How difficult was it for Jars of Clay to get signed to a record deal?
Charlie: It was actually quite a “Cinderall Story”! We met in college, and just 3 songs and 4 months later, we entered and won a competition in Nashville which resulted in Christian record label interest. From there, it was a courting process about 5 months long until we decided on Essential records, which we are still on today. It was an unusually quick process- we had played under a dozen concerts before we recorded our first album, mostly in coffee houses! OFG: Many bands go their entire careers without a single grammy nomination. Jars Of Clay has won Multiple Grammys. What’s the band’s secret for being so successful? Charlie: Hmmm. I think our influences are pretty dynamic and different. We started out in college listening to techno/rave and folk singer-songwriters, and that’s how we initially came up with our sound. Songwriting is very important to us- having something to say, and an interesting way to say it that separates you from other bands. I think that Dan, our singer, is a
