It could not be more appropriate that Jars of Clay is calling its current tour, "Tour 101." The three original members met in college, made a record for fun, won a national contest with it, and wound up fielding calls from record labels on the pay phone in the dorm.

Sudden fame and a recording contract put an end to their brief college careers. What has followed is stuff of musical legend for a band that takes its name from a verse in II Corinthians: "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

The first single, "Flood," from their debut, self-titled, multi-platinum album in 1995 took both Christian and mainstream radio by storm and garnered heavy rotation on MTV and VH-1. With haunting, acoustic melodies and soul-searching lyrics, chief lyricist Dan Haseltine drew on everything from childhood Sunday school songs to medieval chants to Pinocchio (and musical influences ranging from ABBA to Toad the Wet Sprocket) to tell stories of desperation, hunger for hope, and the yearning to connect with the divine.

"'Flood' gave us focus as a band," keyboards player Charlie Lowell said in a telephone interview. "It gave us passion for what we were doing. Instead of just entertaining youth groups, we were breaking down walls. It also brought on 1-1/2 years of chaos."

The "chaos" included performing more than 300 concerts, including opening three shows for rock superstar Sting. Then there were the features in Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Spin, writing original music for movie soundtracks and a Coca-Cola jingle, and an invitation to attend a songwriter's workshop at a castle in southern France.

And the issue of what to do for an encore. Their sophomore release, "Much Afraid," was as much a confession as a follow-up album.

"With the first album, there were no expectations," Lowell said. "With the second one, there was a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to. We were afraid of freaking out our fans with "Much Afraid" because we had electric guitars on it. It was different that all-acoustic sound on the first album."

By now bona fide stars in their own right, the second album also was drew on the production skills of British producer Stephen Lipson, who has worked with such artists as Sting, Annie Lenox and Simple Minds. Despite the lack of a single for mainstream radio to embrace, the album earned the band a Grammy Award for Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year, and one of the Gospel Music Association's top honors, Group of the Year.

No wonder the band is ready for something simpler on this tour. Matched with up-and-coming bands Silage and Burlap to Cashmere, they are playing college campuses in more intimate settings, in homage to their beginnings and as a thank-you to the student base of fans who have supported them.

"We were in college when we got together," Lowell said. "We love being on campuses. We were about two years through when we started the band. This tour really reflects our grassroots beginning."

Jars of Clay with Burlap to Cashmere and Silage

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday Oct. 22

Where: The Classic Center

Cost: $15, $20