ACE O'DIAMONDS IS (NEARLY) HERE! Shipping mid-January… at last, the first ever release for Melanie’s early 1980s musical Ace o’Diamonds.

Telling the story of Janey, daughter of wild west legends Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, Ace o’Diamonds was sadly destined never to enter full production. And while a handful of the 30+ songs that Melanie wrote for the show would see release over the years, the majority exist only as rough demos, out-takes, cast demo recordings and live performances recorded at one of the play’s read throughs.
And some were never recorded in any form.

Pieced together over the course of a year spent delving into some very deep vaults, Ace o’Diamonds features, across 2 CDs, every song Melanie wrote for the play. Drawing upon every available source, disc one is based upon a 1981 copy of the script, and includes not only the songs, but also key pieces of dialogue, performed by Melanie in 1981, and Beau Jarred and Leilah earlier this year.

Disc two then rounds up the best of the alternate versions, plus a number of songs that drifted in and out of the play as Melanie and writer Ed Kelleher saw fit. Full details of all 49 tracks, including 14 dialogue tracks and two instrumentals, and the story of the play itself can be found in the CD package.

Note: with the exception of just two songs (“Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” and “To Be A Star”), this album is completely unreleased, and has been completely remastered from the original sources.