Jars of Clay is one of the most well-known Christian bands around, and they are bringing the tour for their latest album to Eastern on the tail end of Dia Del Este. On April 17 at 7 p.m. in the Main Gym they will be performing with Matt Maher, Derek Webb and Audrey Assad.
Together for well over ten years, the band members have seen a great deal of growth as people and as musicians. Their new album, “The Shelter,” is the culmination of much introspection about the meaning and necessity of shelters. The band has gone a new direction with this release by bringing in other musicians.
“We wanted to make a record about community, and we wanted the recording process to be community. We wanted it to be an expression of what it was trying to articulate from a concept standpoint,” Matt Odmark, one of the band’s guitarists, said on their web site.
They did not want to simply create a new CD; they want it to actually encompass the sounds of community. This is the reason why they recruited many different people into creating the songs. Although it was a challenge for them to accept outsiders into their creative process, they ultimately found it to be a very good experience.
With this release, Jars of Clay has embodied what it means to have a shelter in a community and now it is sharing the results with the public on this tour. Part of that tour involves Eastern, which as we all know prides itself on its sense of community. What better way to close off Dia Del Este than with music focused on bringing people together?
Source: http://www.jarsofclay.com/tour/