Jars Of Clay

Jars of Clay is a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.

Jars of Clay consists of Dan Haseltine on vocals ^singer , Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards ^{Keyboard instrument} , Stephen Mason ^{Stephen Mason (musician)} on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars. Although the band has no permanent drummer or bassist ^{Bass guitar} , Jeremy Lutito and Gabe Ruschival of Disappointed By Candy fill these roles for live concerts ^concert . Past tour band members include Aaron Sands, Scott Savage, and Joe Porter. Jake Goss was recently added to the band to play drums for their summer tour. Jars of Clay's style is a blend of alternative rock, folk ^{folk rock} , acoustic ^{acoustic rock} , and R&B ^{blues rock} .

The band's name is derived from the New International Version's ^{New International Version} translation of 2 Corinthians 4:7:

This verse is paraphrased in their song "Four Seven", which appears on Frail ^{Frail (Jars of Clay album)} and as a hidden track on the CD release of their self-titled album ^{Jars of Clay (album)} .

 
Formation

Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason ^{Stephen Mason (musician)} , Charlie Lowell and Justin Gabriel formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s. The band's self-titled debut released in 1995. When the single "Flood" began to climb the charts on mainstream radio stations, Silvertone Records ^{Silvertone Records (1980)} (Essential's parent company) started to heavily promote the song, turning it into one of the biggest mainstream hits ever by a band on a Christian label. "Flood" peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the Billboard Modern Rock ^{Modern Rock Tracks} chart, and was the band's only secular radio hit.

The band toured in support of other Christian acts, such as PFR, and aside mainstream acts like Matchbox Twenty, Duncan Sheik, and Sting ^{Sting (musician)} . This resulted in a small backlash from fundamentalist Christian groups. The band released a Christmas EP ^{Extended play} entitled Drummer Boy at the end of 1995. The EP was re-released in 1997 with a slightly different track listing on Silvertone.


Much Afraid

The year 1997 also saw the release of the band's sophomore ^{wiktionary:sophomore} album, Much Afraid, which was produced by Stephen Lipson. The album sold very well and went on to earn a Grammy award ^Grammy for "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album". The album has since earned platinum ^{Platinum album} certification by the RIAA. The record earned the band their second Grammy award. "Collide" was also featured on the motion picture "Hometown Legend". Upon the release of If I Left The Zoo they also released Front Yard Luge and after a year The White Elephant Sessions. If I Left The Zoo so far has the most single released by Jars of Clay.

In 2001, the four members of the band received honorary degrees at Greenville College. However, only three of them, Haseltine, Lowell, and Mason had studied at the college before dropping out in 1994 to move to Nashville ^{Nashville, Tennessee} , while Odmark still received an honorary degree, despite having attended university in New York.


The Eleventh Hour

In 2002, the band self-produced and released their fourth album entitled The Eleventh Hour ^{The Eleventh Hour (Jars of Clay album)} , which earned the band a Grammy award ^Grammy for the third album in a row. The album relied on studio musicians and the band's touring musicians to fill in for the band's lack of drummer and bass player ^{bass guitar} .


Furthermore & Who We Are Instead

The year 2003 saw the band taking a look back at their career. The double-disc Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage features an acoustic disc and a live disc. The acoustic disc consisted of reworked and rearranged fan favorites, two The Eleventh Hour b-sides, and a cover of Adam Again's ^{Adam Again} "Dig". The latter was actually intended for a tribute album for Gene Eugene, who had died recently. The live disc features a recent concert recording that include songs from throughout the band's career. The video of this same concert would later be released via DVD on 11Live: Jars of Clay in Concert.

The band continued the acoustic and organic approach that was featured on Furthermore for their fifth studio album entitled Who We Are Instead, which released on November 4, 2003. On the album, the band revisited various styles they had used previously, as well as experimenting with new influences, such as gospel, hymns, and Nickel Creek's ^{Nickel Creek} "newgrass" style.


Redemption Songs

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 (a series which originated from the work of Reformed University Fellowship).


Good Monsters

In late 2005, the band announced that the writing process for a new studio 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 labeled the album 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."

On September 4, 2007, two albums from the band were released simultaneously. The first was a mainstream release of Live Monsters, which is an EP of live concert recordings of songs that were originally recorded for Good Monsters. The EP had been previously released through the iTunes Store and through the official Jars of Clay online store. The second album released on this date was a greatest hits album, entitled The Essential Jars of Clay, which was released through Essential/Legacy ^{Legacy Recordings} .

On April 1, 2008, Essential Records released the band's third greatest hits album (the second in the past year), entitled Greatest Hits ^{Greatest Hits (Jars of Clay album)} . Included was the new song "Love is the Protest".

In Summer of 2007, the song 'Good Monsters' was featured in the pilot of the television show 'Eli Stone' Additionally, the song 'Work ^{Work (Jars of Clay song)} ' was used in promotional material for the Fox Television network shows 'Bones' and 'House ^{House (TV series)} '.


Gray Matters

In March 2007, the band announced at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa that they were no longer on Essential Records and would now be releasing music independently. Later, press releases announced the name of their label as Gray Matters ^{Gray Matters (Music Label)} , which would be a partnership with Nettwerk Music Group. Along with the announcement of their new label, the band mentioned that they are planning to record the soundtrack to Sons of Lwala, a documentary about Milton and Fred Ochieng' - brothers from the African village training to be doctors in the States, working to build a clinic in their home town.

The band's first release through Gray Matters was a Christmas album that was released on October 16, 2007, entitled Christmas Songs ^{Christmas Songs (album)} .

Most recently, the band's song "Love Came Down at Christmas" was sampled in the Samuel Victor song "Stars and Angels".

On July 29, 2008, Gray Matters Records released their latest record Closer EP exclusively through online digital music stores. It was subsequently released on CD on August 19, 2008. Closer EP included reworked versions of "Flood" (called "Flood (New Rain)) and "Love Song For A Savior ('08)" from their debut album. It also included "Prisoner of Hope", which is not found on any other Jars album.

On December 8, 2008, the song "Closer" was featured in the 12th episode of the television show Privileged ^{Privileged (TV series)} .


The Long Fall Back To Earth

Jars of Clay's tenth studio album was released on April 21, 2009. The new record contains 14 songs, including Closer and Safe to Land from the Closer EP, and is influenced by 80s music, specifically Tears For Fears and The Cure. It is entitled The Long Fall Back to Earth.

The song "Hero" was featured on a trailer for NBC's Kings ^{Kings (American TV series)} .

The Long Fall Back To Earth debuted at #29 on the Billboard 200 mainstream charts, which was Jars of Clay's highest debut since The Eleventh Hour which debuted at #28 in 2002.
The first radio single off the album is "Two Hands ^{Two Hands (song)} ", which peaked at #6 on the Hot Christian Songs chart.

The second single off the album is "Heaven".
The Long Fall Back To Earth was nominated for the Grammy to the "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album", though they didn't win in the category.

Jars of Clay released the first EP of the "Live at Gray Matters" series in the 5th of February.
Current members

*Dan Haseltine – vocals ^singer , percussion ^{percussion instrument} , melodica
*Charlie Lowell – piano, organ ^{organ (music)} , accordion, keys, background vocals
*Stephen Mason ^{Stephen Mason (musician)} – guitar, vocals, bass, lap and pedal steel, national, mandolin, background vocals
*Matthew Odmark – acoustic guitar ^{Steel-string guitar} , banjo, background vocals


Former member

*Matt Bronleewe – guitar (1993–94)


Current touring members

*Gabe Ruschival – bass ^{bass guitar} (2006–present)
*Jake Goss – drums ^Drummer (2009–Present)


Former touring members

*Aaron Sands – bass ^{bass guitar} (1995–2005)
*Jeremy Lutito – drums ^Drummer (2005–2009)
*Alex Fragiskatos - drums ^Drummer (2008-2009)
*Joe Porter – drums ^Drummer (1999–2005)
*Scott Savage – drums ^Drummer (1995–99)
Studio albums


*Jars of Clay ^{Jars of Clay (album)} (1995)
*Much Afraid (1997)
*If I Left the Zoo (1999)
*The Eleventh Hour ^{The Eleventh Hour (Jars of Clay album)} (2002)
*Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage (2003)
*Who We Are Instead (2003)
*Redemption Songs (2005)
*Good Monsters (2006)
*Christmas Songs ^{Christmas Songs (album)} (2007)
*The Long Fall Back to Earth (2009)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 inspired collaboration ^{Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe} for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The group has won five Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awards.

In June 2009, Jars of Clay was named as one of PeaceByPeace.com's first peace heroes.Lead singer Dan Haseltine visited Africa in 2002, which in turn inspired the founding of Blood:Water Mission, 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 well ^{water well} s built throughout Africa.In a 2002 interview with NPR's Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday ^{Weekend Edition} , 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." Haseltine also stated that art can "make people feel what's true rather than telling them".