Jars Of Clay consists of Haseltine Dan (lead vocals), Lowell Charlie (piano and keyboards/background vocals), Mason Stephen (electric and acoustic guitars/background vocals), Odmark Matt (acoustic guitar/background vocals).
Jars of Clay is a four-member Christian band formed at Greenville College in Greenville, IL. The band has been praised for the unique mix of pop, folk, rock, and mild electronica, as well as for the graceful way they communicate their beliefs through their music. The religious overtones, acoustic guitars, and programmed drum loops of their early work have led people to refer to them as a Christian Rock band, in spite of the band's lack of a drummer and bassist.
Jars of Clay is: Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason and Matthew Odmark. The band has no permanent drummer or bass player, though these roles are currently filled by Joe Porter and Aaron Sands in their live concerts.
The band's name is derived from the Bible verse II Corinthians 4:7 New International Version, which states: "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 the namesake for their song "Four Seven" (a hidden track on the CD release of their first album), which paraphrases the verse.
Jars of Clay was first formed at Greenville College, Illinois in the early 90s, by Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell. They had been playing and writing without thinking about an actual career in music, but more for fun ("like a dormitory acoustic group"). Second guitarist Matt Bronlewee joined some time later, and drummer Scott Savage also accompanied them in some live shows at this time.
In 1994, they 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 started selling a self-released demo called Frail. That song was originally written by Steve Mason as an audition track for a scholarship to Greenville (his submission was successful). Their performance in Nashville and their demo managed to catch the attention of 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 fiancee. He was replaced with Matt Odmark (Lowell's childhood friend).
