JARS OF CLAY: `CHRISTIAN ROCK' THAT DEFIES CATEGORIZATION

Jars of Clay isn't like "Christian rock" bands of yore.

When the group plays in Cape Girardeau tonight, the testimonials and proselytizing of Spandex metal bands such as Stryper that saturated the Show Me Center years ago will be conspicuously absent. Some fans may not even know the group is considered "Christian rock."

That doesn't sit well with some Christian music followers.

Jars of Clay's 1995 self-titled debut album, which went double-platinum on the strength of the single "Flood" and brought a new mainstream focus on Christian rock, was drenched with overt Christian references. The CD's first song, "Liquid," describes Jesus Christ on the cross.

Then came the group's sophomore release, last year's Grammy-winning "Much Afraid," which has sold almost 1 million copies. The album is laden with songs about love and troubled relationships. Jesus' name does not appear until the record's last two songs.

Some observers questioned the motives of the change in direction -- especially fans and critics concerned about categorizing the band -- and lament that the band has "gone secular."

According to lyricist and singer Dan Haseltine, the group has simply undergone a natural evolution. Accusations that the band has toned down the religious imagery in an attempt to woo mainstream listeners are untrue, he said.

"I think people see it as a much more drastic change than it was," Haseltine said in a phone interview from Tampa, Fla. "I think a lot of it is attributed to the fact that there was a span of almost three years between the time we wrote the first record and the time we wrote for the new one. It was more of a progressive change.

"We try to write from a perspective that isn't simply geared towards only Christian people," he added. "We're just as content with people coming to the concert and just enjoying themselves."

The band plays at the Show Me Center tonight in a concert scheduled to begin at 7:30. Also appearing will be the band Plumb.

Haseltine, 25, has his own classification of Jars of Clay. He said the band's sound is "basically just rock 'n' roll music" or "intelligent pop." The flavor has lured many folk-alternative rock listeners to the group who might otherwise feel alienated by Christian bands.

After the immense success of the debut album, the band left the country to escape the expectations and sundry opinions about what direction the second CD should take.

Most of "Much Afraid" was recorded in London, which allowed the group to write the "honest record" it wanted -- one free of the ubiquitous "catch sounds" used by many alternative bands and devoid of Christian lingo.

"Obviously we didn't have a song like `Flood' on the new record," Haseltine said. "We chose to deal more with songs that were less severely `token alternative,' I suppose. And we went a little more into deeper songwriting and hopefully building longevity and not just becoming a `one hit wonder.' "

Four years ago, three of the band's members -- Haseltine, keyboardist Charlie Lowell, 24, and guitarist Steve Mason, 22 -- were all "Contemporary Christian Music" majors at Greenville College, a Methodist school in Greenville, Ill.

The guys discovered a mutual interest in artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Sting and Peter Gabriel, and after recording songs they had written for a class assignment, they entered a demo in a Gospel Music Association contest.

They won. Guitarist Matt Odmark, 24, joined the band, and Jars of Clay signed with Essential Records. The name of the band was taken from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians.

"It's definitely a surprise," Haseltine said. "When we started out we were all in college and we were basically just doing music because we love doing music. We played a couple of coffee houses and that was it. We didn't really see it going beyond that."