Featured Artist: Jars of Clay
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 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:" 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 on Frail and as a hidden track on the CD release of their self-titled album.
Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s. Dan Haseltine first met Steve Mason 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 Bronleewe joined some time later, and drummer Scott Savage occasionally joined them for some of their early public performances. While in college playing together at local christian coffee houses, Jars gained quite a reputation for their very original arrangement of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which had been deftly 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, 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 fiancee. He was replaced with Matt Odmark, Lowell's childhood friend and fellow McQuaid Jesuit High School alum.
Jars of Clay have then gone on to release an album every other year which includes Much Afraid, If I left The Zoo, The Eleventh, Redemptions Songs, Good Monsters and Grey Matters. They are now back with a brand new album titled The Long Way Back to Earth.
To buy any of these albums just click here.
