Back in 1986, The Innocence Mission released their debut EP Tending the Rose Garden. The track "Shadows" found its way to Amy Grant and was subsequently recorded on her highly successful album Lead Me On.
After all these years, I'm sure many of us had forgotten all about this song, but in 2008 Amy Grant toured and once again performed the song. So do you think Karen and Don are still getting their performance royalties? One can only hope.
If you'd like to own a copy of Weathered on DVD, Matt is now selling a limited number of DVDs for the Holidays.
They are discounting multiple purchases and giving Innocence Mission fans $1 off, so if you know of anyone who might be touched by the story of Weather Wellington, give them the movie as a gift! The price includes shipping and handling. Order your copy of Weathered on DVD before they run out.
As a reminder, Weathered contains the newly recorded version of "Our Harry" by The Innocence Mission, as well as the studio version of "Brotherhood of Man".
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: "My Sisters Return from Ireland ", "The Lakes of Canada", "Follow Me", and not surprisingly, "The Lakes of Canada" once again.
Last week, musician Sufjan Stevens covered "Lakes of Canada" at several performances in Toronto and New York. You can catch those performances at the Youtube links below.
Updated: "Weathered" now available for online viewing
Update: Weathered walked away with multiple awards this past weekend at the Damah Film Festival. Honors included: Best Actress: Nicole Parker & Audience Award Best Film. The film is no longer available online, however you can see it live at the Heartland Film Festival.
Original post: 9/6/09 5:49PM The Innocence Mission's new recorded version of "Our Harry" can be heard for a limited time online in the film, Weathered, by indie filmmaker Matt Barber. "Brotherhood of Man" also makes an appearance. Weathered is an official selection in the Damah Film Festival. Please visit their site damah.com or view the film in person on October 3rd in Seattle, WA at 1:30 and 4:30pm at the Damah Film Festival.
The film has also been accepted to the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, IN between October 15-24.
This month, there are 8 new Innocence Mission related videos: "Fare Thee Well", "The Lakes of Canada", "Only A Shadow", "When Mac Was Swimming", "Follow Me", "Revolving Man", "The Lakes of Canada" and "A Wave Is Rolling".
Between August 7-9, Weathered will be screened at the Feel Good Festival in Hollywood, CA.
Until a DVD is made commercially available, seeing the film is the only way to hear the newly recorded version of "Our Harry" by The Innocence Mission. If you attend one of these events, please let us know your thoughts.
I received a nicely packaged DVD of Weathered last week and thought I would advance a preview. First off, Weathered is a short film clocking in at just over 18 minutes. I'd rather not spoil the plot, so I'm including a modified summary from the DVD jacket:
"An intimate portrait of a woman trapped in time. Retreating deep within herself, Weather longs for connection and reaches out the only way she knows how...by going to the doctor."
I really did enjoy this film and the use of music was well received. Considering how the band's tracks have been used in past films such as Empire Records, I'm sure the band was quite pleased after reeviewing the footage. The newly re-recorded "Our Harry" runs a little over 30 seconds longer than the original recording found on the album Glow thanks to some additional editing from Matt, but the differences in performance are minimal, excluding the repeated chorus at the end of the song. As stated in my previous post, "Our Harry" is used in its entirety (as is "Brotherhood of Man"). The one standout between the two recorded versions, besides the extension, is the noticeable production clarity of the latter version. Don's attention to detail has resulted in a cleaner recording with less microphone pop as the original.
Lastly, a little more on the crew and cast of Weathered. Matt Barber has served as an editor on such tv shows as Chuck and The O.C.. Lead actress, Nicole Parker, is a regular on MADtv, and supporting actor Tony Hale appears regularly on Chuck as Emmett Milbarge. Actors Cynthia Avila and Tanc Sade (who plays Harry D. Mun) have also acted on various nationally televised TV series.
This month, there are 12 new Innocence Mission related videos: "Beautiful Change", "One For Sorrow, Two For Joy", "Geranium Lake", "Sonata No. 8", "I Never Knew You From The Sun", "Somewhere A Star Shines For Everyone", "Over The Rainbow" and a handful of "Bright As Yellow" and "The Lakes of Canada" videos.
The Innocence Mission have recorded a new version of "Our Harry" for the film, Weathered, by indie filmmaker Matt Barber. "Our Harry" will be used in its entirety, and "Brotherhood of Man" will also make an appearance. Weathered is currently being submitted to festival coordinators around the world and will likely be premiered at some point later this summer. For future screening updates and to view the trailer, please visit the movie film site.
DVDs will not be available until sometime after a festival premiere has been scheduled.
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: three "The Lakes of Canada" fan performances, and one of "Bright As Yellow". Anyone else still noticing the Sufjan trend?
Mike Bitts and Hunter Johnson performed with Lancaster resident Hiram Ring yesterday evening. Unfortunately, I just received this information early this morning. Unfortunately, this was a one-time performance with Mike and Hunter.
Hiram and Mike met at a local open mic in Lancaster, and Mike played upright bass on two of the songs from his new album, "One Girl for Me" and the title track "Breathe Deep". These two songs were recorded live with Sam Frantz engineering - other musicians on those two recordings are Aaron Walker (drums) and Matthew Monticchio (piano), as well as other local musicians and friends.
When Hiram was putting together a group for his CD-release, Mike was available, and since Aaron Walker was not, he suggested Hunter Johnson. So the three and Matthew Monticchio became the core musicians for the CD release. For those who may not be familiar with Hunter Johnson, he performed drums with Don Peris and Mike Bitts on Don's 2006 mini-tour.
Below is a video from the CD release party. The song is called "Eternity".
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: three "The Lakes of Canada" fan performances, and one of "Umbrella". Anyone else noticing the Sufjan trend?
The PS22 Chorus recently received a letter from Karen Peris thanking them for their work and letting them know how moved she was by their performances.
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: two "Bright As Yellow" fan performances, and two of "The Lakes of Canada". You can download Liv's performance of "Bright As Yellow" in the downloads area by clicking her image below.
Someone has posted the Lancaster PRISM special over at Youtube. This is iffy quality at best, but for those who have never seen it be sure to click the images below.
Quick Feet, Soft Hands, a film by Roanoke, VA filmmaker Paul Harrill (Lovell Films) will debut in Knoxville on September 11th (7:30 pm) at the Regal Downtown West Cinema 8. Cost: $5.
The 25 minute film follows a young couple in their pursuit of the American Dream. Greta Gerwig (Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs) stars as Lisa, a young woman whose hopes of moving up are tied to Jim (Jason Von Stein), a minor league ballplayer. As Jim falls deeper into a batting slump, Lisa must face the day-to-day realities of being young and poor. And she must confront the prospect that they may never make it to the big leagues. Co-produced by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Quick Feet, Soft Hands is the latest work by Paul Harrill (Sundance Jury Prize winner, Gina, An Actress, Age 29).
According to the online press kit, the film's lone music cue is the Innocence Mission's "Beautiful Change". You can view the trailer by clicking the image below.
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: a "Bright As Yellow" fan performance on ukulele, another performance of "The Lakes of Canada", a flood report from Iowa featuring "500 Miles", and a dance video featuring "Moon River".
"Bright As Yellow" video now available for purchase
Updated: The video has been removed and is no longer available for purchase.
Originally posted: Friday, July 11, 2008 iTunes has recently added the "Bright As Yellow" music video as a downloadable purchase. The video is available for $1.49.
This month, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: a "Moon River" video with footage from Final Fantasy, a stop motion video using "Prelude In A", "Bright As Yellow" record live by Lauricia Singer and finally an interesting week 6 pregnancy video blog which includes "I Haven't Seen This Day Before".
The PS22 Chorus is at it again over on YouTube, this time performing their own version of the Innocence Mission song "There" found on the Glow album. For fans of Crowded House, you shouldn't miss their recent performance with the band, also found on YouTube.
This month at YouTube, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: 3 live videos of "The Lakes of Canada" by Striking13 and (a new version) by Daisybreath and one by Michael Edwards as well as a colorful make-up related video for "Bright As Yellow".
This month at YouTube, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos: "The Lakes of Canada", "What A Wonderful World" and "Follow Me" (containing footage from a film I don't recognize) and a live performance of "Tomorrow on the Runway" by Talaazar.
This month at YouTube, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos. Two more videos have sprung up containing "The Lakes of Canada", as well as videos of "No Storms Come" and "Edelweiss" (containing footage from the film What Dreams May Come).
During the opening credits of the episode "Drop Dead" (Episode 4, Season 2) of Alias, you'll hear a familiar song. The Innocence Mission track "Oh Do Not Fly Away" appears prominently. This song was licensed through Royal Standard Music in 2001.
You can view the opening credits by clicking the image to the left below.
This week at YouTube, there are 4 new Innocence Mission related videos. Two more videos have sprung up containing "The Lakes of Canada", as well as videos of "500 Miles" and "Moon River".
In this year's first YouTube report you'll find Heyroro's fan version of "Happy, The End". The project was created at a New York Film Academy digital filmmaking course in London 2003 . Secondly, one of two MTV's 120 Minute interviews uploaded by Postingoldtapes. And lastly, there are two more live covers of "The Lakes of Canada" by Unusuality and Mgjohnsonstudios. My guess is that the Sufjan Stevens cover continues to be quite popular with the YouTube crowd. What do you think? Leave a comment and be sure to click the images below for the video links.
Updated: As of this posting, Ningyoko has a featured original on Youtube called "Genuineness". To date, it's received 938K hits. Congrats Ningyoko!
Original post: 3/12/07 9:09 PM Ningyoko has uploaded a live video on YouTube.com. The video features "The Lakes of Canada" from the album Birds of My Neighborhood.
Karen and Don have posted a new live video of "Away In A Manger" available at YouTube courtesy of Lamp Records. They have also posted an mp3 of "Away In A Manger" and reposted the "Little Town Of Bethlehem" track which are both available at their myspace page.
There's finally a new live video available at YouTube courtesy of Lamp Records. Recently, Karen and Don performed in-studio (where I'm not quite sure of yet) the track "Brotherhood of Man".
If you're bored and looking for even more Innocence Mission videos to watch at YouTube, then click the images below to be surprised or hover over for more information.
Can't get enough of "Bright As Yellow"? Now you can view the video at Yahoo! Music. We can thank Universal Music Group for making the video available after all these years. More to follow?
Be sure to check out the following fan video for "What A Wonderful World". Using morphing technology, female paintings are animated throughout history.
Here's my own personal music video for "Spinning" which was filmed entirely in Lancaster this past weekend. Available via Vimeo...
I'm back from my first real trip to Lancaster, PA - home of The Innocence Mission. I had a blast. My wife and I saw "the Police" perform in Hershey (waited an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot jam). I thought it was an amazing show. We also visited Hershey Park (which I highly recommend) and took in the Lancaster countryside. Be sure to stay away from Rt. 30 East on a summer weekend as it's traffic jam central. The commercialism over the Amish isn't necessarily a suprise, but it's a bit more overwhelming than I expected. It's a bit distressing actually.
Did you know that Lancaster also has a baseball team? The Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League got slaughtered last night, but they kept it close most of the game despite the one bad inning. I learned that Virginians like myself are a bit more vocal for the hometeam than the typical Lancaster folk.
We also took in a visit to Lily's on Main to experience the reason why Steve Brown left the band. Let me tell you, Steve is just as good as a chef and owner than he is a drummer, and that's not a knock on his drumming either. He runs a fantastic restaurant and it's well worth the 20-30 minute drive from Lancaster.
If there's good news to report, it's that despite Steve's extremely busy schedule..he's willing to perform with the band on a future album. That bit of information made the trip all the more exciting.
Sufjan Stevens plays "The Lakes Of Canada" on the roof of Cincinnati's Memorial Hall, the day of the MusicNOW Festival. This is part of La Blogothèque's Take Away Shows video series.
Charlie Shifflett has uploaded on YouTube.com. The video features "That Was Another Country" from the album Glow. While you're there, be sure to check out his other video "People in the Cities" which was announced last year.
Edit: The video can now be found in the downloads section
Have any of you seen Caveh Zahedi's film In the Bathtub of the World? It's essentially a video diary -- an edited and condensed year in his life. Midway through the film, he buys a copy of Birds of My Neighborhood, plays "Snow," and talks about how much he loves the album. "Snow" comes back a few more times in the film and is played in full over the closing titles.
Seems like the Innocence Mission is a popular upload lately on Youtube.com. Here's the MTV Spotlight from 1989. Just as a sidenote, this was the video that introduced me to the band and their music. I've been a fan ever since MTV originally aired the spot.
Updated: "And Hiding Away" (from what appears to be this particular Concrete Corner volume) has been posted to YouTube.com. And no, it wasn't actually me who posted it.
9:48 AM, 10/15/06
When I first learned of the AHA video, I was under the impression it was never released because to my knowledge it had never aired on MTV unlike all of the other videos. It may or may not have aired locally or nationally, however it was distributed. Today, I purchased a copy of Alternavision #21 from Concrete Corner Marketing, which so far to my knowledge, is the only released version of the video.
I'd like to first off thank Daniel Summers for his contributions these past few weeks. I still have a few photos of his to share from the recent Jammin' Java concert. Those will be coming soon.
In the meanwhile, here is Part 1 of 3 from the Jammin' Java concert.
"California Brown And Blue" by Denison Witmer (Performed by Denison Witmer, Don Peris, Mike Bitts and Hunter Johnson)
Ebay has turned up another video compilation containing the "I Remember Me" video. This time the source is National Video Subscription which released a compilation in 1990 containing the video.
