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. 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. "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. 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. The album sold well and like its predecessor, enjoyed crossover success. The album went on to earn a
Grammy for "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album". The album has since earned
platinum certification by the RIAA. The record was their third to crossover into the mainstream, "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. 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. 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. 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 Hour b-sides, and a cover of
Adam Again's "Dig". 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). Their next album,
Good Monsters, was released on September 5, 2006, and was labeled by Jars of Clay "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". 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. 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. 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.
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. The second single off the album is "Heaven". The song "Hero" was featured on a trailer for NBC's
Kings.
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. 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. The new album was released on August 27, 2013, and features twelve tracks. 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. On June 17, 2013, the band released a free download of the song "Inland" through
Rolling Stones website. The first single off of the album, "After the Fight", was released on June 18. 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. In 2022, they contributed a track to ''There's a Rainbow Somewhere'', a tribute album to
Randy Stonehill. == Blood: Water Mission ==