Trivia / Jars of Clay

• Cut Song: Aside from the numerous B-sides, there's "Five Candles (You Were There)" which appeared on Much Afraid: it was written for the film Liar Liar and would have played over the credits, but was removed in favor of some Hilarious Outtakes.
  • "Fly Farther" was also an outtake from Much Afraid, played at some shows preceding the album's release. It reportedly didn't fit the flow of the album (which was already heavy on down-tempo material).
• Executive Meddling: The band's long-running relationship with Essential Records was fraught with this until they completed their contract in 2007 and went indie. Some examples:
  • The band wanted to record a Christmas album in 2002. The label wanted a worship album instead. The compromise was The Eleventh Hour, neither a seasonal album nor a worship album, but the song I Need You was added at the last minute when the label demanded a "worship" song to use as a single.
  • The band's first approaching to entering the "worship album" fray was to re-record a number of old hymns, some of them very obscure, with a bit of a folk/country bent on 2005's Redemption Songs. The label was not terribly interested in the idea, and implied that marketing support for the album would be withheld unless the band recorded a more recognizable hymn in an upbeat style, to release as a single. The result: A strangely happy-sounding take on "It Is Well with My Soul", complete with Beatlesque harmonies.
  • While they've been releasing music independently since 2007, Essential got back into the game with a distribution deal for 2009's The Long Fall Back to Earth. This may or may not have had an effect on the guest star roster for The Shelter.
• He Also Did: Lead guitarist Stephen Mason qualified as a master barber in 2014, and has his own shop in Nashville. He's also Nashville SC superfan Soccer Moses, appearing at games dressed as the Biblical figure and bearing a sign reading "LET MY PEOPLE GOAL". Story here.
• One-Hit Wonder: Lots of hits on Christian radio, but according to the mainstream, they did next to nothing after "Flood".
• The Pete Best: Matt Bronleewe was on their debut EP, but stayed behind to finish school while the others (adding Matt Odmark, who replaced Bronleewe) took the record deal and released Jars of Clay. His career hasn't exactly tanked, though—he's still well-known as a producer and even has a couple of books out. He even started a synth pop band, The Hawk In Paris, with Dan Haseltine in 2011.
• Stunt Casting: The numerous featured vocalists on The Shelter can appear to be this at first glance. Many are big names in Christian music; others are label-mates.
  • Arguably, getting Adrian Belew to produce two songs on their first album.
• Word of God: According to Jars of Clay, "Goodbye, Goodnight" is from the perspective of the musicians who played aboard the Titanic as she went down. Really.