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IMAGE UPDATE - Sept. 2003
Befriended
The Innocence Mission
The members of
The Innocence Mission first met during a 1987 production of Godspell at their
Lancaster, Pennsylvania Catholic high school. Nine releases and sixteen years
later, singer-songwriter Karen Peris and guitarist Don Peris are married and
still producing beautiful music along with bassist and close friend, Mike Bitts.
This August will mark the release of the band's sixth full length album,
"Befriended," a gorgeously mellow collection that summons its
listeners with lovely, rich sounds. With this new album TIM continues a
tradition of producing music that moves its audience through simple, fervent
lyrics and shimmering, melodic composition. On the opening track, "Tomorrow
on the Runway," Karen sings, "Oh be the music in my head, the air
around my bed, oh be my rest, replace the small disgraces of the times and
places that I never really left." The combination of Don's warm, tremulous
guitar, Mike's subtle upright base and Karen's haunting voice create a nostalgia
for the past that is mysterious and wonderful. The effect is a bright,
illuminating quality that seems specifically composed for those who are
searching--those who long for the beauty, the sacramentality, the hope that
glimmers within every moment. The intention behind the music of TIM is directly
related to their name. Karen recalls "The idea is that music can be a
shelter, and music is something that is made with pure joy, with purity of
intention, purity of heart." With the release of "Befriended,"
The Innocence Mission succeeds in further carving out a place for joyful,
contemplative music.
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