Jars Of Clay
Band history
Formation
Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell and Justin Gabriel 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 Bronleewe joined some time later, and drummer Joseph Quevedo 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 fiance. He was replaced with Matt Odmark, Lowell’s childhood friend and fellow McQuaid Jesuit High School alum.
Jars of Clay performing at The University of Texas at Austin.
Jars of Clay & Drummer Boy EP
Jars of Clay signed with Essential Records and started recording their first full-length studio album, titled Jars of Clay. King Crimson prog-rocker Adrian Belew 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 #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #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 aside mainstream acts like Matchbox Twenty, Duncan Sheik, and Sting. This resulted in a small backlash from fundamentalist Christian groups. The band released a Christmas EP entitled Drummer Boy at the end of 1995. The EP was re-released in 1997 with a slightly different track listing on Silvertone.
Much Afraid
The year 1997 also saw the release of the band’s sophomore album, Much Afraid, which was produced by Stephen Lipson. The album sold very well and went on to earn a Grammy award for “Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album”. The album has since earned platinum certification by the RIAA. They released two music videos for this album, Crazy Times and Five Candles (You Were There).
If I Left The Zoo
In 1999, Jars of Clay released their third album, If I Left The Zoo, which was produced by Dennis Herring. The record earned the band their second Grammy award. It was during this time that touring drummer Scott Savage left the band’s touring group to play for Jaci Velasquez and was replaced by Joe Porter. Lead radio single, “Unforgetful You”, was also featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture Drive Me Crazy. “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 single released by Jars of Clay.
In 2001, the four members of the band received honorary degrees at Greenville College. However, only three of them, Haseltine, Lowell, and Mason had studied at the college before dropping out in 1994 to move to Nashville, while Odmark still received an honorary degree, despite having attended university in New York.
The Eleventh Hour
In 2002, the band self-produced and released their fourth album entitled The Eleventh Hour, which earned the band 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.
Furthermore & Who We Are Instead
The year 2003 saw the band taking a look back at their career. 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 video of this same concert would later be released via DVD on 11Live: Jars of Clay in Concert.
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.
Redemption Songs
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).
Good Monsters
In late 2005, the band announced that the writing process for a new studio 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 labeled the album 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.”
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On September 4, 2007, two albums from the band were released simultaneously. The first was a mainstream release of Live Monsters, which is an EP of live concert recordings of songs that were originally recorded for Good Monsters. The EP had been previously released through the iTunes Store and through the official Jars of Clay online store. The second album released on this date was a greatest hits album, entitled The Essential Jars of Clay, which was released through Essential/Legacy.
On April 1, 2008, Essential Records released the band’s third greatest hits album (the second in the past year), entitled Greatest Hits. Included was the new song “Love is the Protest”.
In Summer of 2007, the song ‘Good Monsters’ was featured in the pilot of the television show ‘Eli Stone’ Additionally, the song ‘Work’ was used in promotional material for the Fox Television network shows ‘Bones’ and ‘House’.
Gray Matters
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 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 Christmas album that was released on October 16, 2007, entitled Christmas Songs.
Most recently, the band’s song “Love Came Down at Christmas” was sampled in the Samuel Victor song “Stars and Angels”.
On July 29, 2008, Gray Matters Records released their latest record Closer EP exclusively through online digital music stores. It was subsequently released on CD on August 19, 2008. Closer EP included reworked versions of “Flood” (called “Flood (New Rain)) and “Love Song For A Savior (’08)” from their debut album. It also included “Prisoner of Hope”, which is not found on any other Jars album.
On December 8, 2008, the song “Closer” was featured in the 12th episode of the television show Privileged.
The Long Fall Back To Earth
Jars of Clay’s tenth studio album was released on April 21, 2009. The new record contains 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. It is entitled The Long Fall Back to Earth.
The song “Hero” was featured on a trailer for NBC’s Kings.
The Long Fall Back To Earth debuted at #29 on the Billboard 200 mainstream charts, which was Jars of Clay’s highest debut since The Eleventh Hour which debuted at #28 in 2002.
The first radio single off the album is “Two Hands”, which peaked at #6 on the Hot
The Benefits of Sound from a Water Garden
Write-up by Wendyaguiza
Serenity is but a sound away with a water garden. This wondrous piece of nature has proven, via study, as having a calming effect on the thoughts. It aids in the healing and/or rejuvenating procedure of an individual by increasing endorphin production, which helps fight tension and pain. There is nothing like getting a place outdoors where 1 can go to for each renewal and calmness of the thoughts.
The bustle that comes from living in the city can add up to our stress and, without a location to unwind, might cause us to be ill if not outright displeased with the high quality of our lives, which, in turn, leads to far more stress. Nonetheless, in a world where bills have to be paid and careers have to be built, it becomes easy to forget that there are aspects of our selves that can benefit from connecting with the simpler things in life.
There are several techniques in which you can unwind. Some of these methods may possibly need you to go somewhere else, though, and that is not usually so inexpensive and nor does it constantly jive with your ever important schedules. I’m certain it has come to many mind to have a little piece of a location of relaxation inside their own houses. A house, soon after all, shouldn’t just be a location to crash in, but a haven to renew us.
1 of the reasons why people are attracted to water, either the sea, a lake, or a pond are since they are conscious, possibly even to an unconscious level, that it soothes them. That is why individuals nowadays are beginning to have a water garden built in their own backyard.
Aside from it becoming pleasing aesthetically, it also helps to remove impurities in the air which results in fresher air within the vicinities of your own home. Of course, the fresher air you breathe, the healthier you will be. In a modernized environment such as in cities where pollution is evident, any person of any age can benefit from fresh air.
The sound that troubles from a water garden also masks seemingly harmless city noises such as visitors, sirens, construction, but collectively is much more than likely to affect in a negative way a thoughts and body wanting and in desperate want of rest.
Lastly, not only does the sound of water mask unpleasant sounds, it supplies an instant and much more agreeable sound that 1 can focus on to, and lull 1 to a far better sleep, which in turn rejuvenates the body and renews the senses.
Water Garden is a fantastic thing and it is extremely appreciated for the relaxing sound of the flowing water.
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Renew Your Friendship Bonds by staying in a Myrtle Beach Condo
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A condo at Myrtle Beach comes fully-furnished and equipped with all the facilities that a big group calls for. It has 3 bathrooms which have all the modern day equipments. One of them also comes with a Jacuzzi that adds that extra one thing to an already luxurious stay.
Pals mean loud fun and crazy antics and for this utter madness to take place, space is really essential. The living room at a Myrtle Beach condo is just the right place to let one self cost-free. The living room is spacious, giving you as a lot space for lazing about as it gives for letting your hair down. There is also a Plasma screen television and a music method for added enjoyment and entertainment.
Staying at a Myrtle Beach condo is as comfy as it gets. Right after a day of sight-seeing and water sports, 1 wishes to just lie back for a relaxing nap. The rooms are welcoming and warm and the beddings are soft and clean. Some could even want to get pleasure from a residence party and here, the spacious living lends its impeccable services.
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