Live at Gray Matters, Vol. 2 (The Rewind Edition)

Live at Gray Matters, Vol. 2 (The Rewind Edition) is available now for $3.99. Below is a trailer offering a glimpse into the video portion of the new EP.

Ear 2 Ear: Newcomer Audrey Assad joins Lilith Fair

FT. WAYNE, IN -- "Her melodic sensibilities are infectious," says Jars of Clay's Charlie Lowell of rising new singer/songwriter Audrey Assad.

Assad's new CD, "The House You're Building," combines soothing sounds, whispering tones and hopeful lyrics. The recording raises Assad to the top of this summer's most compelling artists.

The revival of the Lilith Fair tour this summer magnifies the talents of female artists across the country. This year the tour includes Audrey Assad, who brings passion and amazing tone to the music of faith. Lilith Fair collects the best in female artists. Assad meets the standard of music set by the tour, but has a message that reveals her faith to the world.

She's already been working with some of worship music's elite. She collaborated with Chris Tomlin on "Winter Snow" and on her first hit, "For the Love of You."

Assad's music speaks to the little child in all of us, but her music specifically speaks of one little child that touched her heart. According to her website, Assad found out about a little girl in Phoenix named Katie McRae. Katie found out last year that the tremors in her right hand, which landed her in the ICU, stemmed from a massive brain tumor. It is Katie's story that inspired Assad's achingly beautiful "Little Light."

No matter the tumors emotionally or physically we all face, this song gives a "little light" into the darkness we are running from. She sings, "And Jesus bends to hear you breathe; His tender hands are holding you tonight. His heart is ravished when you look at Him, and oh, the endless mercy in His eyes; God is here, little light."

Assad's music will be quick to fill up on mp3 players of people looking for great songs with a lasting heart and head value. It takes a complex heart to find a way to convey the simplest of messages in music. Assad will be among those lasting artists because no matter where you are in hurting or healing, these songs can powerfully penetrate each layer in our lives.

Audrey Assad's debut CD, "The House You're Building," comes out Tuesday. Find out more at herMySpace page.

Ace McKay is morning show co-host at FM 88.3 in Ft. Wayne, Ind., the GMA/CMB 2009 Radio Station of the Year. E-mail at AceMckay@gmail.com. His and his wife's ministry is The Marriage Playbook.
Starting a faith-based band? Tell us about it -- kay.campbell@htimes.com.

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Audrey Assad Explores Faith Walk in New Album

A new worship album from the up-and-coming Christian recording artist Audrey Assad is set to hit stores across the U.S. in July.

Assad says her new album, entitled The House You're Building, is about faith.

"It's about the cross and fear and pain and how God is carrying me even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it,' Assad told Breathe Cast, an online Christian music source.

'Marshall (the album's producer) pulled things out of me emotionally that I don't think I'd ever accessed, making me realize that every time I sing these songs, I have to channel my pain and walk through it...That's been my journey the last few years, learning to believe that and walk in that acceptance of God choosing me," she said.

The new album has already won endorsements from fellow musicians like Chris Tomlin and Jars of Clay's Charlie Tomlin.

According to Christian's Music Review, "Her vocals are Female Vocalist of the Year quality...I think she could be the next big thing."

In a recent interview with CBN News Reporter Wendy Griffith, Assad shared where she gets her musical inspiration. Click play to watch the interview.

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Rock and religion come together… Terre Haute band opens for Grammy award-winning Jars of Clay

MARTINSVILLE, IL — A speckling of fans stood in the hot grass as bands warmed up Monday afternoon, making sure they’d have a place when the concert started.

“I think it’s amazing they’d come to a town this small,” Angela Short said of contemporary Christian artists Jars of Clay. The Merom resident brought her 13-year-old son Ben out to the Martinsville Ag Fair in Illinois’ Clark County, where the band with three Grammy Awards, nine GMA Dove Awards and five BMI awards was ready to rock out inside the fairgrounds track for about 2,000 people. “We couldn’t pass up coming,” she said.

Jars of Clay performed at 9 p.m. Monday, and sound checks were ongoing from 4:30 p.m. onward. Opening up for the national act was NEEDTOBREATHE, as well as Scot Longyear and Justin Hoeppner, both of Terre Haute’s Maryland Community Church.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity,” said Hoeppner, whose Justin Hoeppner Band opened up the night at 6 p.m. An Orange County, Calif., native, the lifelong surfer came to Terre Haute “a year ago today” to serve as pastor of worship arts at Maryland. “I’ve been in bands my whole life,” he said, explaining that his brother is a record producer in Los Angeles. But the ministry’s call led him and his family east, a move Hoeppner said he’s glad he made. “There’ll be tons of people here from Terre Haute,” he said before the night’s performance.

Longyear, teaching pastor at Maryland Community Church, ministered during Hoeppner’s songs, and throughout the concert it was clearly a Christian event, with a prayer tent available toward the back of the crowd.

Nick Sanders, a Terre Haute resident and parishioner of Maryland Community Church, made the drive to Martinsville to watch his ministers jam with Jars of Clay. “I love their stuff,” he said of the headliner, noting as did others throughout the event that a band like that doesn’t often show up in places like Martinsville. “I think it’s great they go to the smaller towns.”



Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.

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2010 Three Rivers Festival: July 9-17

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Friday, the 42nd annual Three Rivers Festival will kick off, with a few changes.

Among the changes, the festival's closing fireworks have been moved to Saturday night, July 17th.

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9-area bands will be in Saturday’s parade, which should attract the biggest crowd of the festival.

Despite all the management changes over the past year, the list of events is very similar to years past and the new team is excited about a possible new direction.

Christian band Jars of Clay highlights a diverse list of entertainment options.

While most festival events are free, organizers say they've tried to keep prices down to attract more families.

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Jars of Clay nears goal for building wells in Africa

Earlier this month, the band teamed up with Christian radio stations K-LOVE and Air 1 for a full-day radio fundraiser, with hopes of raising money to get closer to that goal. With some $860,000 in donations raised on June 8, Jars and friends have the funds to build 95 more wells, which will leave them just 15 short of the project's goal.

"This was one of the most amazing displays of generosity I have experienced," Jars singer Dan Haseltine said in a statement. "It is hard to imagine that a single day of radio can turn into clean water for thousands of Africans. This will save so many lives!"

The long-standing band's charitable work focused closer to home last month. The band members were among the many Middle Tennesseans who lost possessions in the May flood, with their studio suffering significant damage, but they were also among the many who pitched in to help with relief efforts. The band pulled together the Flood(ed) Benefit EP— stocked with five versions of their hit single "Flood" — and offered it as a $1 download, with proceeds going toward MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief's efforts.

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Jars Of Clay, K-Love And Air 1 Partner For Blood:Water Mission Radio-Thon

Band Took To The Airwaves For Day-Long Fundraising Effort June 8; Raised over $860,000 in effort to complete 1,000 Wells Project

Multi-Platinum and three-time Grammy Award-winning band Jars of Clay, long ambitious in their plans for their charitable organization Blood:Water Mission, teamed up with K-LOVE and Air 1 radio stations to raise the necessary funds and awareness to complete Blood:Water Mission’s 1000 Wells Project, which was launched in 2005.

The band joined forces with K-LOVE and Air 1 for a day-long Well Done Campaign radio-thon Tuesday, June 8, and raised over $860,000 for Blood:Water Mission. These donations will fund the construction of 95 water projects, leaving the organization only 15 shy of their 1000-well goal. In 2005, Jars of Clay and K-LOVE conducted a similar event to launch B:WM’s 1000 Wells Project to help provide access to clean water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa, and with the completion of that campaign in sight, the groups convened again to help get that project to the finish line and set up Blood:Water’s next phase of operations.

Jars of Clay front man Dan Haseltine reflects, "This was one of the most amazing displays of generosity I have experienced. It is hard to imagine that a single day of radio can turn into clean water for thousands of Africans. This will save so many lives!"

Throughout the day, Jars of Clay shared the stories of individuals they have met through the years in sub-Saharan Africa: stories of dignity, hope, and truth, stories of communities impacted because of the generous support of donors around the world.

About Blood:Water Mission
Blood:Water Mission is a grassroots organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. Founded by the band, Jars of Clay, Blood:Water Mission began as a call to personalize the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. The members of the band were committed to share the often-untold stories: those of creative, compassionate, hard-working Africans bringing health, hope and healing into their respective communities.

About Jars of Clay:
Jars of Clay, made up of members Dan Haseltine (vocals), Charlie Lowell (keyboards), Steve Mason (guitars), and Matt Odmark (guitars), has sold more than six million albums, won three GRAMMYS, headlined thousands of sold-out shows and festivals, and successfully launched the Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. Since the band’s debut single, “Flood,” astonishingly topped both the mainstream and CCM charts, Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of its music, worldview, and humanitarianism.

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Jars Of Clay, K-Love And Air 1 Partner For Blood:Water Mission Radio-Thon

Multi-Platinum and three-time Grammy Award-winning band Jars of Clay, long ambitious in their plans for their charitable organization Blood:Water Mission, teamed up with K-LOVE and Air 1 radio stations to raise the necessary funds and awareness to complete Blood:Water Mission’s 1000 Wells Project, which was launched in 2005.

The band joined forces with K-LOVE and Air 1 for a day-long Well Done Campaign radio-thon Tuesday, June 8, and raised over $860,000 for Blood:Water Mission. These donations will fund the construction of 95 water projects, leaving the organization only 15 shy of their 1000-well goal. In 2005, Jars of Clay and K-LOVE conducted a similar event to launch B:WM’s 1000 Wells Project to help provide access to clean water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa, and with the completion of that campaign in sight, the groups convened again to help get that project to the finish line and set up Blood:Water’s next phase of operations.

Jars of Clay front man Dan Haseltine reflects, "This was one of the most amazing displays of generosity I have experienced. It is hard to imagine that a single day of radio can turn into clean water for thousands of Africans. This will save so many lives!"

Throughout the day, Jars of Clay shared the stories of individuals they have met through the years in sub-Saharan Africa: stories of dignity, hope, and truth, stories of communities impacted because of the generous support of donors around the world.

About Blood:Water Mission
Blood:Water Mission is a grassroots organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. Founded by the band, Jars of Clay, Blood:Water Mission began as a call to personalize the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. The members of the band were committed to share the often-untold stories: those of creative, compassionate, hard-working Africans bringing health, hope and healing into their respective communities.

About Jars of Clay:
Jars of Clay, made up of members Dan Haseltine (vocals), Charlie Lowell (keyboards), Steve Mason (guitars), and Matt Odmark (guitars), has sold more than six million albums, won three GRAMMYS, headlined thousands of sold-out shows and festivals, and successfully launched the Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. Since the band’s debut single, “Flood,” astonishingly topped both the mainstream and CCM charts, Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of its music, worldview, and humanitarianism.

Source

Jars of Clay helps raise $860,000 for Blood:Water Mission at radio fundraiser

In 2005, Christian rock band Jars of Clay and their non-profit organization Blood:Water Mission launched 1000 Wells Project, with an aim of building 1000 clean water wells for needy communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Earlier this month, the band teamed up with Christian radio stations K-LOVE and Air 1 for a full-day radio fundraiser, with hopes of raising money to get closer to that goal. With some $860,000 in donations raised on June 8, Jars and friends have the funds to build 95 more wells, which will leave them just 15 short of the project's goal.

"This was one of the most amazing displays of generosity I have experienced," Jars singer Dan Haseltine said in a statement. "It is hard to imagine that a single day of radio can turn into clean water for thousands of Africans. This will save so many lives!"

The longstanding band's charitable work focused closer to home last month, too. The bandmembers were among the many Middle Tennesseans who lost possessions in the May flood, with their studio suffering significant damage, but they were also among the many who pitched in to help with relief efforts. The band pulled together the Flood(ed) Benefit EP — stocked with five different versions of their hit single "Flood" — and offered it as a $1 download, with proceeds going toward MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief's efforts.

Source