The Innocence Mission
Encyclopedia
The Innocence Mission is an American
alternative rock
band centered on husband-and-wife singer-songwriter
s Karen and Don Peris
. The original group, including Mike Bitts (bass) and Steve Brown (drums), was formed in Lancaster
, Pennsylvania
in the early 1980s when the members met during a Catholic school production of Godspell
. Although all members of the band have contributed musically, Karen Peris is its principal writer.
(the alma mater of several members) under the name 'Masquerade.'
Their self-titled debut album
was released in 1989 on A&M Records
and was produced by Larry Klein
, then-husband of Joni Mitchell
. Recorded in the couple's Los Angeles recording studio, the album spent 10 weeks on the Billboard
charts, peaking at #167 in 1990, with the album's lead single "Black Sheep Wall" peaking at #22 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks
chart. Klein also produced their 1991 follow up, Umbrella.
Their third and final A&M album, Glow
(1995), was produced by Dennis Herring
, who had previously produced two records for Camper Van Beethoven
. This album is a departure from Klein's heavier production style. Whereas the first two releases may have brought to mind The Sundays
and 10,000 Maniacs
with their moody keyboards and layered sound, Herring's lighter touch gave more emphasis to the group's guitar work and to Karen's vocals and lyrics. Glow contains songs that appear on the soundtracks of the films Empire Records
and Dream for an Insomniac, as well as the television series Party of Five
. The album's second track, Bright As Yellow, peaked at #33 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks and also reached #17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart, which would be the equivalent of #117 on the main Hot 100 chart. While in the process of recording a follow-up to Glow, A&M Records was bought by Universal Music Group
. The group decided to mutually part ways with A&M, just before it was merged with other companies to form Interscope-Geffen-A&M
. The album recorded during this period remains unreleased.
In 1999 the band signed to a new label, Kneeling Elephant, a sub-label of RCA Records
. Additionally, drummer Steve Brown left the band to pursue a career as a chef. With the exception of his sole contribution - drums and brushes on "Snow" - the subsequent album, Birds of My Neighborhood
, is largely bereft of drums. Don Peris took up percussional duties on "Birdless" and the closing moments of his self-penned "Green Grass, Red Tree," but otherwise the group adapted to its new trio status by replacing Mike Bitt's electric bass with an upright bass and taking on a more acoustic, folk-based sound. The album was followed by the release of The Lakes of Canada
EP - which contains their one and only remix thus far, a remix of "Snow" by Icelandic electronic group GusGus
.
The 2000 release Christ Is My Hope
, featuring folk songs and hymns that had inspired them over the years, was independently distributed by their own label, LAMP, with all proceeds from sales of the record being donated to hunger relief charities. An exclusive one-album deal signed with independent label WhatAreRecords? saw Small Planes
following a year later. The album, which consisted of unreleased recordings made between 1996–2001, contained one song (the title track) from the unreleased album recorded for A&M in 1996.
Their first album on Badman Records in the US and Agenda in Europe, Befriended, was released in 2003 and was followed a year later by a collection of lullabies, standards, traditional and classical songs called Now the Day Is Over
. Recorded in a number of weeks in August 2004, the album contained one original song, as well as their well-known cover of Henry Mancini
's "Moon River
." Badman Records acquired license to re-master and re-issue the then-out-of-print Birds of My Neighborhood album in 2006. We Walked in Song
was released in 2007.
Street Map
was released in December 2008 and was the second record to be distributed independently on their own LAMP label. Their latest studio album, My Room in the Trees
, was released on July 13, 2010. In a February 2011 interview, Karen stated the group are currently working on "another children's album, not lullabies this time" which is expected to be released sometime in 2012.
Don Peris has recorded three solo albums, Ten Silver Slide Trombones in 2001, the mostly instrumental Go When the Morning Shineth in 2006, which features a vocal contribution from Karen Peris on "North Atlantic Sand," and an instrumental solo guitar Christmas album, Brighter Visions Beam Afar, which was released in 2007.
EP's and singles
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band centered on husband-and-wife singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
s Karen and Don Peris
Don Peris
Don Peris, guitarist for the band The Innocence Mission, has also released three solo albums.- Discography :Solo* Go When the Morning Shineth* Ten Silver Slide Trombones* Brighter Visions Beam AfarInnocence Mission*We Walked in Song...
. The original group, including Mike Bitts (bass) and Steve Brown (drums), was formed in Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the early 1980s when the members met during a Catholic school production of Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
. Although all members of the band have contributed musically, Karen Peris is its principal writer.
History
Before being signed to a record label, the band originally played local clubs, events and even a prom at Lancaster Catholic High SchoolLancaster Catholic High School
Lancaster Catholic High School is a Catholic co-educational high school located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. The school is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg secondary schools.-Academics:...
(the alma mater of several members) under the name 'Masquerade.'
Their self-titled debut album
The Innocence Mission (album)
The Innocence Mission is the eponymous debut LP from the band of the same name. Recorded in six months in several studios in Los Angeles, California; among them The Kiva, Oceanway Recording and The Sound Castle, the album features the 1894 painting "Impromptu Ball" by Eva Roos as its cover artwork...
was released in 1989 on A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and was produced by Larry Klein
Larry Klein
Larry Klein is a music producer, songwriter and bass guitar player, commonly known for being the frequent musical collaborator, and ex-husband, of Joni Mitchell....
, then-husband of Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
. Recorded in the couple's Los Angeles recording studio, the album spent 10 weeks on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts, peaking at #167 in 1990, with the album's lead single "Black Sheep Wall" peaking at #22 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. Klein also produced their 1991 follow up, Umbrella.
Their third and final A&M album, Glow
Glow (The Innocence Mission album)
Glow, The Innocence Mission's third album, was released in 1995 on A&M Records. Musically, it marks a radical departure for the group, as The Sundays/10,000 Maniacs-inspired dream pop aesthetic found on their first two albums was replaced by a more straightforward, cleaner rock sound...
(1995), was produced by Dennis Herring
Dennis Herring
Dennis Herring is an American record producer, engineer, mixer, and musician. Herring has produced for The Hives, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven, and Jars of Clay. Herring owns a 24-track recording studio, Sweet Tea Studios, which is located in Oxford, Mississippi...
, who had previously produced two records for Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983.An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk and alternative country, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a...
. This album is a departure from Klein's heavier production style. Whereas the first two releases may have brought to mind The Sundays
The Sundays
The Sundays were an English alternative rock band. The band formed in the late 1980s and released three albums in the 1990s.-Career:The band's beginnings came with the meeting of Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university. Wheeler had played gigs with 'Cruel Shoes' an early...
and 10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...
with their moody keyboards and layered sound, Herring's lighter touch gave more emphasis to the group's guitar work and to Karen's vocals and lyrics. Glow contains songs that appear on the soundtracks of the films Empire Records
Empire Records
Empire Records is a 1995 coming of age film that follows a group of record store employees over the course of one exceptional day. The employees of this independent music store try to fight off a large chain, all while learning about each other...
and Dream for an Insomniac, as well as the television series Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
. The album's second track, Bright As Yellow, peaked at #33 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks and also reached #17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart, which would be the equivalent of #117 on the main Hot 100 chart. While in the process of recording a follow-up to Glow, A&M Records was bought by Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
. The group decided to mutually part ways with A&M, just before it was merged with other companies to form Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an umbrella label, owned by Universal Music Group. The company was formed in 1999, when Geffen Records and A&M Records were merged into Interscope Records—the flagship imprint of the operation....
. The album recorded during this period remains unreleased.
In 1999 the band signed to a new label, Kneeling Elephant, a sub-label of RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. Additionally, drummer Steve Brown left the band to pursue a career as a chef. With the exception of his sole contribution - drums and brushes on "Snow" - the subsequent album, Birds of My Neighborhood
Birds of My Neighborhood
Birds of My Neighborhood is The Innocence Mission's fourth full-length studio album.Originally released on the RCA sub-label Kneeling Elephant in 1999, the album was long-out of print until their current record label - Badman Recording Co...
, is largely bereft of drums. Don Peris took up percussional duties on "Birdless" and the closing moments of his self-penned "Green Grass, Red Tree," but otherwise the group adapted to its new trio status by replacing Mike Bitt's electric bass with an upright bass and taking on a more acoustic, folk-based sound. The album was followed by the release of The Lakes of Canada
The Lakes of Canada
The Lakes Of Canada is a rare promotional item self-released by The Innocence Mission in 1999. The title track is taken from the album Birds of My Neighborhood.Sufjan Stevens covered "The Lakes of Canada" on a May 2007 broadcast of The Take-Away Show...
EP - which contains their one and only remix thus far, a remix of "Snow" by Icelandic electronic group GusGus
GusGus
GusGus are a band from Reykjavík, Iceland. They were founded in 1995. Their discography consists of eight studio albums and one live record.- History :...
.
The 2000 release Christ Is My Hope
Christ Is My Hope
Christ Is My Hope is the third EP by American alternative rock group The Innocence Mission.A collection of newly-recorded spiritual music , folk songs , ballads and original songs , the record was released independently by the group's...
, featuring folk songs and hymns that had inspired them over the years, was independently distributed by their own label, LAMP, with all proceeds from sales of the record being donated to hunger relief charities. An exclusive one-album deal signed with independent label WhatAreRecords? saw Small Planes
Small Planes
Small Planes, sub-titled Lost and Found Songs: 1996-2001, is an album consisting of tracks recorded during and in-between the Glow and Birds of My Neighborhood sessions...
following a year later. The album, which consisted of unreleased recordings made between 1996–2001, contained one song (the title track) from the unreleased album recorded for A&M in 1996.
Their first album on Badman Records in the US and Agenda in Europe, Befriended, was released in 2003 and was followed a year later by a collection of lullabies, standards, traditional and classical songs called Now the Day Is Over
Now the Day is Over
Now The Day is Over is a collection of lullabies, standards, traditional and classical songs recorded in a number of weeks in The Innocence Mission's home studio during the summer of 2004....
. Recorded in a number of weeks in August 2004, the album contained one original song, as well as their well-known cover of Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
's "Moon River
Moon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists...
." Badman Records acquired license to re-master and re-issue the then-out-of-print Birds of My Neighborhood album in 2006. We Walked in Song
We Walked in Song
-Release history:-Chart performance:Album - Charting positionsNote: The sales listed above only include physical copies bought at Nielsen SoundScan-enabled physical retailers for the weeks running March 14 until March 28, 2007...
was released in 2007.
Street Map
Street Map
Street Map is an EP of new studio recordings from The Innocence Mission. Limited to 5,000 copies, the release is their first since 2000's Christ Is My Hope to be sold directly though their website without the involvement of a record label....
was released in December 2008 and was the second record to be distributed independently on their own LAMP label. Their latest studio album, My Room in the Trees
My Room in the Trees
"My Room in the Trees" is the eighth studio album from The Innocence Mission, released July 13 via Badman Recording Company.The iTunes edition of the album contained an exclusive bonus track, "Greys and Blues." The song was a pre-order bonus track, meaning that it was only available to those who...
, was released on July 13, 2010. In a February 2011 interview, Karen stated the group are currently working on "another children's album, not lullabies this time" which is expected to be released sometime in 2012.
Don Peris has recorded three solo albums, Ten Silver Slide Trombones in 2001, the mostly instrumental Go When the Morning Shineth in 2006, which features a vocal contribution from Karen Peris on "North Atlantic Sand," and an instrumental solo guitar Christmas album, Brighter Visions Beam Afar, which was released in 2007.
Discography
Studio albums- The Innocence MissionThe Innocence Mission (album)The Innocence Mission is the eponymous debut LP from the band of the same name. Recorded in six months in several studios in Los Angeles, California; among them The Kiva, Oceanway Recording and The Sound Castle, the album features the 1894 painting "Impromptu Ball" by Eva Roos as its cover artwork...
(1989) - Umbrella (1991)
- GlowGlow (The Innocence Mission album)Glow, The Innocence Mission's third album, was released in 1995 on A&M Records. Musically, it marks a radical departure for the group, as The Sundays/10,000 Maniacs-inspired dream pop aesthetic found on their first two albums was replaced by a more straightforward, cleaner rock sound...
(1995) - Birds Of My NeighborhoodBirds of My NeighborhoodBirds of My Neighborhood is The Innocence Mission's fourth full-length studio album.Originally released on the RCA sub-label Kneeling Elephant in 1999, the album was long-out of print until their current record label - Badman Recording Co...
(1999) - Christ Is My HopeChrist Is My HopeChrist Is My Hope is the third EP by American alternative rock group The Innocence Mission.A collection of newly-recorded spiritual music , folk songs , ballads and original songs , the record was released independently by the group's...
(2000) - Small PlanesSmall PlanesSmall Planes, sub-titled Lost and Found Songs: 1996-2001, is an album consisting of tracks recorded during and in-between the Glow and Birds of My Neighborhood sessions...
(2001) - Befriended (2003)
- Now The Day Is OverNow the Day is OverNow The Day is Over is a collection of lullabies, standards, traditional and classical songs recorded in a number of weeks in The Innocence Mission's home studio during the summer of 2004....
(2004) - We Walked In SongWe Walked in Song-Release history:-Chart performance:Album - Charting positionsNote: The sales listed above only include physical copies bought at Nielsen SoundScan-enabled physical retailers for the weeks running March 14 until March 28, 2007...
(2007) - My Room In The TreesMy Room in the Trees"My Room in the Trees" is the eighth studio album from The Innocence Mission, released July 13 via Badman Recording Company.The iTunes edition of the album contained an exclusive bonus track, "Greys and Blues." The song was a pre-order bonus track, meaning that it was only available to those who...
(2010)
EP's and singles
- Tending The Rose GardenTending the Rose GardenTending the Rose Garden is the 1986 debut EP by Catholic rock band The Innocence Mission.-Track listing:#"Can't Anybody Stay Together" – 4:31#"Trust" – 4:24#"Do As The Living Do" – 4:25#"Shadows" – 3:58#"Small Town Blues" – 4:39...
(1986) - Black Sheep Wall (1986) (peaked at #2 on the Hot Christian Songs chart)
- Black Sheep Wall (1989) (re-release; peaked at #22 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart)
- Bright As Yellow (1995) (peaked at #33 on Hot Modern Rock Tracks and #17 on the Bubbling UnderBubbling Under Hot 100 SinglesThe Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart) - The Lakes Of CanadaThe Lakes of CanadaThe Lakes Of Canada is a rare promotional item self-released by The Innocence Mission in 1999. The title track is taken from the album Birds of My Neighborhood.Sufjan Stevens covered "The Lakes of Canada" on a May 2007 broadcast of The Take-Away Show...
(1999) - One For Sorrow, Two For Joy (2003) (UK-only release)
- Song From Holland (2007) (previously unreleased, available for a limited period as a 1-track digital single)
- Street MapStreet MapStreet Map is an EP of new studio recordings from The Innocence Mission. Limited to 5,000 copies, the release is their first since 2000's Christ Is My Hope to be sold directly though their website without the involvement of a record label....
(2008)
External links
- Official Homepage
- The Innocence Mission Discography 4.0 -- An extensive discography, news and fan site.
- The Innocence Mission: A fansite.
- The Innocence Mission's "Courtyard" (Fansite).
- Official Homepage for Don Peris.