Artist:Jars of Clay
Song:Flood
Album:Greatest Hits
The CCM band Jars of Clay crossed over to pop and scored a top forty hit with the 1995 debut single Flood. That was enough to keep them going for many years. They have been very successful on the Christian charts. Jars of Clay was formed in the early 90s at Greenville College in Greenville, IL. It's run by the Methodist church. It looks like they were all taking music classes. Pianist Charlie Lowell noticed that lead singer Dan Haseltine was wearing a Toad the Wet Sprocket shirt and they started writing songs together for class. Guitarist Matt Odmark joined them to play local coffee houses. They performed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to the tune of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. After winning a Gospel Music Association talent contest, they started getting calls from record labels. They decided to move to Nashville. Guitarist Matt Bronlewee decided to stay in school. Odmark and Stephen Mason replaced him. Jars of Clay has never had a permanent drummer. They hire drummers for touring. The name Jars of Clay is from a bible verse. Jars of Clay signed with Sony's CCM label Essential. The band wrote and produced most of the 1995 album Jars of Clay themselves. Flood was one of two songs produced by Adrian Belew of King Crimson. It reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Christian charts. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. Why did they cross over to pop? I don't think listeners knew they were CCM. They look like just another alternative music band in the video. Jars of Clay continued to have success mostly on the Christian charts. They left Essential in 2007 to start their own label Gray Matters with Nettwerk distribution. That's when Sony released this comp. They last recorded in 2014. They don't seem to be active right now. Haseltine recently released a single with the band The River Cryers. Odmark owns a barber shop. Here's the video for Flood by Jars of Clay.
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