The Innocence MissionWelcome back to “Girls of Christian Indie!”  For Day Two, we’ll be looking at Karen Peris and The Innocence Mission.

I first found out about The Innocence Mission from a video of Sufjan Stevens performing their song Lakes of Canada here.  I loved the song and decided to find out about the band who first wrote it.

And that band was The Innocence Mission, led by husband-wife duo of Don and Karen Peris, with a touch of drums by Steve Brown and bass by Mike Bitts.  All the musicians are really good, but it’s Karen’s vocals that set the band apart from the rest, especially since Steve Brown left the band in 1999, forcing a more acoustic approach to things.

The Innocence Mission started way back in Pennsylvania during the 80s when the members all met each other during a production of Godspell at their Catholic school.  So says Wikipedia anyway.  Since then, they’ve gone on to produce ten indie folk rock albums covering topics as diverse as life itself.  Most of their songs aren’t blunt presentations of the gospel but subtle looks at life from a Christian standpoint.  If you want more straightforward stuff, though, they do have an entire album of reworked hymns, called Christ is My Hope.

For a more in-depth look at the band (as well as a discussion of Christian rock) go here, but for some interesting, yet ultimately useless, facts, just scroll down.

Interesting facts about The Innocence Mission:
1) Steve Brown (their drummer) left in 1999 to become a chef
2) Songs from their 1995 album Glow appeared on the soundtrack of Party of Five
3) “Clear to You,” from their 1989 self-titled album, was used as the soundtrack for the pilot episode of Beverly Hills 90210
4) The song “The Prayer of St. Francis” on The Lakes of Canada EP was recorded around their dining room table
5) Members of the band are devoted Catholics and attend Mass regularly
6) The album Now the Day is Over was produced as a CD of children’s lullabyes

Anyway, here’s some songs from Karen Peris and The Innocence Mission:

Happy Birthday
Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning

Website: www.theinnocencemission.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/theinnocencemissionPA

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