Beginnings The band members met in 1980 during a Catholic school production of
Godspell. Before being signed to a record label, the band played extensively throughout Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Washington D.C and New York. 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 Mitchell's Los Angeles studio, the album spent 10 weeks on the
Billboard charts, peaking at #167 in 1990. Klein also produced their 1991 follow up,
Umbrella. Their third A&M album,
Glow (1995), was produced by
Dennis Herring, who had previously produced two records for
Camper Van Beethoven. This album was a departure from Klein's heavier production style. Herring's production 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. After the band completed the recording of a follow-up album to
Glow, A&M Records was bought by
Universal Music Group. The group decided to mutually part ways with the label, shortly before it was merged with other companies to form
Interscope-Geffen-A&M.
1999 - present The band's post-major label recordings have captured a more streamlined and simplified sound, a more straightforward pop/folk sound. This began with 1999's
Birds of My Neighborhood. The album was followed by the release of
The Lakes of Canada EP, which contains a remix of "Snow" by Icelandic electronic group
GusGus, the band's only remix thus far. 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. 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 over two weeks in August 2004, the album contained 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. The label re-issued
Now the Day is Over in 2022 with new artwork.
We Walked in Song was released in 2007 and included the song "Brotherhood of Man", which appeared in two acclaimed films: the documentary
The Human Experience and the short film
Weathered, starring
Tony Hale and
Nicole Parker, which also featured a new version of the song "Our Harry". Also on this album are "Happy Birthday" and closing song "Over the Moon", both of which are featured in the
Julia Roberts film
Fireflies in the Garden. On June 6, 2008, "Bright as Yellow" was played as the official
NASA wake-up call for the crew of Space Shuttle mission
STS-124 on flight day 7.
Street Map was released in December 2008 and was the second record to be distributed independently on their own LAMP label, while their eighth studio album,
My Room in the Trees, was released on July 13, 2010. Their ninth studio album,
Hello I Feel the Same, was released on October 17, 2015, followed by
Sun on the Square in 2018.
See You Tomorrow was released on January 17, 2020 and Geranium Lake was released on October 24. 2022. Their next studio album,
Midwinter Swimmers, was released on November 29, 2024, (Therese Records / Bella Union) following the singles "
This Thread Is a Green Street" (Sept. 4, 2024) and Midwinter Swimmers The ten-song album was performed mainly on piano, and features six instrumental compositions. Don Peris appears as guitarist on two songs, while the couple's two children performed violin and viola on a further two songs. A version of the album containing two bonus tracks, "First Days in the City" and "Getting Here", was released in Japan through
P-Vine Records on May 15, 2013. Karen's second solo album,
A Song Is Way Above the Lawn, was released on October 8, 2021. Don Peris has recorded four solo albums:
Ten Silver Slide Trombones (2001), the mostly instrumental
Go When the Morning Shineth (2006), which features a vocal contribution from Karen Peris on "North Atlantic Sand", and an instrumental solo guitar album,
Brighter Visions Beam Afar (2007), which raised money for local food banks. His fourth studio album,
The Old Century, was released on May 7, 2013. ==Discography==