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Christina Perri’s new album is a departure from her previous hits: It’s lullabies for her daughter

The Bucks County born and raised "Jar of Hearts" singer has made an album for the (much) younger set.

Bucks County born and raised pop star Cristina Perri has a new album of children's songs, dedicated to  her daughter
Bucks County born and raised pop star Cristina Perri has a new album of children's songs, dedicated to her daughterRead moreEmily Winiker

Bucks County-born singer-songwriter Christina Perri has a thriving touring career and hits such as “Jar of Hearts” and “A Thousand Years.” But nothing about her job makes her as overjoyed as the love of her large Philadelphia family (“There’s like 180 Perris, and they all come to every Philly show,” she says). The family’s newest member is Carmella Costabile, Perri’s first child with television personality Paul Costabile. Carmella turns a year old on Thursday, Jan. 17, and the lucky birthday girl will get more than just a cake and a candle — she’ll get her own album, Songs for Carmella: Lullabies & Sing-a-Longs, which features traditional cradle ballads, Disney tunes, and new Perri originals.

The first time I had contact with your family was at your Tower show, where your grandmother told me I was as skinny as you and that we both need to eat.

Everyone is great. They’re just as hilarious and wonderful as when you met them all.

Your brother Nick was Philly’s Silvertide, as well as Shinedown. He’s composed stuff for your albums.

He just visited me with his wife and baby and has his own new project, the Underground Thieves. He’s thriving.

Between you and Nick, you’re busy populating the Perri lineage. How crucial is seeing your family dynamic in action?

I would say No. 1. That’s the most important thing to me in my life and always has been. Carrying that tradition on with a child and husband, I only hope I can be as awesome as my family was to me growing up. I don’t go everywhere with 180-plus family members, but maintaining connectivity with them is a must. We try and do everything together. That’s what we’re on this planet to do … something reminiscent of what my family had. Plus, it’s about connecting to our Italian roots. My husband is Italian too, so that’s great.

How does it all fit — planning new albums, tours, kids?

That’s valid. I’m still a new mom — she turns one Jan. 17 — and I’m only just learning about balancing life as an artist, mom, wife, sibling, daughter. I definitely think it’s trial and error. Some women go back to work right away, and those women are my heroes. I was so fortunate to get to spend every minute of Carmella’s first nine months with her before I went to Nashville to make this album. But Carmella comes first, and I will be there for everything she needs. Plus, I have a great team of family and friends — and my husband’s family — there to help me. It’s all hands on deck, and because I’m not living in California, everyone is nearby and close, which is great. So I won’t take all the credit. That said, mentally, it is challenging doing all the things I used to do, and now add ‘mom’ to that list.

The Lullabies record is a great segue into that artistic challenge.

Exactly. Because I can tiptoe back in, singing about Carmella. Mentally and emotionally, it is a great transition for me. I’d like to do another lullabies album in several years, as well as another Christmas record [A Very Merry Perri Christmas EP came out 2012]. I should be putting out music, whatever it looks like, that pertains to my actual honest life.

You married an entertainment journalist, which I dare say is a goofy move.

It was a very, very goofy move, and one that everyone saw coming. On camera, in person, everyone saw him interviewing me and us falling in love before everyone’s eyes.

Did the two of you decide you wanted to start a family when you did?

We knew we wanted a family, but I was working on my third album at the time I got pregnant. It was a magical gift that came out of nowhere, and we were just so grateful. I paused writing album three — which is awesome, as I have half an album written — so that I could be totally present for my pregnancy and my first year of motherhood.

Are the Disney songs and the other tunes on the album things that your mom sang to you as a kid?

My mom definitely sang me Mary Poppins songs, for sure.

You chose a mix of traditional and personally penned lullabies for your daughter. What does it mean, or take, to conceive an original song dedicated to your child, such as “You mean the whole wide world to me?”

I didn’t think about it. I was in the throes of what they call the ‘fourth trimester’ and was not thinking about writing. But I’m a musician, through and through, and was sitting at the piano when she was eight weeks old, when [Perri begins singing], “You mean the whole wide world to me” came out. Just that. She looked over at me and smiled so big — wow — it was the best moment of my life. I don’t know anything that can top this. I sing it to her every day.

So she responds favorably. These are her favorite songs.

Carmella doesn’t have a playlist yet, so she can’t choose the songs I sing [laughs], so these are my favorites, the songs that feel the warmest to me while I’m nursing her and hanging with her. These really are the songs she and I share. This album was so easy to put together.