JARS OF CLAY

'Jars of Clay' is a rock band from Franklin, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.
Jars of Clay is Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars. Although the band has no permanent drummer or bassist, Jeremy Lutito and Gabe Ruschival of Disappointed By Candy fill these roles for live concerts. Past tour band members include Aaron Sands, Scott Savage, and Joe Porter. Jars of Clay's style is a blend of alternative rock, folk, acoustic, and R&B.
The band's name is derived from the New International Version's translation of 2 Corinthians 4:7:
This verse is paraphrased in their song "Four Seven," which appears on ''Frail'' and as a hidden track on the CD release of their self-titled album.

Contents

Band history

Formation

1990s

2000s

Blood:Water Mission

Beliefs

Band members

Current members

Touring members

Trivia

Discography

Awards

References

External links

Band history

Formation

Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s. Pursuing a career in music together was not necessarily their original goal; some of the first songs they wrote together were for music and recording classes they were taking at the time. Their second guitarist Matt Bronleewe joined some time later, and drummer Scott Savage occasionally joined them for some of their early public performances.
In 1994, the band submitted a demo to a talent competition run by the Gospel Music Association and were selected as finalists. They traveled to Nashville to perform and won the contest. Back in Greenville, they self-released a limited-run of the same demo, which they named ''Frail'', after their song of the same name. The buzz from their performance in Nashville and the demo's popularity resulted in offers from record labels, so the band decided to drop school and move to Nashville. At this time, Bronlewee left the band to finish school and settle down with his fiancée. He was replaced with Matt Odmark, Lowell's childhood friend.

1990s

Jars of Clay signed with Essential Records and started recording their first full-length album. Former prog-rocker from King Crimson and recent Christian convert Adrian Belew heard the band and offered to produce, leading to him producing two songs: "Liquid" and "Flood." Their self-titled debut released in 1995. When the single "Flood" began to climb the charts on mainstream radio stations, Silvertone (Essential's parent company) heavily promoted the song, turning it into one of the biggest mainstream hits ever by a band on a Christian label. The album has since reached multi-platinum certification according to RIAA standards.^[1]
The band toured in support of other Christian acts, such as PFR, and also with mainstream acts like Matchbox Twenty and Sting. This resulted in a small backlash from conservative Christian groups. They also released a Christmas EP titled ''Drummer Boy'' at the end of 1995. The Christmas EP was re-released in 1997 with a slightly different track listing. 1997 also saw the release of their second album, ''Much Afraid'', produced by Stephen Lipson. The album sold well and won them a Grammy. The album was given Platinum certification in 2000.
In 1999, they released their third album, ''If I Left The Zoo'', produced by Dennis Herring. It also earned them their second Grammy. By this time, touring drummer Savage left the band's live performance to play for Jaci Velasquez and was replaced by Joe Porter. A song from ''If I Left The Zoo'', "Unforgetful You", was featured on the soundtrack to the film ''Drive Me Crazy''.

2000s

In 2001 the four members of the band received Honorary Degrees at Greenville College, where three of them had studied before dropping out in 1994 to move to Nashville.
In 2002, the band produced and released their fourth album called ''The Eleventh Hour'' which earned the band a Grammy for the third year in a row. Unlike earlier albums, ''The Eleventh Hour'' was conceived as a Christian rock album, relying on studio musicians and the band's touring musicians to fill in for the band's lack of drums and bass.
2003 saw the band taking a look back at their career. The double-disc '' featured an acoustic disc and a live disc. The acoustic disc consisted of reworked ''The Eleventh Hour'' songs, rearranged fan favorites, two ''The Eleventh Hour'' b-sides, and a cover of Adam Again's "Dig" (intended as a tribute to Gene Eugene, who had died recently). The live disc featured recent concert recordings that included songs from throughout the band's career.
The band continued the more acoustic and organic approach of the ''Furthermore'' studio disc on their fifth studio album called ''Who We Are Instead'', released on November 4, 2003. On ''Who We Are Instead'', the band revisited various styles they'd used previously, as well as experimenting with new influences, such as gospel, hymns, and Nickel Creek's "newgrass" style.
In early 2005, the band released ''Redemption Songs'', a collection of hymns and traditional songs. The band wrote new melodies to some old hymns and rearranged the music for several others. "God Will Lift Up Your Head", reworked as an acoustic rocker, was a hit for the band on Christian radio. They also covered five hymns from the ''Indelible Grace'' CD series (a series which originated from the work of Reformed University Fellowship).^[2]
In late 2005, the band announced that the writing for a new album was nearing completion, and that they would be returning to the studio to record the album in the spring. This new project, entitled ''Good Monsters'', was released on September 5, 2006. Backstage at the 2006 GMA Awards, Jars of Clay called it their first ever rock record. In the September 2006 edition of CCM Magazine, the band credited fellow artist Ashley Cleveland with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album. The magazine called it "the most profound album the Christian music community has released in years."
In March of 2007, the band announced at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa that they were no longer on Essential Records, and would be releasing music independently. Later press releases announced the name of their label as Gray Matters, which would be a partnership with Nettwerk Music Group. The band's first release on this label will be a Christmas album to be released October 16, 2007. The band is also planning to record the soundtrack to a documentary about the African village of Lwala.^[3] A press release posted on Jesusfreakhideout.com on June 22, 2007 states that the title of the band's upcoming Christmas album will be ''Christmas Songs''.^[4] An article posted on MusicTAP.net on July 20, 2007 stated that Essential Records will be releasing a greatest hits album entitled ''The Essential Jars of Clay'' on September 4, 2007.

Blood:Water Mission

Main articles: Blood:Water Mission

Lead singer Dan Haseltine visited Africa in 2002, which in turn inspired the founding of , a non-profit organization created to raise awareness and money for the poverty and AIDS stricken regions of the continent. The name is derived from, as Haseltine says, "The two things Africa needs most" - clean blood and clean water. The mission has begun the 1000 Wells project, an effort to have a thousand new wells built throughout Africa.

Beliefs

In a 2002 interview with NPR's Scott Simon on ''Weekend Edition Saturday'', responding to a question about the relatively subtle religious content of their music, Haseltine said, "our songs ... [are] not really there to explain our faith," but are "written about our life that is affected by our faith." Haseltine explained the decision to "shy away from ... traditional religious language" as a conscious one, in part to make their music more accessible to those "put off by religion", and to "love people in a way that isn't exclusive to simply people that understand the language of Christianity." ^[5] Haseltine also stated that art can "make people feel what's true rather than telling them".⁵

Band members

Current members

★ Dan Haseltine – vocals, percussion, melodica

★ Charlie Lowell – piano, organ, accordion, keys, background vocals

★ Stephen Mason – guitar, vocals, bass, lap & pedal steel, national, mandolin, background vocals

★ Matthew Odmark – acoustic guitar, banjo, background vocals (replaced Matt Bronleewee in 1994)

Touring members

★ Gabe Ruschival - bass (2006–present)

★ Jeremy Lutito - drums (2005–present)

★ Aaron Sands – bass (1995–2005)

★ Joe Porter – drums (1999–2005)

★ Scott Savage – drums (1993–1999)

★ Matt Bronleewe – guitar (1993–1999)

Trivia

★ Dan Haseltine is the brother of Matthew Haseltine, formerly of the band Marzuki.

★ Dan Haseltine first met Steve Mason at college after noticing that he was wearing a Toad the Wet Sprocket shirt.

★ Matthew Odmark has served as an engineer on many albums by up and coming musicians.

★ Jars of Clay's song "Flood", from their debut album, was used as the theme song to A&E's documentary ''God or the Girl'', which tracked the lives of four young men deciding whether to become Catholic priests.

Discography

Main articles: Jars of Clay discography


★ 1995 - ''Jars of Clay''

★ 1997 - ''Much Afraid''

★ 1999 - ''If I Left the Zoo''

★ 2002 - ''The Eleventh Hour''

★ 2003 - ''

★ 2003 - ''Who We Are Instead''

★ 2005 - ''Redemption Songs''

★ 2006 - ''Good Monsters''

★ 2007 - ''The Essential Jars Of Clay''

★ 2007 - ''Christmas Songs''

Awards

'List of Jars of Clay awards'

;Grammy Awards ★ Awards won: 3 ★ Nominated: 4;GMA Dove Awards ★ Awards won: 9 ★ Nominated: 9;BMI Awards ★ Awards Won: 5;American Music Awards ★ Nominated: 3

Footnotes

Jars of Clay has been successful in being nominated for and winning several awards, including prestigious Grammy Awards and several of the Christian music awards, known as the GMA Dove Awards. Some of these successes have been collaborative efforts, including two ''City on a Hill'' albums and the for the 2005 film ''. The group has won five BMI awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated.

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1996	Dove	Best Short Form Music Video	"Flood"GMA Dove Awards history by year. Retrieved 5:27pm July 31, 2007.	'Won'
		Best New Artist	''Jars of Clay''	'Won'
	Grammy	Best Rock Gospel Album	''Jars of Clay''CNN - List of Grammy Nominees - Jan. 4, 1996. Section 44. Retrieved 5:36pm July 31, 2007.	'Nominated'
	BMI	Recipient	"Flood"[6]	'Won'
1997	Grammy	Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album	''Much Afraid''Grammy Awards (winner search). Retrieved 5:32pm July 31, 2007.	'Won'
	Dove	Group of the Year	''Jars of Clay''	'Won'
1998	Dove	Group of the Year	''Much Afraid''	'Won'
1999	Dove	Special Event Album of the Year	''Exodus''' ★ '	'Won'
2000	Grammy	Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album	''If I Left the Zoo''	'Won'
	Dove	Best Modern Rock Song	"Unforgetful You"	'Won'
	BMI	Recipient	"Can't Erase It"[6]	'Won'
2001	Dove	Special Event Album of the Year	''' ★ '	'Won'
2002	Grammy	Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album	''The Eleventh Hour''	'Won'
	BMI	Recipient	"I Need You"[6]	'Won'
		Recipient	"Fly"[6]	'Won'
	AMA	Contemporary Inspirational - Favourite Artist[10]		'Nominated'
2003	Dove	Best Modern Rock Album	''The Eleventh Hour''	'Won'
		Special Event Album of the Year	''' ★ '	'Won'
	AMA	Contemporary Inspirational - Favourite Artist[11]		'Nominated'
	BMI	Recipient	"Valley Song (Sing of Your Mercy)"[6]	'Won'
2005	AMA	Contemporary Inspirational - Favourite Artist[13]		'Nominated'
2006	Dove	Best Recorded Music Packaging	''Redemption Songs''	'Won'
		Special Event Album of the Year	''' ★ '	'Won'
2007	Dove	Best Rock/Contemporary Album	''Good Monsters''	'Won'
		Best Short Form Music Video	"Work"	'Won'

★ '
★ 'Denotes a collaborative effort or a song contribution to a "Various artists" album.

References

1. RIAA.com
2. Redemption Songs Wray, Burton
3. Jars of Clay Launching Own Label With Nettwerk Price, Deborah Evans
4. Jars of Clay To Release ''Christmas Songs'' October 17th
5. NPR ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' interview
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. BMI BMI Stars Top List of AMA Nominees, published November 21, 2002, retrieved September 1, 2007.
11. Rock on the Net, 30th American Music Awards (presented in 2003), published January 13, 2003, retrieved September 1, 2007.
12.
13. ABC, ABC.com, published September 20, 2005, retrieved September 1, 2007.

External links

★ Jars of Clay - Official Site

★ Official Blog - News, Notes, and Experiences from the Road

★ Official Site of Good Monsters - "Good Monsters" Album Site

★ Jarchives Fan Site - Fan site with an active forum community

★ Jarsworld Fan Site - The oldest and most comprehensive fan site

★ Jarsblog - Unofficial News Blog

★ Blood Water Mission - Non-profit relief organization founded by Jars of Clay

★ NPR Feature Interview from ''The Eleventh Hour'' Era