BETTER Times Will Come  is not only a hopeful message but a project launched by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, who is urging fellow musicians to record her new song inspired by the death of renowned performer John Prine.

Ian, who got in touch with the Morning Star after a recent mention in this column, is providing free downloads and sheet music so that the song can be recorded by amateurs and professionals alike.

So far, there’s an up-tempo version from English punk/folk singer Frank Turner, a sweetly melancholic offering from Americana performer Janie Barnett and a deeply cool version from British blues man Trevor Sewell.

“John Prine’s death hit me very hard,” Ian says. “I felt so hopeless, so defeated, but I resolved not to give in to my despair.” She wrote the song in only two hours and recorded it on her ‘ancient’ phone, “complete with my dog barking in the background.”

Ian says there are now more than 50 musicians who've recoded the song – and 16 Japanese ones to come, one Dutch and one by the San Diego Women’s Chorus. And several choral groups have been singing the song to thank emergency workers and carers. youtube.com/watch?v=Mr7rXgQwggk

Ian is encouraging others to film and record their own take on the piece. Free downloads and sheet music are at tinyurl.com/JIFree

In a new series of events from Seren Books, there’s a chance to see novelist David Llewellyn talking about his latest, A Simple Scale.

His story takes readers across Soviet Russia, to McCarthyite Hollywood and post-9/11 New York, as the secrets of the lives of two gay composers are uncovered. Llewellyn explores the points at which the personal and the political meet as narratives of love, death, deceit, the CIA, atomic bombs and classical music unfold.

Seren, the top publisher in English language titles from Wales, is hosting an interview with the author on May 22 at 7.30pm and there are half a dozen other events, with tickets at £5. There's a 30 per cent discount on the publisher’s website serenbooks.com/seren-stay-home-series

With all actors having recorded their lines in isolation at home, The Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield is airing new play The Understudy in two parts on May 20 and 27.

Featuring Sheila Atim, Russell Tovey, Stephen Fry among the cast, this is the story of an underdog — a failed husband, a failing father, a failing actor — who faces the impossible choice between stealing the show and stealing another man’s wife.

Tickets are £5 and proceeds go to a number of theatre charities and the website announces that “this is a general admission area; you can sit anywhere you like.” I favour the big armchair by the window, though I may relocate to the sofa next week. understudyplay.com

London’s Barbican has a tribute to legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, who died at the end of April. The career retrospective is a playlist curated by Strut Records, covering the breadth of music performed by Allen, starting with his work with Fela Kuti and ending with his final track with Gorillaz. open.spotify.com/playlist/1tAPVdgjdIzzU3UrXnJRAa?si=NDpw9PtrQQ2OcnHcCtEIsQ

Also on the Barbican site is material relating to the exhibition Masculinities: Liberation through Photography, which looks  at the ways masculinity has been coded, performed and socially constructed from the 1960s to the present day.

There are several videos, articles and a playlist on the same theme. Go to barbican.org.uk and search “Masculinities.”

The OperaUpClose company would have been touring with a new English production of Madam Butterfly this spring. Undaunted by the lockdown, they’ve created the Coffee Break Concert online.

The 20-minute shows are available for a month. with the first from soprano Sarah Minns and harpist Mary Reid. operaupclose.com/at-home-with-operaupclose