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Jars of Clay music biography continued...

College in 1993 by singer/songwriter Dan Haseltine and keyboardist Charlie Lowell; they soon added guitarist Stephen Mason, and later second guitarist Matt Bronleewe and drummer Scott Savage. In 1994, the band, which takes their name from a Biblical passage, entered and won a talent contest run by the Gospel Music Association in Nashville. They returned to Greenville and began selling a self-released demo CD called Frail, leading to interest from record labels and an eventual contract with Essential. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1995, and thanks to some strong radio airplay yielded the massive hit, "Flood," which crossed over into the mainstream rock and pop charts. "Flood" helped catapult sales of Jars of Clay past the double-platinum mark, an amazing showing for a Christian group. Jars of Clay released their sophomore album, Much Afraid, in 1997. The record debuted in the Top Ten on the pop charts and not only went platinum, but won a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. Though it didn't generate as much mainstream exposure as the group's first album, Much Afraid was a solid success in Christian circles, bring Jars of Clay the kind of committed faith-based audiences they had originally intended to connect with. This enthusiasm stayed with the band through 1999's If I Left the Zoo and their self-produced fourth studio album, The Eleventh Hour (2002), followed by From the Studio/From the Stage (2003), Redemption Songs (2005) and several other CCM successes.



In addition to their Grammy, Jars of Clay have garnered over 15 Dove nominations and four Dove awards. They have also received extensive radio airplay on contemporary Christian, mainstream alternative rock and alternative pop stations resulting in 10 #1 singles. Their dedication, however, remains with Christian audiences. Said Lowell of The Eleventh Hour: "This is a record that expresses God's relentless pursuit of us as human beings. It's because of His unconditional love for us that we are allowed to be exactly who we are." Fans couldn't be happier that Jars of Clay continue to create great Christian music exactly the way they do.