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

Jars of Clay is Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason and Matthew Odmark. 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 90s. 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 Bronlewee 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 demo called Frail. 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.

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 passed the triple platinum mark.^[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 Little Drummer Boy at the end of 1995. The Christmas EP was re-released in 1997. 1997 also saw the release of their second album, Much Afraid, produced by Stephen Lipson. The album sold well and won them a Grammy. However, without a hit rock radio single, it didn't reach the same level of success as its predecessor.

In 1999, they released their third album, If I Left The Zoo, produced by Dennis Herring, and it reached gold status. 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.

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,^{[citation needed]} 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 Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage 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 first release on this label will be a Christmas album to be released October 17, 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]

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 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]

• 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)

• 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 Bronlewee – guitar (1993–1994)

• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.

• 1. Jars of Clay (October 24, 1995) #46 Billboard, 3x Platinum
  1. Jars of Clay
  (October 24, 1995)
  #46 Billboard, 3x Platinum
• 
  2. Much Afraid
  (September 16, 1997)
  #8 Billboard, Platinum
• 
  3. If I Left The Zoo
  (November 9, 1999)
  #44 Billboard, Gold
• 4. The Eleventh Hour (March 5, 2002) #28 Billboard, Gold
  4. The Eleventh Hour
  (March 5, 2002)
  #28 Billboard, Gold
• 
  5. Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage
  (February 4, 2003)
  #64 Billboard, Gold
• 
  6. Who We Are Instead
  (November 4, 2003)
  #103 Billboard, Gold
• 
  7. Redemption Songs
  (March 22, 2005)
  #71 Billboard
• 
  8. Good Monsters
  (September 5, 2006)
  #58 Billboard
• 
  9. Christmas Songs
  (October 16, 2007)
  TBD

• 
  1. Roots & Wings (EP)
  (March 1, 2005)
  Preceded the release of Redemption Songs
• 2. iTunes Originals - Jars Of Clay (November 8, 2005) Released exclusively through iTunes
  2. iTunes Originals - Jars Of Clay
  (November 8, 2005)
  Released exclusively through iTunes
• 
  3. Mini Monsters (EP)
  (August 8, 2006)
  Preceded the release of Good Monsters

• 1. Frail (1994) Independently-released demo that contained several tracks later re-recorded for their debut album
  1. Frail
  (1994)
  Independently-released demo that contained several tracks later re-recorded for their debut album
• 
  2. Jars of Clay Interactive
  (1995)
  CD-ROM release that featured behind the scenes photography, the "Flood" music video and audio from the independent release Frail
• 
  3. Drummer Boy
  (1995/1997)
  #101 Billboard
  4-track Christmas EP
• 
  4. Jars of Clay Platinum
  (1996)
  Special double-disc release of their self-titled debut album released to commemorate the album attaining platinum status
• 
  5. Crazy Times Maxi-Single
  (1997)
  #1 Christian Hit Radio, #38 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
  4-track enhanced maxi-single preceding the release of Much Afraid
• 
  6. Seatbelt Tuba
  (September 16, 1997)
  3-track bonus disc accompanying early editions of Much Afraid, with unmastered acoustic performances
• 
  7. Stringtown
  (1998)
  Fan club exclusive live album featuring music videos and other extras
• 
  8. The White Elephant Sessions
  (November, 1999)
  B-Sides and outtakes disc from early in Jars of Clay's career leading up to the If I Left The Zoo sessions
• 9. Front Yard Luge (1999) Live EP that accompanied certain online orders of If I Left The Zoo
  9. Front Yard Luge
  (1999)
  Live EP that accompanied certain online orders of If I Left The Zoo
• 
  10. Jar Of Gems
  (2001)
  Best-of compilation released exclusively in Singapore
• 
  11. Live Monsters
  (2007)
  Live EP currently available only at Jars of Clay's concerts and through their official store

• 1. 11Live: Jars Of Clay In Concert (September 24, 2002)
  1. 11Live: Jars Of Clay In Concert
  (September 24, 2002)

1997 Grammy Awards:

• Won: Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for Much Afraid

2000 Grammy Awards:

• Won: Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for If I Left the Zoo

2002 Grammy Awards:

• Won: Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for The Eleventh Hour

1996 Dove Awards:

• Won: Best New Artist
• Won: Best Short Form Music Video for "Flood"

1997 Dove Awards:

• Won: Group of the Year

1998 Dove Awards:

• Won: Group of the Year

1999 Dove Awards:

• Won: Special Event Album of the Year for Exodus (produced by Michael W. Smith)

2000 Dove Awards:

• Won: Best Modern Rock Song for "Unforgetful You"

2001 Dove Awards:

• Won: Special Event Album of the Year for City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise (Essential Records)

2003 Dove Awards:

• Won: Best Modern Rock Album for The Eleventh Hour
• Won: Special Event Album of the Year for City on a Hill: Sing Alleluia (Essential Records)

2006 Dove Awards:

• Won: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Soundtrack
• Won: Best Recorded Music Packaging for Redemption Songs

2007 Dove Awards:

• Won: Best Rock/Contemporary Album for Good Monsters
• Won: Best Short Form Music Video for "Work"

Chart: Billboard (North America)

• Official site
• Official site of Good Monsters Site of Jars of Clay's latest album "Good Monsters"
• NPR interview