The Official Monthly Jars of Clay Email News Digest
5/10/99
Approx. 7,000 Subscribers
www.jarsofclay.com
CONTENTS:
*New Album News
*Fall Tour
*More news & updates
*Jars of Clay Fan Club
*Concert Review: 5/1/99 Agape Festival, Greenville, IL
*Concert Review: 5/26/99 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, UK
*Concert Review: 6/5/99 Paramount's Carowinds Charlotte, NC
*Concert Review: 7/3/99 Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, IL
*WOW 1999 Bio-Video interview with Jars of Clay
*Article: Jars of Clay and the Goat's Head Club, Crosswalk.com 1999
*Flashback Article: Jars of Disco? Campus Life-Music, 2/96
*Prayer Requests
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*New Album News!
For the past couple of months Jars have been VERY busy recording with producer Dennis Herring on their third CD from Essential Records! Herring is noted for his work with Cracker, Innocence Mission, and most recently Counting Crows. In addition, the Counting Crows drummer is doing session work in the studio for the new Jars album. Word is: the demos from the sessions are INCREDIBLE! Song titles we can mention are Famous Last Words and Collide. Keep a listen for some new songs to be performed this summer at the festivals! Target date for album release is currently November 9, 1999.
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*Fall Tour
Jars' management has announced that one of the bands joining Jars on tour in the fall will be Chasing Furies! Chasing Furies released their first CD, With Abandon, in February on Sparrow Records. Crediting musical influences from Radiohead to Jonatha Brooke, the brother and two sister trio's sound has been described as boldly convicting, edgy and moderately reminiscent of early Sixpence None the Richer. With Jars' fall tour line up still under construction, check in with jarsofclay.com for more info as it unfolds!
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*More News & Updates:
><> As of May 4, 1999, Jars of Clay's second album, Much Afraid, was certified Platinum, signifying 1,000,000 copies sold!! This is just shy of 18 months after the album was released in Sept. 1997. With Jars' self-titled album now over 2,000,000 in sales, Jars have much to be thankful for. Thanks to you, their friends and fans, for continuing to support Jars in their ministry!
><> Our prayers and good wishes go with Scott Savage as he leaves. Joe and Jars' friendship and musical collaboration goes way back to the Greenville days when they were college classmates. With the summer festivals and Jars' upcoming new album... looks like Joe's in for a workout! WELCOME JOE!
><> VH1 asked Jars of Clay to headline their kick-off concert for VH1's Rock Across America May 9th in Memphis, TN. Rock Across America features outdoor concert stops all over the US spotlighting different artists in each region. Pray for Jars as God continues to open up new avenues for their ministry.
><> BMG/Windham Hill Records included Jars' instrumental cut, Wicker Baskets, on their recent release, Sounds of Wood and Steel Vol. 2. Jars joins artists Loggins and Messina, Richie Sambora and others in a New Age medley of acoustic guitars. Wicker Baskets was first featured on the 1997 Silvertone/Essential EP release of Drummer Boy.
><> If you'd been channel surfing on TV in April, you may have caught Flood playing in the background of the commercial for NBC's miniseries Noah's Ark. Even though Jars were in NO way involved in the screen play nor gave personal permission for the song to be used, we pray that God could use this opportunity to rekindle the song's message of hope and salvation in Christ.
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* Jars of Clay Fan Club!
"Stringtown" the multimedia LIVE 2 CD set from the Jars of Clay Fan Club, is in the final stages before shipment! REALLY!!! We appreciaould also include the limited edition print and concert meet and greet pass! Stringtown is ONLY available through the Jars of Clay Fan Club, so if you haven't signed up yet... there's no better time than NOW! Just go to www.jarsofclay.com and click on "join the fan club." Jars appreciate all of your interest and support!
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*Concert Review: Agape Festival 5/1/99 Greenville, IL
From: calehman@students.uiuc.edu (Jars Discussion Zone)
I was only able to see Third Day and the Jars at the Agape festival, but I can tell you about what I saw. Third Day really rocked, they closed their set with a very satisfying, true to the original version of "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynrd Skynrd.
Ok, Ok, you want to know about the jars, right? I have to say that musically, they were very tight, the harmonies were the best I've heard from them in quite a while. The way the sound was mixed, you could hear Charlie really well and sometimes you could even hear Matt's vocals (usually they have him almost mixed out). The soundboard people at Agape get props, they really worked hard at turning up the levels for the appropriate instruments during their solos, and the vocals were the clearest I've ever heard them. With all that in mind, you might be surprised to know that I was pretty disappointed with the Jars' performance. I thought they would try out a bunch of new songs, but they only did one new, called "Famous Last Words." I really liked the new one, had some great acoustic guitar work from Matt_and_Steve (almost all of the _Much Afraid_ stuff featured Matt on Acoustic and Steve on Electric). The most interesting thing about the new song was the awesome keyboard work by Charlie! That's the first jars song I can think of that features a keyboard solo! Charlie is such a talent on the keys (and the accordion!). Another thing that disappointed me was the set list was _exactly_the same as the Tour 101 shows other than "Famous Last Words" instead of "Grace", except they had less time to play than Tour 101, so we didn't get any "Dukes of Hazzard" or "Country Roads" or "Coffee Song" or anything like that.
Here's the set list in case you missed Tour 101:
Acoustic intro:
Like a Child
Worlds Apart
Love Song For a Savior
Liquid (w/ chants and funky programming intro)
Five Candles (w/ punk rock ending)
Famous Last Words
Truce
Overjoyed
Everything in Between
Frail
Crazy Times
No Matter What
Fade To Grey
4:7
Encore:
Flood
Hymn (acoustic)
Dan had the same jokes he used during Tour 101, and a lot of the time it was the exact same dialogue they used for Tour 101. I talked to Andy Lowell, and he said that they've had like no time to rehearse for concerts since they've been busy in the studio, so I guess I can't criticize too much. I still love the jars, and think they put on a great live show, but for more new stuff and work up a new set list.
Some cool things I noticed:
Matt was playing 12-string guitar on a bunch of the songs, starting with "Overjoyed" I think. I can't remember if he'd played 12-string in concerts before this one, but I don't remember him having one with him at shows.
The jars have a new drummer! I have no idea what happened to Scott Savage, but I guess he's no longer with the jars. Their new drummer is, according to Dan at the concert, "an old friend of theirs." His name is Joe Porter for anyone who's interested.
Dan says right before "Flood": "Nice weather we're having." i thought that was kind of funny.
Did anyone get a chance to talk to the jars afterwards? I was going to, but the line for the fan tent was way too long, and I didn't get home until almost 2am as it was, so there was no way I was going to wait.
Anyways, i'm looking forward to seeing them again this summer at Cornerstone. The jars still rock, but I hope to hear some more new stuff from them soon.
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Concert Review: Shepherd's Bush Empire 5/26/99 London, UK
From: jarsfreak@hotmail.com
Yesterday I went to Jars' concert in London here's the review: I turned up 2 hours early with my sis, there weren't many people there. We figured they wouldn't have a great turnout as they haven't had the huge promotion in the secular scene over here like sixpence have. Anyway to my surprise a multitude of Americans all turned up, those who were studying in London and those on Holiday. You people were so friendly. We went in and I was hoping the opening act would maybe be sixpence or switchfoot as they are both in the UK. But no it was some unsigned UK indie band called Dufft. Why?? I didn't think much of them but you Americans who were there seemed to like them.
Then Jars Of Clay came out, I was right at the front. The four members lined up with Steve and Matt on acoustics and Charlie on accordion. They did a collaboration of some songs from their first album. They did Faith like a Child, Worlds Apart and Love Song For A Savior. Then they took their places with Steve now with an electric and Charlie on the keyboards, plus their new drummer and bassist. They played a rockier version of Liquid, it was great, then I think it was 5 Candles, then Truce, I loved this live, it was awesome. Dan then tried to do some preaching about what the song Overjoyed meant but gave up and joked he was more of a musician than a preacher. Then I think Dan introduced the band a bit like how dc Talk do. Then they did Everything In Between, this similar to Nirvana, and then a new one - Famous Last Words. This sounded really good but quite poppy. Then they did Frail. I couldn't imagine this live but it sounded real cool. They didn't have the instrumentation at the start but did at the end of the song. Other Songs were The Beach Boys Song, was it called Everything But The Girl (?), Fade To Grey, this was real awesome, then Crazy Times another huge favorite. I think this was where they left the ongs!!! Artists performing before Jars were Out of Eden, Phil Keaggy (amazing!), Jaci Velasquez, and 4Him.
The set list was close to recent reviews but allowed for a few neat surprises!! Their acoustic opening closely followed Tour 101 with Like a Child, Worlds Apart and Love Song for a Savior. Charlie's accordion solo must have really touched the crowd down front, because right after a group of people stood up and cheered!
Matt is now sporting this cool narrow goatee and wearing glasses.
Liquid began the regular set with Steve adding a few new maneuvers on the electric solo and was followed by Five Candles! There is really no song I can compare Famous Last Words with. Steve's electric (white Gibson) intro flows into Charlie's keyboards on the second verse with Steve and Charlie kind of taking turns. To me lyrically, it sounds like an apology with a plea for second chances... a moderate rocker with lots of harmony and cool keyboard bridge. Near the end, the attention switches to Steve's voice blending in strong on the last few lines. He sings GREAT!
Truce followed, then Dan's introduction to Overjoyed. I know we've talked about what he says, but for any skeptics, I think I got most of it down. I think it's worth repeating.
... Dan: I've spent a lot of time lately trying to figure out where our worth comes from... from the things we do? the things we own? or the people that we know? And I realize none of these things mean much in the scope of eternity. But Jesus seems to know what we are worth. He knows us, but we don't seem to know him too well. The Christ that truly loves us, not too many people really know. But now, I think I truly understand what it means to be "overjoyed" by a God that loves us so well...
I noticed Matt was playing the 12 string in a lot of songs. Next Everything In Between. And real blessing for me was Frail! I hadn't heard it live since the Bubblemaker's Dream tour, so I got chills! :) The way Dan's stretches that song live is incredible. Did I mention that I can't wait for it on Stringtown?? :) Frail was also spotlighted with a solo from both Steve and Charlie, with Joe Porter adding a lot of emotion on drums!
Crazy Times is always cool with Steve's shifty eye contact with the audience during his guitar solo. Next they brought back the cover of Badfingers's No Matter What which even brought the 4Him fans to their feet!! ;) I really took notice of Joe Porter. He really seems to be getting into the Jars thing by now. He and Aaron share a lot of eye contact and really visually and musically seem to communicate well together. Next came Fade to Grey and 4:7.
The Encore!
OK, GREAT surprise song that I don't think they've ever done before... A cover of The Steve Miller Band's "Swingtown"! No I didn't say Stringtown, but Swingtown!!! You've got to hear this song!! It starts with guitar intro and Jars gave the crowd a good few minutes to learn the extended ooooh, oooh, ooooh, oooh part. (hard to describe :) It has a great beat, great audience participation, and Steve singing part of the song SOLO!!! yeah! So cool! Then of course came FLOOD and then the best Hymn I've ever heard in my life! Festivals are hot in more ways than one!
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*Concert Review: Cornerstone Festival 7/3/99 Bushnell, IL
From: calehman@students.uiuc.edu
Well I just got back from Cornerstone and I couldn't wait to tell you guys about seeing the jars there! It was the 5th time I've seen the Jars in concert and this was hands down the best concert I've ever heard from them. My roommate went as far as to say that it was the best concert he'd ever been to! The conditions were just right that day for a fantastic Jars concert. I ran into Charlie earlier in the day backstage in the tent where Silage was playing and talked to him for quite a while. He really is a great guy, very genuine and definitely not spoiled by success. I talked with him about a3, which he said doesn't have a name yet. He said that they're redoing "No one loves me like you" for a3, but "We'll Fly Farther" he said is "rotting away in the vaults somewhere" and probably will never make it out. He also said that "Blame" just never worked in the studio, even though he really likes the song and said that "there's just something cool about it", but that one's not going to be on a3 either. I told him I really enjoyed "Collide" from the Live at the Lambs broadcast, and he said that they might do that one that night (and they did!). Speaking of the new album, for those who are wondering, there were stickers up all over Cornerstone that said "Jars of Clay, the new record releases November 9th, 1999." (I took one as a souvenir!) A boy that was talking to Charlie after I talked to him asked Charlie where Steve was and he said that Steve was over by the main stage playing soccer. I thought it was cool the way the jars hung out with everyone at the fest even though the heat index was 105 degrees most of the day.
What a beautiful summer night for a concert it was, and there were tons of people there covering the hill and almost filling the pit area. Burlap to Cashmere played a great show right before the jars on the main stage. The Jars concert was a virtual cornucopia of all of the tracks they've been performing in concert lately (and then some!) There were some surprises, but mostly the same tunes they've been playing this summer. The acoustic medley was nicely done to open the show, and then came the redone "Liquid." They continue to add effects and small touches to their arrangement of "Liquid", and it was a very powerful and rockin' opener. Dan ran around the stage and listened to each of the band members play during the song, and Steve jumped up on the drum stage and jammed with Dan and Joe Porter. "Famous Last Words" sounds a little different than when they first performed it this year at Agape, as Steve is now playing electric instead of acoustic on this one, and the background vocals have changed and have been expanded upon. One of the surprises of the night was "Collide"... man, what a great song. The song builds intensity and just explodes at the end! Charlie's keyboard playing in this song is fantastic! "Everything in Between" was great also, my roommate said that it was his favorite song of the show. Dan was in good humor last night, and Steve... Steve was hilarious and really excited about the show. Dan did his best Barry White imitation to introduce Matt Odmark, and Steve was making comments throughout the intro. After Dan introduced Aaron, Steve shouted out "Bloomington- Normal's own!", which I got a kick out of since I'm from Bloomington- Normal. When Dan introduced Steve, Steve shouted out "Decatur Illinois' own!", and proceeded to make comments about it being the pride of the prairie which was a funny comment even if it wasn't meant to be ;-) Stephen Mason made some comments about how the jars are a little bit rock, and a little bit country, but they were mostly water (Dan said 90% water). Steve was bouncing all over the stage playing during the whole show, and after he chewed his guitar in the "Crazy Times" solo he took a backwards dive into the crowd and played some more while crowd surfing! He jumped in again during "4:7" also. One of the security guys came to help him out of the crowd but he waved him off... he wanted to hang out with them longer! He also let the crowd play his guitar for a couple seconds at the end of "4:7". It was so cool to see the band so into the show and being so cool with the crowd. They came back on for "Flood"... or so we thought! They did "Swingtown"! I agree with Libby, this is a great audience participation song, and it was cool to hear Steve sing a verse of the song. Then of course "Flood" came, and we rushed the stage and jumped and screamed and now I'm hoarse. After "Flood", they did "Hymn", and Dan talked about how the song was about grace and love and he wanted us to "sing it to God." And finally... Dan says "Ok, one more." and they did "Needful Hands" acoustic! This is the mystery song from Live at the Lambs, as Steve said someone there requested it and they didn't really know it, but they played it anyway. So they tried it again, and it was beautiful. A very worshipful spirit fell over the crowd and many people were lifting up needful hands. What an amazing show, we were all blown away by such a great concert. I don't know if they could ever top that one, at least not anytime soon. The set list follows if anyone is interested.
Chris
Like A Child
Worlds Apart
Love Song for a Savior
Liquid
Five Candles
Famous Last Words
Truce
Collide
Everything in Between
Frail
Band Intro
Crazy Times
No Matter What
Fade to Grey
4:7
Encore:
Swingtown
Flood
Hymn
Needful Hands
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*WOW 99 Bio-Video with Jars of Clay (a viewer interpretation)
The video starts with the clip from the first Flood video with Dan kneeling in the mud and spreading mud all over his face.
JARS OF CLAY
Charlie: When I initially read II Corinthians 4:7, "Since we have this treasure in jars of clay to show this all surpassing power is from God and not from us," I liked the sound of "Jars of Clay." I hadn't really thought too much about the analogy and what it really meant. So we did a Bible study on that and were really just blown away by the image of this fragile jar of clay representing mankind, and at the same time God chooses to entrust His spirit in us when we're so broken.
THEME
Charlie: I think if there is a theme or just one thing we hold on to is just loving whatever people are placed around us; doing our best to love them... whatever that means, whether it's being at a modern rock radio station or being at a church or whatever kind of situation we're put in. Hopefully, we'll respect and love the people around us. And I think we've found that communicates a lot more than trying to be preachy with people.
CROSSOVER
Steve (in Curious George shirt): When Flood hit modern rock stations and there were people saying, "Why is your song on a secular station?" "Why are you playing in that place where they serve alcohol?" We were new, we were green, we didn't know much and now people were kind of questioning our stance on stuff. Nothing had changed; it's just our audience had gotten broader which funnily enough is the Great Commission... to go out into the world, and that's what we were getting the opportunity to do and yet we immediately met a lot of adversity from Christian groups. And that was tough cause we like to keep everybody happy and we realized, at that point, we couldn't. And we just had to follow in faith that that's where we were supposed to be.
LABELS
Dan: There can be a lot of biases toward Christian music... and a lot of people that aren't familiar with Christianity or only have a negative view of it, will not listen to our music if they knew that it had that label on it. It kind of is more of a benefit for them not to know in some respects. I mean the message is the same, but to not have that initial label I think is positive, because then they're getting an opportunity to listen to it without prejudice.
PEOPLE
Dan: We love going out signing autographs and just hanging out with people and that I think, from the beginning of our band was always a tool to let people know we were human.
Scene change (Jars are sitting in chairs in a parking lot [possibly outside a venue]. Horn blows in the background---)
Dan waves and yells: "We'll be there in a minute!"
Steve: "Well stated!"
In the background walks this guy dressed up like Bob the Tomato
Dan: "Bob the Tomato, ladies and gentlemen!"
Country music comes blaring out of a passing car window. Steve starts playing air guitar to the music and says, "The cows can program the VCR!"
The rest of the guys go "anh...anh" as if jokingly dismissing the next thought.
Matt: What was the question?? :)
Scene change--- (A girl approaches them in the parking lot)
"It's good to see you, I'm Stacey, and this is like my seventh concert. I was at the Dove Awards." Jars remember her and are glad to see her. She shows them a photograph album of pictures she has taken at other Jars concerts.
Voice over/back to interview
Dan: It gives them (fans) a chance to see that what they perceive you as up on stage is probably very different than what you are. None of us would probably sit here and say that we're great musicians or great song writers or any of that kind of thing or by any means, great Christians, so it would be hard for us to be able to stand up in the spotlight and accept that kind of an impression.
SUCCESS
Matt: God's grace has been very rich for us. In the midst of four guys who definitely don't deserve any of what we've received and definitely haven't gotten here because we've figured out how to do it right. God has been willing to forgive us and stick by us.
MINISTRY
Dan: We travel quite a bit with a lot of non-Christians, a lot of our crew are not Christians. We've had various different opening acts that have been non-Christians and I really feel like our ministry is very much to our crew, to the bands that we're on tour with, to the people that we spend more than just an hour and a half with... people that we go out and are with every day, we're working with, we're playing with. Those are the people that see our lifestyle and can either choose to say, "Well tell us about this Jesus that you guys talk about. Tell us about why you do the things that you do." When we're able to have relationships with people that draw them into that, and draw them into curiosity or wanting to know what we're about, that's really our ministry and that's happened quite a bit with a lot of the opening bands that we've had.
The true issue is how much of Christianity are we sharing in love, how much of Christianity are we showing people in our lifestyle rather than just in our boldness of our words.
I believe that there's a boldness that you can have in simply living a Christian life, that has nothing to do with what you say. Unfortunately, boldness is equated with our words and not our actions now a days.
REFUGE
Matt: The more recognizable you are, the less places you have to hold up or refuel, or to take refuge.
Dan: The media attention, however important, can also be problematic at times and so I think the less you can be drawing your entire family into that, probably the better.
Matt: Part of being a good steward of our lives is to guard and protect those few places that we have left; knowing that gradually the media, if we were to let them, would deplete any source of refuge that we had.
BELIEF
Steve: It wasn't, I'd say honestly, until college that I really grasped the foundations of my faith. You just take the Bible as the Word of God and you never understand there were meetings in Europe to decide the canonization of scripture and what was going to be what. Genesis wasn't the first book of the Bible written?? Stuff like that just overwhelms a person who just never thought of it.
Dan: It's in college where you are confronted with many other religions. You're confronted with other people's ideas beyond that of your family circle. That's what makes your faith your own, is when you start doubting and questioning it, and you have to start counting on faith a bit. College is a time where you really do start to intellectualize a lot of your beliefs and you start trying to put example with those. And so I think that's always a time you're going to doubt at some level... and should.
We know Christianity to be what it is and we know Jesus to be who He is. We can test all we want and we can doubt all we want. And we can try to figure it out as much as we want. Eventually we're going to come to the realization that Jesus is true... that the story is true!
ROLE MODELS
Stacey Patterson (the girl who talked to Jars in the parking lot): The lyrics and everything to their songs... they just encourage me so much with my relationship with God and stuff. It helps me and encourages me to be a better Christian.
Dan: When you're on stage and you're in the spotlight in any arena, you become a role model. And you really do have a choice. You can either leave people in a positive way or be a negative role model. I think a lot of people choose to not accept that responsibility when they're on stage. They just feel like they're having fun doing music or something like that and I think that's kind of a crock. You have to accept the responsibilities that go along with that. It's important to us.
Steve: We're always going to be in process till the day that we die. And in my human-ness, I would love, at some point, to say that I have arrived or that I feel like I'm really in a good place and that I'll be there for a long time. But that's just not what the spiritual walk is about. Our relationship with God is not that. It's to really reveal His greatness and our destitute condition. (laughs)
Dan: I know people will not understand fully where we come from and what our ministry calling is... That's why it's our calling and not theirs. So I supposed we have to press on and do what we do.
(The whole time the video runs, there is a potters wheel shown off and on, with a potter molding a jar of clay. At the end of the "Onward" segment, you see the potter's hands crush the clay jar and begin again... as if the mission is not over... just ongoing!)
**WOW 1999 Bio Videos, 1998 EMI Christian Music Group, Inc. Word Entertainment, Inc., Provident Music Group. Marketed by Sparrow Records. Distributed by Chordant Distribution Group.
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*Jars of Clay and the Goat's Head Club
by Mike Nappa
Feature article-Crosswalk.com 1999
"We try to make people think about Christ. They're having an encounter with Christianity that isn't what they've believed for so long. It isn't what they've been running away from. It's really different and in many ways is very appealing to them." --Dan Haseltine
They had second thoughts when they saw the bouncer standing at the door wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed, "666 is my favorite number." Still, the four guys in Jars of Clay (Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell, and Matt Odmark) had made a commitment to play in this San Francisco club, and they intended to keep it. Until they walked inside, about an hour before midnight, and saw a big goat's head right above the stage. Sometimes a ritualistic symbol of sacrifice, the goat's head has often been adopted as a freak display of rock-n-roll rebellion.
They laugh about it now, but at the time they weren't sure how to react. Haseltine says, "We were all pretty naive to the club scene. We didn't know what to expect... [The goat's head] showed us that this is not a place where Christians frequent! I think we were all really scared about how people were going to react to what we were doing and things we were singing."
Undaunted, they guys began their set. Then, barely into the first song, a fight broke out in the bar. Lowell jokes, "I threw a keyboard at this guy...." before Haseltine resumes the story.
"By the end of the set, the transformation that took place from the beginning of the show to the end of the show was so obvious," he says. "From our perspective, we could watch the faces turn from very stone cold, to transparent. It was intense that night."
Mason picks up, "We were so afraid and there were so many variables involved. It was obvious this was one of those places where God wanted us to trust Him...We were kind of ill at ease because we knew we were right there where the Word and the world were colliding and we were watching it happen."
So how did four then-single guys (all are now married) making Christian music wind up at a club like this in the first place? It all started in 1993 when the guys got together at Greenville College and formed the band. Then, they won the Gospel Music Association's Spotlight talent competition in 1994, and by 1996 had toured with PFR and Michael W. Smith , topped both Christian music and mainstream music charts, and even graced the cover of Christian Single magazine.
Two years ago, Haseltine told CS, "Sometimes I wish it [fame] were happening to someone else, because it would be much easier to have a ministry in a local church where you don't have to deal with fans singing, 'I want to fall in love with you' to me instead of to God. That's infuriating."
Over the past two years, Jars of Clay has had a few more infuriating experiences as well. Their determination to reach out to non-Christian audiences by playing venues like the Goat's Head Club (the band's nickname for that establishment) and by including non-Christian bands on stage with them has not been without criticism.
Mason reports that a couple of years ago, one Christian radio station refused to air announcements that Jars of Clay was coming in concert. "They chose not to tell people because we were playing in a theater... [and] we had two other bands on the bill that were opening that weren't Christian. So it was really frustrating."
The band was also subjected to rumors that they'd given up their Christianity, were smoking pot on stage, and drinking alcohol. What hurt most wasn't so much the false accusations, but that those rumors were started in the church.
Masons sighs, "We felt abandoned [at times] by some groups of Christians because of what we were feeling called to do. Felt like we were hanging in the air." He shrugs, "It was a frustrating time."
In spite of that, Jars of Clay has remained determined to follow their calling. Says Mason, "We've grown in our excitement for more people to hear our message."
Haseltine agrees saying, "We try to make people think about Christ. They're having an encounter with Christianity that isn't what they've believed for so long. It isn't what they've been running away from. It's really different and in many ways is very appealing to them." "It's bridge-building. We're ground-softeners," adds Mason.
Then Odmark smiles as he remembers a story of one teenager who got hold of their debut album, Jars of Clay . It so piqued his curiosity in the gospel, he pulled a Christian friend out of a party just so he could hear how to give his life to Jesus.
Odmark finishes up by saying, "It was really encouraging to hear there are at least a few stories like that."
And it's that kind of encouragement that makes Jars of Clay still willing to risk a concert at the Goat's Head Club.
*Article found http://music.crosswalk.com/featureitem/0,1307,147,00.htm
Feature article- www.crosswalk.com Music-crosswalk.com 1999
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*Flashback Article: Jars of Disco? Campus Life-Music 2/96
MUSIC: Jars of Disco?
What's a nice, serious folk-rock band like this doing "stuck" in the '70s?
interview by Chris Lutes
Seems like Jars of Clay is everywhere these days.
Like the concert scene: The folk-rock band with a modern rock edge has crisscrossed the country performing with PFR and, most recently, with Michael W. Smith.
And the pop charts: Known for thoughtful, well-crafted lyrics about life and faith, JOC has produced such radio hits as "Flood," "Love Song for a Savior" and "Like a Child." The band's self-titled debut has spent several months on Billboard's Top Contemporary Christian chart.
And even cyberspace: Along with their own World Wide Web site on the Internet, the Jar guys communicate regularly with fans (call 'em Jar Heads) through a very popular folder in Yakety Yak, Campus Life's message board on America Online. (Jars' e-mail address is clayjars@aol.com.)
And all this has taken place in such a short time. JOC formed in '93, when three of the guys were still students at Greenville College (IL). The band's hot-selling debut released less than a year ago.
Campus Life caught up with the guys awhile back and asked them a few questions ...
WHEN I LISTEN TO YOUR LYRICS, I THINK, MAN, THESE GUYS ARE SERIOUS...
Steve Mason (guitar and bass): Well, we're really intensely laid back.
INTENSELY LAID BACK? WHAT'S THAT MEAN?
Steve: It means, uhh... Matt can take this one.
Matt Odmark (guitar): Yeah, we're, uhh...
OK, SO YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN IT. THEN TELL US WHAT INTENSELY LAID-BACK GUYS LIKE YOU DO FOR FUN.
Dan Haseltine (vocals): We have twisted fun.
AND WHAT'S THAT MEAN?
Dan: We have '70s parties.
POLYESTER AND EVERYTHING?
Steve: Real disco.
Dan: Yeah, we're definitely into the "Staying Alive" groove.
OK, LET'S GET OFF THAT "TWISTED FUN" STUFF. HOW'D THIS BAND GET STARTED?
Dan: Charlie, Steve and I met at Greenville College. Charlie and I were roommates. We had the coolest room. And we even wallpapered the bathroom.
YOU WALLPAPERED THE DORM BATHROOM?
Dan: We went down to the drama department and found this old wallpaper from the '70s. It had these huge fluorescent orange and pastel flowers. So we papered the dorm bathroom with it. We attached the paper to the wall with duct tape. There you go, just a little more Jars craziness.
UHH, THANKS. OK, SO THREE OF YOU GOT TOGETHER AT GREENVILLE. WHERE'S MATT COME IN?
Mattd!
OK, GUYS, I THINK YOU'VE PROVEN THERE IS A GOOFY SIDE TO JARS. LET'S TRY TO GET SERIOUS. WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'VE BEEN LEARNING LATELY?
Steve: I think we are all learning the importance of just communicating better with each other. As we get to know each other even better, the surface stuff, the facade, keeps getting thinner and thinner. You begin to see the real person underneath. And sometimes that person isn't very likable. So we gotta talk honestly and openly with each other. And there are times we just need to give each other some more space.
Matt: I think God has been showing me that my friendship with these guys is more important than the band we're in. This really was brought home to me as we were working on the album. We got so frustrated with each other.
Dan: We all had different ideas about how the album should be done. We had some pretty intense fights about that, too. Eventually, though, we had to say our friendship really was more important than the album. So lay
1995 Christianity Today, Inc./CAMPUS LIFE Magazine
Courtesy of Christianity Online, AOL
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*Prayer Requests:
From: chicken_hawk@mailcity.com (Jars Discussion Zone)
My 16 year old sister and five of her friends got in a really bad car accident today...or yesterday whatever. And All six kids are badly injured, and one boy has a broken back and he might be paralyzed. My Prayers go out to this boy and His family, along with everyone else involved...... I just got home from the hospital and I just needed to put my thoughts on paper...I am just sick to death and I can only pray for the best...
Follow-up prayer request:
I just wanted To thank all of you for your prayers for my sister and her friends....My Sister went in to surgery last night and Everything is fine now.... They took like 2 feet of her small intestines out and did some other stuff but she will be fine....The other boy that they thought might be paralyzed...well he is....but only for the waist down....I have spent some time with his family and my heart bleeds for them so bad. It is a blessing that the all are living though...I went and saw the car yesterday, and now I know why the doctors all said that if they did not wear their seatbelts they would all be dead.....because the car looks like a box of metal and glass, so please when you all get in your cars PUT ON YOUR SEATBELT, they REALLY do save lives.....thanks again....and God Bless
From: arabianhorse@ccnmail.com
Please pray for my church, Coquina, as we wait eagerly to find out what God's going to do next in our lives. We've been without a pastor for almost a year, since our last one left to plant a church in Georgia, but now we think we might have finally found the right guy. He's coming this Sunday, and everyone is excited, but at the same time a bit tense: we don't know if he'll WANT to be our pastor for sure, we don't know that WE'LL want him for sure, but we do know that whatever God's wants done will be done.
From: Artynme@aol.com (Jars Discussion Zone)
i recently had an object identified as a *cyst*, on my arm, well, i had that removed last wednesday, and it turned out to be a *benign* tumor, well, today i found another lump next to where the stitches from the other one are. so tomorrow i'm going to get an appointment made for.. wel.. as soon as i can, anyways, i'm just asking if you'd pray for me, cuz i (maybe some of you remember this) have a friend who had lumps identified as benign 2 times, and THEN it was cancer...
From: ccloak@ucla.edu (CHRISTINE CAROL CLOAK)
Next month I will be going in for brain surgery (for the second time) I know everything will work out as God has planned but my parents are not saved and they are very worried. Please pray that God may use this experience to soften their hearts and that He helps me to do and say what will help them understand and teach them to trust in and accept the love of Jesus. Thank You
Christine C Cloak
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