By Staff
JARS OF CLAY Christian rock band Jars of Clay, and special guests Jennifer Knapp and Shaun Groves, will appear in concert April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center. Tickets are free; release dates and locations to be announced. For information, visit www.superstop.com or call 553-8383. SUBMITTED PHOTO
special to The Star
March 2, 2002
Meridian will be one of more than 50 nationwide tour stops for Jars of Clay, the award-winning Christian rock band.
Kicking off March 14 in Nashville, "The Eleventh Hour Tour" will be the Grammy Award- and Dove Award-winning band's first major headline tour in more than a year.
The tour will follow Tuesday's release of the group's highly anticipated, critically acclaimed recording, "The Eleventh Hour."
Jars of Clay is scheduled to perform 7 p.m. April 2 at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center. The tour also will feature certified gold-selling Kansas native Jennifer Knapp and newcomer Shaun Groves.
The concert is sponsored by Super Stop; tickets are free and will be available by radio giveways. Radio spots will begin airing Monday on Z-102 and Q-101.
Youth pastors and ministers wanting a block of tickets for their church youth groups should call 553-8383.
In addition to performing hits that have helped sell more than 5 million albums, Jars of Clay will play songs from their new disc the band's first in more than two years.
The Eleventh Hour Tour will cover 29 states, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Denver and other cities. The complete itinerary can be found at www.jarsofclay.com and www.essentialrecords.com.
Following the group's long hiatus from touring, during which members crafted "The Eleventh Hour," the band expressed anticipation to again share new music live with its loyal fans.
Jars of Clay returned to its roots with "The Eleventh Hour." The band wrote, produced, conceptualized, designed, directed and filmed for the project, as well as built their own recording studio in Nashville.
The recording also features the mixing talents of Jack Joseph Puig (who has worked with Green Day, No Doubt and Barbra Streisand). The result: emotionally charged anthems centered around human longing.
Said Haseltine: "For a while it seemed like rock 'n' roll had become a passionless wasteland. Even before the Sept. 11 attacks, it also seemed like songwriters were gaining back their strength, stirring people to think and feel and grow and act. For people taking up searching again, we've taken up writing songs for them again."
Already receiving considerable radio airplay, "I Need You," the first single from the album, has become the band's 14th No. 1 hit, topping the pop radio charts (Radio and Record/The Collector's Choice Music Update).
This week, the song also jumps to No. 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song also will be part of the first Jars of Clay pay-per-view concert set to air at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The exclusive two-hour special will be a one-night-only pay-per-view event. The concert event was recorded Jan. 16 in Nashville at the Gaylord Entertainment Center Annex.