago and she sounds exactly the same [now].  And I have a lot of the new songs, and they're better or just as good, and that's unbelievable."  — Lee Templeton [Monday, September 6, 2004]