Jars of Clay Celebrates 20 Years of Music at Franklin Theatre

by Josh Belcher, Freelance Writer

Happy 20 year anniversary to one of the most regarded and prominent rock groups of the Christian music community. Jars of Clay,who have deep ties to Williamson County, have decided to officially celebrate their anniversary with a very special performance at the Franklin Theatre Sept 27th. Jars of Clay will share songs that span the groups’ career and new and revamped versions of certain special songs form the band’s new album, appropriately titled 20. It is a specially crafted, fan-curated retrospective double album that gave true fans an opportunity to give insight and choose the songs they wanted Jars of Clay to revisit.

Lead guitarist, Stephen Mason, said the band is grateful for the longevity and success they have had, and humbled by the love and support of their always faithful fan base. The group is always looking forward and focused on what their next creative endeavor will be.

Mason talked with us about the upcoming show at the Franklin Theatre on September 27th, their online live concerts for fans and more.

WS: Tell us about your 20th anniversary show in Franklin?
SM: We have definitely been doing some different things this time around that have kind-of honored the 20 years. We didn’t put together a proper tour to celebrate the 20 years. But we have a couple of runs of shows like the one we are on now out on the west coast, and we will do one in New England covering more of the 20 year thing.

I think the most specific thing we’ve done recently has to do with our “StageIt” performances, which are online concerts—that has really been the tribute aspect of it. Each month, we have featured a record we have done in sequence. Next month we are up to The Long Fall Back To Earth. So we kind of play through most if it in a real broken down kind of acoustic fashion. It has really been fun and interesting how quickly 20 years has gone and yet at the same time how long it has taken to get to this point. We certainly feel it in different ways. We are still enjoying writing and recording and having fun.  (Watch these unique live performances on the Jars Of Clay website.)

WS: Did you fathom you guys would be a band for this long?
SM: You know I think based on some of the stuff that people told me—like I remember the pastor of the church I grew up in didn’t really have anything encouraging to say other than “make sure you have something to fall back on”— I think that the messages we got early on is that you don’t know how long this is going to last. At different points I would say it certainly felt like it was time to hang it up or at least stop for awhile. We had some key people in our lives and in those moments to ask us the really good questions about what we were up to and basically kind of talked us through the process of sort of learning from difficult moments as opposed to packing up and running away from them. I think it has definitely grown a creative and emotional equity in the band. At this point in our career when we decide it is time to stop recording a while or dial it back on touring, it will be a decision we all come to together and I don’t see this band ever imploding at that point. I think we are all so grateful for the life we have had together with the listeners and with each other. It will be a collective process that we go through and at this point, we are all still working hard to make it a special part of our lives. We keep a part of our lives cut out for Jars of Clay because it has been such a sweet part of our vocation over the years.

WS: Do any of you reside in Williamson County?
SM: Yes, absolutely. Charlie actually lives in Forrest Crossing and Dan lives really close to Five Points. I actually lived in Cottonwood and Fieldstone Farms for awhile myself. Matt live on Robert E. Lee like way up on a hill in Brentwood, We definitely call middle Tennessee our home.