Jars of Clay consists of 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 bass guitarist, 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.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
This verse is paraphrased in their song "Four Seven", which appears as a hidden track on the CD release of their self-titled album.
Band history
Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell and Matt Bronleewe formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s.[1]Charlie Lowell first met Dan Haseltine after noticing that he was wearing a Toad the Wet Sprocket shirt. 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.[1] Their second guitarist Matt Odmark joined some time later. While in college playing together at local coffee houses, Jars gained a reputation for their original arrangement of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which had been adapted to the tune of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
In 1994, the band submitted a demo to a talent competition run by the Gospel Music Association and were selected as finalists.[1] They traveled to Nashville to perform and won the contest.[1] Back in Greenville, they self-released a limited-run of the same demo, 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, Bronleewe left the band to finish school and settle down with his fiancée. He was replaced with Matt Odmark, Lowell's childhood friend and fellow McQuaid Jesuit High School alum.
The band signed with Essential Records and started recording their first full-length studio album, Jars of Clay. Adrian Belew, of progressive rock band King Crimson, heard the band and offered to produce, leading to him producing two songs: "Liquid" and "Flood".[2][3] The band's self-titled debut released in 1995. When the single "Flood" began to climb the charts on mainstream radio stations, Silvertone Records (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.[3] The album has since reached multi-platinum certification according to the RIAA.[4] "Flood" peaked at No.37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.12 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, and was the band's only secular radio hit.
The band toured in support of other Christian acts, such as PFR, and with mainstream acts like Matchbox Twenty, Duncan Sheik, and Sting. This resulted in a small backlash from some Christian groups.[5]
The band released Drummer Boy, a Christmas EP entitled, at the end of 1995. The EP was re-released, on Silvertone Records, in 1997 with a slightly different track listing. The band's second album, Much Afraid, produced by Stephen Lipson was also released in 1997.[6] The album sold well and like its predecessor, enjoyed crossover success.[7] The album went on to earn a Grammy for "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album".[8] The album has since earned platinum certification by the RIAA.[4] They released two music videos for this album for the songs "Crazy Times" and "Five Candles (You Were There)".
In 1999, Jars of Clay released their third album, If I Left the Zoo, which was produced by Dennis Herring.[9] The record was their third to crossover into the mainstream,[7] and it earned the band their second Grammy award.[8] It was during this time that touring drummer Scott Savage left the band's touring group to play for Jaci Velasquez and was replaced by Joe Porter. Lead radio single, "Unforgetful You", was also featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture Drive Me Crazy.[10] "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 singles released by Jars of Clay.
In 2001, the four members of the band received honorary degrees at Greenville College.[11] Only three of them, Haseltine, Lowell, and Mason, had studied at the school before dropping out in 1994 to move to Nashville. Odmark still received an honorary degree, despite having attended the University of Rochester in upstate New York.[12]
In 2002, the band self-produced and released their fourth album, The Eleventh Hour, which earned them a Grammy award for the third album in a row.[8][13] 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. Concerts from the subsequent "Eleventh Hour Tour" were recorded for later projects, including the release of a live concert DVD, 11Live: Jars of Clay in Concert.
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 Hourb-sides, and a cover of Adam Again's "Dig".[14] 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 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 "newgrass" style.
In early 2005, the band released Redemption Songs, a collection of hymns and traditional songs with new melodies and rearranged the music. "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).[15]
Their next album, Good Monsters, was released on September 5, 2006 and was labeled by Jars of Clay "their first ever rock record".[16] In the September 2006 edition of CCM Magazine, the band credited fellow artist Ashley Cleveland with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album.[17][18] 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, an EP of live concert recordings of songs, originally recorded for Good Monsters and that had been previously released through the iTunes Store and the official Jars of Clay online store. The second release, through Essential/Legacy, was a greatest hits album, The Essential Jars of Clay. On April 1, 2008, Essential Records released the band's third greatest hits album, the second in that year, Greatest Hits. Included was the new song "Love is the Protest".
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, which would be a partnership with Nettwerk Music Group.[19] Along with the announcement of their new label, the band mentioned that they are planning to record the soundtrack to Honoring a Father's Dream: 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.[20] The band's first release through Gray Matters was a full-length Christmas album, Christmas Songs, on October 16, 2007. On July 29, 2008, Gray Matters Records released Closer EP exclusively through online digital music stores. It was subsequently released on CD on August 19, 2008 and included reworked versions of "Flood", called "Flood (New Rain)", and "Love Song For a Savior ('08)" from their debut album.
The band's tenth studio album, The Long Fall Back to Earth, was released on April 21, 2009. and contained 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.[21]The Long Fall Back to Earth debuted at No.29 on the Billboard 200 mainstream charts, which was Jars of Clay's highest debut since The Eleventh Hour which debuted at No.28 in 2002.[22] The second single off the album is "Heaven."[23] The song "Hero" was featured on a trailer for NBC's Kings.[24]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.
The Shelter was released October 5, 2010 and features eleven tracks. During their promotion for the album, the band streamed the entire album for a few days before its release on their website. In early 2011 they toured the United States on the Rock And Worship Roadshow headlined by MercyMe.[25] In July 2012, the band traveled to Portland, Oregon, to begin recording Inland at Flora Recording & Playback, a music studio owned and operated by Tucker Martine.[26] The new album was released on August 27, 2013 and features twelve tracks.[27] On March 18, 2013, the band released an exclusive track, "Love in Hard Times", that could only be acquired with the purchase of their EP Under the Weather (Live in Sellersville, PA) directly from their website.[28] On June 17, 2013, the band released a free download of the song "Inland" through Rolling Stone's website.[29] The first single off of the album, "After the Fight", was released on June 18.[30]
The group's activities have been limited in recent years (as of 2022), each band member focusing on individual pursuits, but they continue to release music and perform sporadically. They collaborated with pop group SHEL, performing a Christmas concert in Nashville that led to a 6-song Christmas-themed EP titled A Family Christmas, which included four original songs.[31] In 2022, they contributed a track to There's a Rainbow Somewhere, a tribute album to Randy Stonehill.[32]
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.[33] 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.[34] The group recently met their goal of providing clean water to 1,000 African communities through the organization they founded, Blood: Water Mission, and its 1,000 Wells Project.[35] Former Bassist for Jars of Clay Aaron Sands serves as Administrative Director for the project.[36]
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 that the band's songs are not meant to explain their faith but are written about their lives, which are affected by their 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".[37] Haseltine also stated that art can "make people feel what's true rather than telling them".[37]
Band members
Current
Dan Haseltine – vocals, percussion, melodica (1993–present)
Charlie Lowell – piano, organ, accordion, keys, background vocals (1993–present)
Stephen Mason – guitar, vocals, bass, lap and pedal steel, national, mandolin, background vocals (1993–present)
Matt Odmark – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, background vocals (1993–present)
In June 2009, Jars of Clay was named as one of PeaceByPeace.com's first peace heroes.[39]
Related Research Articles
Jars of Clay is the first full-length studio album by Christian rock group Jars of Clay. It was released on October 24, 1995, by Essential Records. The album was released to commercial and critical acclaim, becoming one of the few Christian albums in the mid-1990s to achieve platinum status.
Much Afraid is the second studio album by American Christian rock band Jars of Clay. It was released in 1997 by Essential Records. Following the charting success of the band's debut album, Much Afraid was moderately successful, but was unable to achieve the level of its predecessor.
If I Left the Zoo is the third full-length studio album of the band Jars of Clay. It was released November 9, 1999, by Essential Records.
The Eleventh Hour is the fourth full-length studio album by the band Jars of Clay. It was released in 2002 by Essential Records and marked the band's first attempt at producing a full album by themselves.
Who We Are Instead is the fifth full-length studio album recorded by Christian rock band Jars of Clay and produced by Mitch Dane. It was released in 2003 by Essential Records.
Redemption Songs is the sixth full-length studio album by Jars of Clay. It was released by Essential Records on March 22, 2005.
Good Monsters is the seventh full-length studio album from Jars of Clay, released by Essential Records on September 5, 2006. This is their last album of new material from Essential Records and it is said to be lyrically their most aggressive album to date. It features eleven original songs, and a remake of "All My Tears" by Julie Miller. It also features guest appearances by singer/songwriter Kate York, Leigh Nash, of Sixpence None the Richer, and the African Children's Choir.
Daniel Paul Haseltine is an American singer best known as lead vocalist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay. Haseltine has performed vocals, piano, accordion, percussion and melodica, while with Jars of Clay. He has had different artistic titles, including songwriter, producer, film composer, music supervisor and art designer.
Charles Daniel Lowell is an American pianist most known for being the pianist and keyboardist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay.
Drummer Boy is an EP release by Christian folk group Jars of Clay featuring a new interpretation of the classic 1958 Christmas Carol "Little Drummer Boy". The EP was originally released by Essential Records in the Christmas following the release of Jars Of Clay in 1995. The EP was re-released as a two-pack with Jars of Clay prior to their second album, Much Afraid.
Live Monsters is an EP recorded and released by Jars of Clay. The EP contains songs that were recorded live on their tour in support of their studio album, Good Monsters. At first release, the only method of purchasing the album was either at one of their concerts or through Jars Of Clay's official store. However, Essential has since released the EP for purchase through the iTunes Store and was released to mainstream music stores on September 4, 2007. The track listing of the two releases varies as "All My Tears" and "Love Me" from the initial release are substituted for "Good Monsters" and "Surprise".
"Crazy Times" is a song recorded and performed by Jars of Clay. The song was a writing collaboration between the band members Dan Haseltine and Stephen Mason with songwriters Mark Hudson and Greg Wells. It was the first single from their second studio album, Much Afraid. The single fared well in the mainstream, peaking at No. 38 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The demo version of the song can be found on the album The White Elephant Sessions, while a live version of the song is included on the 2003 double album, Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage. This song also appears on the WOW 1999 compilation album.
"Work" is a song written and performed by Jars of Clay. It is the second radio single from their 2006 studio album Good Monsters. The song was the 13th most played song on U.S. Christian Hit Radio stations in 2007. A live concert version of the song appears on the Live Monsters EP, which was released in 2007. An acoustic version of the song was included as a bonus thirteenth track on Good Monsters when purchased through a pre-release promotion on Apple's iTunes Store. A music video for "Work" was released in 2006.
Gray Matters is an imprint record label structured underneath the Nettwerk Music Group. The label was founded in 2007 by Jars of Clay band members Dan Haseltine, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark, and Charlie Lowell. The creation of the label was in response to the band's record contract's ending with Essential Records, and the band's desiring to control their music output. The label will be distributed by Provident/Integrity Distribution to the Christian and mainstream markets. The band had been with Nettwerk under their management division since 2003.
Christmas Songs is the eighth full-length studio album and first Christmas album from Jars of Clay, that was released on October 16, 2007, through Gray Matters/Nettwerk. This is the first ever release from the band through their newly created Gray Matters imprint via Nettwerk Music Group.
The Essential Jars of Clay is a greatest hits album from Jars of Clay that was released on September 4, 2007 through Essential Records/Legacy Recordings. This is the last release from the band through Essential Records as they have since moved on to the Nettwerk Music Group's Gray Matters imprint. The album is part of the Sony BMG series The Essential, which is a series of greatest hits collections.
"Frail" is a song written and performed by Christian rock band Jars of Clay. It has appeared on many recordings by the group and lends its name to their debut demo release, Frail, from 1994. The song has never been released as a single.
Matthew Ryan Bronleewe is an American record producer, musician, novelist and songwriter.
The Long Fall Back to Earth is the ninth full-length studio album from Jars of Clay. It was released on April 21, 2009 through Gray Matters and Essential Records.
"Closer" is a song written and performed by Christian rock act Jars of Clay. The radio single was released in promotion of the band's 2008-released EP, Closer. Although the track also appears on the band's 2009 album The Long Fall Back to Earth, the single was released far in advance of its announcement and release to be considered that album's first single. The version of the song that appears on The Long Fall Back to Earth is a different mix than the one that appears on the Closer EP, containing a longer intro and song length. "Closer" was co-produced by Ron Aniello, who also helped co-produce the band's 2003 release Who We Are Instead and helped co-write a handful of tracks from their Good Monsters studio album.
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