Jars of Clay

Band history

Charlie Lowell and Matt Bronleewe originally met as friends in high school. There, Lowell first learned of 2 Corinthians 4:7, which later became the basis for the band's name. Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell and Matt Bronleewe formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s. 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. 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. They traveled to Nashville to perform and won the contest. 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". 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. The album has since reached multi-platinum certification according to the RIAA. "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.

Blood: Water Mission

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 wells built throughout Africa. In 2012, the organization 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. Former Bassist for Jars of Clay Aaron Sands serves as administrative director for the project.

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". Haseltine also stated that art can "make people feel what's true rather than telling them".

Band members

Current

Dan Haseltine – lead vocals, drums, percussion, melodica, piano, accordion (1993–present)

Charlie Lowell – keyboards, piano, organ, accordion, backing vocals (1993–present)

Stephen Mason – guitars, bass, mandolin, backing vocals (1993–present)

Matt Odmark – guitars, banjo, backing vocals (1994–present)

Former

Matt Bronleewe – guitars (1993–1994)

Current touring musicians

Jake Goss – drums (2009–present)

Former touring musicians

Gabe Ruschival – bass (2006–2011)

Jeremy Lutito – drums (2005–2009)

Aaron Sands – bass (1995–2005)

Joe Porter – drums (1999–2005)

Scott Savage – drums (1995–99)

Discography

Jars of Clay (1995)

Much Afraid (1997)

If I Left the Zoo (1999)

The Eleventh Hour (2002)

Furthermore: From the Studio, from the Stage (2003, studio and live album)

Who We Are Instead (2003)

Redemption Songs (2005)

Good Monsters (2006)

Christmas Songs (2007)

The Long Fall Back to Earth (2009)

The Shelter (2010)

Inland (2013)

Awards

Jars of Clay has been nominated for and won several awards, including Grammy Awards and several other 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 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.