CONTENTS:
*Impromptu FM Appearances
*Radio Airplay
*Liquid Chant Deciphered
*Video Airplay
*Liquid Secular Airplay
*Secular Airplay Press Release
*Web site update
*Jars Discussion Folders
*Concert Review: Minneapolis 2/17/96
*Concert Review: Mama Kins Showcase, Boston 3/11/96
*Prayer Requests
*Press Cover

*Impromptu FM Appearances:
Jars have been visiting many secular radio stations in an effort to promote the Gospel, and often have been blessing the stations/listeners with live acoustic music. Listen for these on-air performances and watch for surprise industry showcases and in-store acoustic sets, especially on the west coast this week! Here's a submission regarding these surprises:

From: gt5080d@prism.gatech.edu (Jeff Akins)
Hey everybody!
I've also heard JoC a lot here in Atlanta on 99X (again, the big alternative rock station here). First I got excited when they started playing "Flood" a lot and the DJ's were talking about how many requests they were getting. Then, about a week later, I turned on the radio and heard them playing "Liquid." When the song was over, the DJ gave the name of the band/song, and then said she had them in the studio! And they all had their guitars and played "Flood" right there, and everyone in the background was obviously impressed. So she talked to them for a few minutes, and asked where in the world they had gotten their name. (I was quivering with excitement by this point!) So they quoted II Cor. 4:7 and explained it a little. That was sooo cool!! Probably not what she was expecting--I don't know. But I think that's the key; getting on secular stations is a great opportunity--as long as the guys keep the right focus, this can be a HUGE witness! And one other thing...it's just awesome to see everyone talking on this newsletter and other related stuff on the Web and just everywhere. Big things can happen with this kind of enthusiasm for the Lord! Keep it up!!!
Your brother in Christ,
Jeff Akins

*Radio Airplay:
Thanks to all of you who have called your station to request Flood- it worked!!
Flood is being played on many too many secular stations to be listed here. It has also recently been remixed by producer Adrian Belew (perhaps a more "grungy" version for the alternative market). I haven't heard this yet but listen for it on your stations. The original version will still be played, especially on adult alternative stations. The next official release will be Liquid.
Essential continues to release songs off the Jars album for Christian radio. Worlds Apart has just been released for adult/pop-oriented stations. The b-side is Liquid and will perhaps also be played. Don't forget to call these stations to request it, as they are the ones who played Jars enough to get them the recognition they needed.

I have the answer to your Liquid Gregorian Chant question. See, I am a music student at the Ohio State University, and here's the story. The chant is part of a Catholic Easter Mass written in the 12th century, and attributed to Wipo of Burgundy. It comes in the part of the mass known as the Sequence, and the text "Agnus redempti oves, Christus innocens patri" translates into "The Lamb has redeemed us, Christ (who is) blameless in the (eyes of the) Father." The phrase is incomplete and fragmented because the monks finish the sentence and clean up their grammar in the next line or two, but that is the basic gist of the chant.

*Video Airplay:
The Flood can be seen on MTV and VH-1 and has been put in moderate rotation on each station. We are not encouraging people to waste time watching for them, but wanted you all to know they are being played. The video for Liquid has been scrapped and a new one will be made shortly. The original one will appear solely on a Brentwood compilation. It was too "gothic" for the band because it was filmed partially in a cemetary and they didn't want the stigma that goes along with those images.

*Liquid secular airplay: Although it has not been released, Liquid is being played on various secular stations:
From: SikoKat@aol.com
I'm sure you've already heard about this by now, but this is just too amazing: "Liquid" is playing on Seattle's secular alternative station, 107.7 "The End"! Praise God! It has been playing about a week, although I don't listen to the station regularly =) so I don't know exaclty how heavy the rotation is. In any event, it is truly miraculous that a song with such a strong, poignant message about Christ's crucifixion would be played on the same station alongside Nine Inch Nails, Green Day and the like. God continues to work in mysterious and wonderful ways!

*Secular Airplay Press Release:
[Sent out to nationwide media to describe the Jars secular release on 2/22/96]
From: Retroman7@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 22, 1996

BRENTWOOD, TN - Essential Records/Brentwood Music recently announced details of a partnership with sister label Silvertone Records that will market the self-titles debut cd alterna-folk group Jars of Clay to mainstream consumers through extensive promotion and distribution.

According to the Director of Essential, Robert Beeson, "As the initial success of Jars of Clay began to build in the Christian market, Silvertone approached Essential with an interest in taking the album to a larger population. We didn't go out of our way to pursue a mainstream opportunity with Jars of Clay - it came to us. Silvertone firmly believes that Jars of Clay is both unique enough and talented enough to appeal to a secular audience."

Beeson continues, " This is much more than a traditional distribution agreement. Silvertone has basically added Jars of Clay to their artist roster. They plan to support them with a substantial marketing investment both financially and creatively. Even at this early level of the promotion, Jars of Clay is already seeing a more solid acceptance than any other Christian group that has tried to enter this market. We are very excited about the opportunities that this will present to the band."

"I believe truly great music and artists always transcend whatever category the industry applies to them," says Michael Tedesco, Director of Silvertone Records. "Jars of Clay is one of the most refreshing and inventive groups I've heard in many years and I am confident that these qualities will propel Jars to be one of this year's breakthrough artists."

Silvertone will be marketing Jars of Clay at the mainstream level through radio, advertising, publicity and video promotion. Initial responses to the band have been overwhelmingly positive.

Jars of Clay was #4 on the most recent Soundscan charts indicating Christian product sold through mainstream retail. The album is also currently #151 on the Billborad Magazine Top 200 Pop Albums and the #1 Alternative New Artist Album. The "Flood" video has been serviced to all major mainstream outlets and has already entered rotation on MTV's 120 Minutes alternative music show and VH-1's Crossroads show.

"We released the first single, 'Flood,' to stations on January 15th and in the first week they were the #1 Most Added Triple A (alternative) and #2 Most Added Modern Rock song in the country. Our current chart positions are #26 and climbing on Radio & Records Alternative Chart and #12 and climbing on Radio & Records Adult Alternative Chart. Jars of Clay has the potential of being the breakout artist of 1996 alternative radio," predicts John Butler, Director of Silvertone Radio Promotions.

"The excitement at radio is very real," Butler continues. "I haven't had to change a thing about who Jars of Clay is and people have still been drawn to the music on a musical and a lyrical level. Jars of Clay has a very good chance of solidifying themselves in the secular market without changing themselves at all."

In recent weeks, Essential Records has been fielding questions and calls surrounding rumors of secular tour plans. Beeson addresses the subject by saying, "Certainly mainstream touring is an option that is available to us now. I'm not at liberty to reveal any further details at this point, but there have been several discussions along those lines recently."

Rendy Lovelady, Jars of Clay's manager and spokesperson, relayed the band's feelings about the partnership. "More than anything, Jars of Clay wants to remain musicians who are impacting the world around them. They are both excited and humbled at the enormous platform they now have to share their music and their faith."

Jars of Clay originally gained attention as the winners of the Gospel Music Association's Spotlight Competion in 1994. Their debut project on Essential/Brentwood Music was released into Christian retail in May of 1995. In a little less than four months, the poject has already crossed the 100,000 unit marker, making it the fastest selling Christian debut of all time.

Jars of Clay has had three number one radio singles on Christian radio, recently received five Dove Award nominations including "New Artist of the Year" and "Group of the Year,:" and have been nominated for a Grammy for "Rock Gospel Album of the Year." They are currently on a 60-city tour with Reunion Records artist Michael W. Smith.

"One of the most exciting elements of this partnership is that Jars of Clay has been distributed into the secular market in its entirety. No changes were made in packaging, musical or lyrical content. Silvertone believed that the quality of the project was strong enough to stand against anything the mainstream market could produce and they have a real commitment to honor the spritual integrity of the band," says Brentwood Music President Jim Van Hook.

Brentwood Music, Inc was purchased in 1993 by The Zomba Group of Companies, an international conglomerate that also owns Verity Records, Jive Records, and Silvertone Records. Brentwood Music has access to Zomba's distribution system with the Bertlesmenn Music Group (BMG) into mainstream outlets, but has chosen to use it sparingly to this point.

"We have an incredible distribution system available to us through BMG and we want to project that partnership by only presenting them with products that are viable for their market," says Van Hook. "So many releases die on the shelves because they aren't backed by a sales team that understands the vision of the project. Silvertone is completely in sync with the direction that Jars of Clay is headed and wants to become a vital part of that development.

Brentwood Music is a Nashville-based music and publishing company with a wide variety of musical recordings from children's music to pop. Essential is a fully owned and operated division of Brentwood Music specializing in the youth market.

*Web site update:
The web site construction will always be underway....sorry I jumped the gun in the last newsletter and told everyone that merch and guitar chords would be there - those little details are taking a long time to iron out. We are working on merchandise still, though the guitar chords are there. We will also be adding the past AOL folder archives, the transcribed AOL chat that over 150 members took part in, interviews, articles, and more....We will also be designing an Earthen Vessels shirt for YOU in particular, that will only be available through the web site. We have some new help on graphics and other ideas for more video, sound clips, etc. so please bear with us as we do our best to provide you with the best site possible. Please keep in mind this is strictly volunteer, so between the two of us it's hard to find enough time to answer fan mail, do the newsletter, subscribe people, put new features at the site, etc. Please check the site periodically to see what's new! We love to have visitors :) Also, feel free to link your site to ours if you'd like.

*Jars Discussion Folders: There are quite a few folders that you may currently post or read other people's posts about Jars and other related topics. America Online has a "secular" folder at keyword MMC, then under rock/pop, then under general rock. We need AOL members to post in this as much as possible, as the last one we had there was deleted because there were not enough posts in one day. There are two additional AOL folders under keyword CMUS, then Message Boards. There is one under alternative rock and one under pop. *Congratulations* to sc2mang@aol.com for winning a contest we had last month! :)

People also frequently post messages in internet usenet newsgroup "rmc.music.christian". Also, we have just been told there are secular and Christian folders at Yahoo (Thanks fenugreek@aol.com!): http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Artists/ *OR* http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Genres/Religious/Christian/Artists

*Concert Review: Minneapolis 2/17/96:
From: Margaret.C.Vitalis@HealthPartners.com
It's now been a couple of weeks since I saw this concert, but I wanted to at least get a few of my thoughts down. This won't be a real formal "review" per se, but I'm sure there will be a few of those from this tour, since so many of you have seen/will be seeing it. It will be more like my rambling observations, "rambling" being the key word here.

When Jars of Clay took the stage, you would have throught they were the headliners. I've never seen such an enthusiastic response to an opening band. I know that there were a lot of people at the concert who went mainly to see Jars though, so I guess it's not too surprising. The first thing that I noticed was Dan's hair, or lack thereof. If not for his unmistakable voice, I would have scarcely recognized him! Gone are the long locks. I wasn't close enough to tell what it looked like, but it's quite short.

See...I toldja this wouldn't be a real review....I'm supposed to be talking about the concert, and here I am talking about Dan's hair. Hey...it's the first thing I noticed, OK?? ;-) Anyway.....on to the music.... They started off with "Liquid," much to my delight. It's probably my favorite song on the disc. The sound was a bit different than on the disc, but now that it's been two weeks....I can't remember what the difference was. Maybe it was just the absence of the stringed instruments. I'd been under the impression that there would be some string players there. But it sounded great. This was followed by "Faith Like A Child."

Next was "Boy On a String." This is another one of my favorites. I was really glad they did this one. This probably had the most "different" sound of all of them. I can't really put my finger on the difference here either. Again, it could have been the lack of strings. It wasn't quite so intense, and I think they took it at a slower tempo. I liked it, but in this case, I like the album version better. From here, they went right into "Love Song For a Savior."

"Worlds Apart" was next. I love the way they did this song. They took it really slowly....very deliberately. It was so effective for this song, because it really emphasized the lyrics. I think this song has some of the best lyrics on the album....you're really missing out if you don't listen closely to them. They closed with "Flood," which was pretty predictable. This song got the biggest crowd reaction of all of them, but that wasn't too surprising. It's gotten really heavy air play from Christian as well as mainstream radio in Minneapolis. I can think of at least 5 different radio stations that I've heard it played on. It was a great way to close their set.

It was a great, high-energy set. I was very happy with their set list. It was short, which was a little disappointing, especially for the people who had come specifically to see Jars of Clay, but they were an opening act, and in that situation, I think it's better to be too short than too long. After the concert was all over, my friends and I were walking back to the car and talking about the concert. One of the people with me wasn't familiar with either of the opening acts. We were disussing both of them, when she piped up with, "I liked the pottery people!" I think that sums it up! :)

*Concert Review: Mama Kin's showcase, Boston 3/11/96 Wow! It's your editor here again for another long-winded review :) Jars' management announced a last-minute industry showcase concert for Silvertone/BMG a couple days beforehand - being in Hartford within a 1.5 hr drive or so, I just had to go! "Mama Kin's" is historically a very significant club near Boston University, known for their Aerosmith concerts and other big showcases. It's a tiny place with about 10 booths and standing room for about 100 people. I arrived at 4:00pm when the guys were supposed to do the load-in, and they arrived a few minutes later. We sat around and talked until soundcheck.

Tonight would be different than any show they've done yet - a show for a strictly "mainstream" audience. This was also the first New England show ever performed. The guys were extremely tired and worn out from playing a bunch of dates in a row but after this one they could go home for two days. Soundcheck sounded somewhat garbled- they weren't used to being in a room that only held 150 people! After a quick trip to Bruegger's Bagels, we came back and hung around for a surprisingly informal "meet and greet" session with the industry folks. We then went up to the dressing room (quite a disturbing room with the pictures, etc. on the walls which I won't describe) to pray for the audience and the performance - mostly that it would touch hearts with the message of Christ.

Our prayers were answered. Jars began the show after a brief introduction, and opened with Liquid. The crowd of normally quite, serious industry people, was quite "hoppin"....despite the low class rental instruments and the feedback, it was a great start to kick off the evening. Dan had been having trouble with his voice holding up (pray for this please!) under all the touring stress, but this was not evident at all. Aaron is doing exceptionally well on the bass and is a great addition to the band. They went into Like a Child and Boy on a String, which kept the place at attention and clapping along. The sound improved drastically for these. Sinking was next up, followed by Good Coffee, Strong Coffee which they hadn't played for quite some time. Worlds Apart was the highlight of the evening in my opinion. The way it built and filled in a "wall of sound" really impressed the listeners, and the improv vocal at the end was amazing, along with the "Hallelujah's" that they sang - It was truly amazing to look around this crowd and see people singing along with this song!! This was the most cheered for until they played Flood. These songs slowed down the pace for a little while before they played Fade to Grey, which people really seemed to enjoy despite never hearing it before. The a cappella part at the end sounded harmonically perfect...

It was now time for the awaited last song, Flood. It was difficult to hear Dan's voice in the verses because of the sound in the room crammed full of people, but these people went crazy over that song...I guess because it's the only one secular radio has played and therefore heard. Following this, the band bid their goodbyes to the crowd but the crowd kept cheering for them. They had not planned an encore because it was an industry showcase but they came back out anyway and plowed through their signature verse 2 Cor. 4:7 (the hidden track on the cd). Some unexpected improvisation towards the end of the song wrapped up the night nicely and truly showcased the talent of the band. They were tired and had to leave quickly as their flight was leaving at 7:00 am the next morning, but I got to spend some time with Charlie. These guys haven't changed a bit, except perhaps to grow spiritually. They are still just as ministry-oriented as when they began in 1994, and are still striving to everything to the glory of God. Praise Him!

*Prayer Requests:
From: s009mad@nova.wright.edu (Melody Deel)
Ok, here is my prayer request. My mom has a herniated disk. Well, she is going to get neuro-laser surgery. She just went through therapy. I don't think there has been much improvement from that though. Well, to make things worse she is off work til April, (probably longer now.) So, there is no financial help whatsoever for people who are temporarily disabled, So that is another concern. BUT, one good thing is she is in good spirits and I pray that God will continue to encourage her.:)

From: ag12480@bailey2.Unibase.COM (-Dalmeny School)
Just yesterday I got my acceptance letter to go on a short term missions trip this summer. I'm really excited about the opportunity to spread the word. But I'm in need of prayer for the fundraising that needs to take place.
Thanks!
Rachel Thiessen

From: NOR29908@delta.obu.edu (Carmen Norris)
Hi,
I have a huge prayer request. There is a little two month old baby from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where I go to school at Ouachita. She's at Children's Hospital in Little Rock waiting on a heart transplant. Her name is Kiera Gray. She really needs all the prayers she can get. Good news- she's a fighter!
Thanks,
Carmen

Please pray for N2.the.z@aol.com (Christy) as she makes a decision on where to attend college and attempts to raise the money to put herself through. As of now she's planning on going to Belmont University and is praising God that she was accepted.

From: allencu@airmail.net (Jon Bourg)
To: Earthpots@aol.com
Last Tuesday night, a great uncle of mine died. His death was a great victory in his life. As his son put it at the funeral, "The Cancer is now dead, and Pop has won the fight." My Uncle Don was a Christian and is now celebrating in Glory with my Mom. As with most deaths, it is a bittersweet experience. At first you feel the sadness of losing a Loved One. Then, you realize what agreat place they have gone to. Then the hurt and grief comes. I praise God for giving Don the rest he needed and desired. I Pray that God will bless my family with comfort and faith. I am joyful that our God is a God who will not forsake us. Praise God that he is sovereign in all matters and that He has dominion over all rule and authority. Praise God for the Grace and Mercy which He gave to us.

from: Hellproof
To: Earthpots
I am a student at Wayne State University and I am going on a spring break missions project to Chicago with a christian group called Campus Crusade. This inner-city project will provide opportunities to share the gospel, tutor children, and give a burst of enthusiasm to urban ministries there. I would appreciate all the prayer I can get so that the Lord would teach me and use me as his ambassador!! Thanx!!
PIX(peace in Christ)

Robin Shields (shields@dbu.edu) would like prayer for her family as she and her sister are the only Christians in their home. Also for her internet ministry and home page that people will get involved. She could also use prayer for money for school, and a summer job that she needs to find, as well as her friend the school nurse who just passed away.

sgorin@scrtc.blue.net (Michelle Gorin)
To: earthpots@aol.com
Would everyone please pray for a friend of mine..He is a Christian, but has been praying for deliverance from a sin he's struggled with in his life since before he came to Christ, and has asked for everyone's prayers. He is really wanting a change in his life. Thank all of you for the prayers...they're so appreciated! The Lord is faithful and His grace is sufficient!! :)

From: b.simpson5@genie.com
A couple of girls in my church's youth group with me are about to have to move to a new town at the end of February, leaving all their friends behind. It's going to be really hard on them and their family as well as everyone they're leaving, but they know it's God's will. They're both very strong Christians and have been great leaders in the youth group. Please pray for them (their names are Kendy and Krystal) and their family as well as our youth group during this tough time. They'll be glad to know there's around 2500 people they've never met all over the country (maybe even the globe) praying for them.
Thanks!
- Barry

*Press Cover Welcome to our new feature! We will attempt to list as many places from the past month that we know of Jars articles appearing, so that you may read up on the lifestyles and ministry of the band. There is a great new four page cover story in Christian Single with an intense interview by miestro :) Mark Smeby. Also check out the new CMJ (March 1996, Iggy Pop cover - VERY secular!) which has a couple blurbs and Flood included on the cd single. I am told that Flood is also on a compilation cd in one of the big guitar magazines but haven't seen it or discovered which one it is. Jars are also in the Christian and secular BMG music flyers so you can obtain the discs through them if you're a member. There was a smaller feature in The Pacifian 86 (87) from 2/22/96 p.13, rated next to Gin Blossoms (with a better rating!). Please let us know if you know of any others!

END