The Innocence Mission

Before being signed to a record label, the band originally played local clubs, events and even a prom at Lancaster Catholic High School (the alma mater of several members) under the name ‘Masquerade.’[1]

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.[2]

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.